Participated in the University of Colorado American Indian Law Program (AILP) Sixteenth meeting of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples From 17 July to 23 July, indigenous peoples, state representatives and civil society met at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva for a dialogue on the rights of indigenous peoples. EMRIP advises the United Nations Human Rights Council and assists States and indigenous peoples in achieving the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration).

AILP jointly attended the United Nations General Assembly. Implementation project (TIP), a joint initiative of Colorado law and law Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Promotes education and advocacy for the Declaration in the United States. TIP was represented by Kristen CarpenterCouncil Tree Law Professor and AILP Director. S. James Anaya, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of International Law Nicholas Dorman. Emiliano Salazar 23 years, AILP Fellow. and NARF Chief Attorney Sue Noe.

“I graduated from Colorado Law School in May and traveled to Oklahoma to work with Southern Arapaho, Shawnee, and Cherokee tribes as an AILP Fellow, and to Geneva to attend the United Nations General Assembly.” Salazar said Mr. “The empirical and community-focused aspects of the Colorado Law approach to American Indian and Indigenous law are an important part of my experience as a student and researcher.”

Highlights of AILP are: great tribal confederation (COLT) at the United Nations. COLT represents more than one million American Indians and fifty Indian tribes and owns more than 50 million acres of land in the United States. The delegation, led by Rosebud Sioux Rep. Lisa White Pipe, who also serves as COLT Treasurer, made a formal intervention from the government. He met on the floor with representatives from the US Department of State and interacted with Indigenous leaders from around the world. COLT called on EMRIP countries to recognize the loss of life, culture, and language that the Federal Indian Boarding Schools have caused in the United States over its 100-year history, and to begin developing approaches to healing and recovery. . COLT is represented by attorney Jennifer Weddle, adjunct professor at the Colorado School of Law.

AILP, NARF and COLT co-hosted a side event on “Sacred Sites and Human Rights” featuring Indigenous leaders from Norway, Australia and the United States. The event addressed global and local issues such as the threatening prospect of copper mining. Destroy the Apache coming-of-age ceremony site in Oak Flat, Arizona. The panelists suggested that indigenous sacred sites are not only used for traditional mining industries, but also for “green energy” such as mining lithium for rechargeable car batteries and installing windmills in the face of tribal opposition on traditional lands. He pointed out that it was also destroyed by activities related to Panelists, led by Professor Anaya, himself a former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, discussed how to use the provisions of the Declaration in these cases.

“The EMRIP session follows AILP’s attendance at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in April. Christina Stanton “We brought in a group of students from the American Indian Law Clinic, including Michel Manceau ’24, Chandler Spoon ’23 and Spencer Garcia ’24. “I did my best to help out,” Carpenter said. “Representatives from the Shawnee, San Carlos Apache, Blackfeet, and Yuchi tribal governments and the Navajo Human Rights Commission attended the Permanent Forum session. helped ensure access to the United Nations for tribal leaders, right down to the guidance of

This summer, Taylor Courchaine ’25, a Colorado law student, research assistant at AILP. NARF clerk Charlotte Collingwood ’24 supports TIP’s research needs.

Language rights was a strong theme of the session, and Mr. Carpenter intervened on behalf of AILP in Item 7: International Decade of Indigenous Languages.she emphasized Vision for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages ​​2022-2032, a special issue of the Colorado Environmental Law Journal edited by Ariel Barbieri Agib ’23 and a team of students. This publication features tribal leaders, lawyers, linguists, and teachers who value language activation as a human rights issue. Carpenter said that as the United States rejoins the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) this year, it has an opportunity to prioritize indigenous language rights, sacred site protection and international repatriation.

Professor Carpenter, who worked for EMRIP from 2017 to 2021, was recognized in this session for his contributions to the struggle of indigenous peoples for the international repatriation of cultural property. For several years, EMRIP supported the claims of the Yaki indigenous people across the U.S.-Mexico border to repatriