[This
page was last updated 06 February 2025]
This institute, based in Washington State, is a
terrific source of information regarding indigenous issues at the international
level. Their Fourth World Documentation Project is the best source for
United Nations documents, especially concerning the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations.
UN
Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
In 2001 the Commission on Human Rights first appointed
a special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The first Special
Rapporteur was Dr. Rudolfo Stavenhagen of Mexico
(2001-2008) who served the maximum allowable two three-year terms. He was
succeeded by Dr. James Anaya
of the United States (2008-2014). Next was Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
of the Phillipines, who was Special Rapporteur from
2014 to 2020 and previously served as the Chair of the Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues. The current mandate holder is Francisco
Cali Tzay, who is Mayan Cakchiquel from Guatemala.
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
The PFII -- a 16-member forum whose members are 50-50
Indigenous/Nation State representatives -- was created in 2000 and met for the
first time in 2001. An offshoot of ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council), PFII holds meetings in New York every March on a wide
range of policy issues. With the demise of the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations after 2006, PFII is the central forum in the UN system for
consideration of Indigenous issues.
Survival: The Movement for Tribal
Peoples
Survival is an organization that supports tribal peoples worldwide through education, advocacy and campaigns.
They also offer tribal peoples a platform to address the world.
International
Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
In the IWGIA's words" "IWGIA is
an independent international membership organisation
staffed by specialists and advisers on indigenous affairs." The
organization "... supports indigenous peoples' struggle for human rights,
self-determination, right to territory, control of land and resources, cultural
integrity, and the right to development." In particular,
check out their �Indigenous World�
that gives an annual status report regarding Indigenous Peoples on every
continent.
The Union has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and has played a significant
role in British Columbia and Canadian politics since its initial formation in
1969. The Union has a splendid resource page including press releases and
commentary on issues of the day.
Listed below are some articles that might
otherwise prove difficult to obtain or that were published in open journals.
You are welcome to download copies of any paper you wish as
long as (a) you do not make money from its distribution; and (b) you
acknowledge the original source whenever the ideas are referred to or a quote
is used. They are listed in reverse chronological order.
�
Ted Palys, annie ross, Steff
King & Gail Anderson (2024). A method for evaluating the
adequacy of police and coroner investigations into suspicious unnatural deaths.
Decolonization of Criminology and Justice,
6(2), 25-50.
�
Ted Palys (2024). Wet�suwet�en
hereditary chief is �prisoner of conscience� after failure of Delgamuukw ruling 25 years ago. The Conversation, 8 August.
�
Ted Palys and Michaela M.
McGuire (2024).
The Haida-BC agreement was a landmark deal, but where was Canada? The Conversation, 22 July.
�
Michaela M. McGuire (Jaad Gudghiliwah) and Ted Palys (2022). Grappling
with the state: Self-determined Indigenous justice. Invited address to
the BC Nurses Union Annual Human Rights Conference, Vancouver, BC, 30 November.
�
Michaela M. McGuire (Jaad Gudghiliwah) and Ted Palys (2020). Toward sovereign
Indigenous justice: On removing the colonial straightjacket.
Decolonization of Criminology and Justice,
2(1), 59-82.
�
Ted Palys (3 March 2015). Indigenous Justice:
A Long and Winding Road. Speaking notes for an invited keynote address
to community consultation meeting hosted by Circle of Eagles Lodge (COEL) at
the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre giving legal/historical background
to the COEL's planned submission to create an Aboriginal Healing Centre in the
Vancouver area under Section 81 of the Criminal Code.
�
Ted Palys (2014). A Programme Evaluation of Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative
Justice Services Society (VATJSS). Report prepared for VATJSS with
funding from the Department of Justice Aboriginal Justice Strategy Capacity
Building Fund.
�
Ted Palys (2013). Is the Government of
Canada Living Up To Its Responsibilities Regarding
Indigenous Justice Systems Under the UN Declaration? A report prepared
on the occasion the October, 2013 visit to Canada of Dr. James Anaya, UN
Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
�
Ted Palys, Richelle Schaefer, and Yana Nuszdorfer (2014). Lessons from a Case Study
of Aboriginal and Canadian Justice Coexistence in Vancouver. Justice as Healing, 19(4), 1-8.
�
Ted Palys (2014). A
Programme Evaluation of Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services
Society (VATJSS). Report prepared for VATJSS with funding from the
Department of Justice Aboriginal Justice Strategy Capacity Building Fund.
�
Ted Palys (2013). Be Careful What You Wish
For: Reconciling Indigenous and State interests at the UN. Speaking
notes for an invited paper presented at St�:lō
Nation Conference 2013: "Bridging the Milennia,
Bridging Cultural and Legal Traditions." June 1-3.
�
Ted Palys (2013). Is the Government of Canada
Living Up To Its Responsibilities Regarding Indigenous
Justice Systems Under the UN Declaration? A report prepared on the
occasion the October, 2013 visit to Canada of Dr. James Anaya, UN Special
Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
�
Ted Palys, Richelle Isaac, and
Jana Nuszdorfer (2012). Taking
Indigenous Justice Seriously: Fostering a Mutually Respectful Coexistence of
Aboriginal and Canadian Justice. Research report prepared for
Vancouver�s Downtown Community Court and Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative
Justice Services.
�
Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2007).
�Getting to a Better Place�: Qwi:qwelst�m, the St�:lō and Self-Determination.
Pre-publication draft of a paper prepared under a Law Commission of Canada
award within its Indigenous Legal Traditions initiative that appeared in an
edited volume of papers published by UBC Press. See the UBC Press
web site for more information.
�
Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2005). Aboriginal
Justice: Taking Control and Responsibility. Paper presented as part of a Law
Commission of Canada symposium at the 30th Annual Congress of the
Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Calgary, Alberta; 28 October.
�
Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2005). "Getting to a Better Place": Qwi:qwelst�m,
the St�:lō Nation and Self-Determination. Paper presented as part
of a Law Commission of Canada symposium on �Indigenous Legal Traditions� at a
conference on �Law�s Empire� hosted by the Canadian Law and Society Association
with the collaboration of the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and
New Zealand and the Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society. Harrison
Hot Springs, BC; 27 June.
�
Ted Palys (2004). Resolving Conflicts Involving Indigenous
Peoples: Lessons From the Search for "Indigenous
Justice" in Canada. Intervention to the U.N Working Group on
Indigenous Populations at its 22nd Session; July 19-23; Geneva, Switzerland.
�
Ted Palys (2004). Ten Years After: Has Anything Changed During the
Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples? Invited paper presented at
the St�:Lō Nation Justice Conference held in Mission, BC, March 22-24.
�
Ted Palys (2001). Are Canada and BC Meeting International Standards
Regarding the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? St�:L� Nation and its Search for Justice. Paper presented at St�:L�
Nation Conference 2001: Bridging the Millennia, Bridging Cultural and Legal
Traditions, April 5-7, 2001
�
Ted Palys (1999). Vancouver's Aboriginal Restorative Justice Programme: The
Challenges Ahead. Aboriginal Justice Bulletin, 3(1), 2-3.
�
Barry Warhaft, Ted Palys and Wilma Boyce
(1999). �This is How We Did It�: One Canadian First
Nation Community's Efforts to Achieve Aboriginal Justice. In a special
issue of The Australia-New Zealand Journal of Criminology, entitled Crime,
Justice and Indigenous Peoples, 32(2), 161-81.
�
Ted Palys (1997). Fifty
years of human rights: The Universal Draft Declaration on Human Rights
and its Legacy. Invited address to the Human Rights Fiftieth Anniversary
Conference Celebration, held by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the
United Nations Association, and Kla-How-Ya, at the Vancouver Aboriginal
Friendship Centre, 8 December 1997.
�
Ted Palys (1996). Histories
of Convenience: Understanding Twentieth Century Aboriginal Film Images
in Context. Paper presented at an international conference regarding Aboriginal
peoples and film entitled Screening Culture: Constructing Image And Identity, held in York, Great Britain, by the
Aboriginal Studies Circle of the British Association of Canadian Studies.
�
Ted Palys (1993). Considerations
for Achieving "Aboriginal Justice" in Canada. Paper presented
at the annual meetings of the Western Association of Sociology and
Anthropology.
�
Ted Palys (1993). Prospects
for Aboriginal Justice in Canada. A position paper written for myself.
�
Ted Palys (1990). Ideology,
Epistemology, and Modes of Inquiry: Aboriginal Issues, Trajectories of
Truth, and the Criteria of Evaluation Research. Paper presented at a meeting of
the West Coast Law and Society Group.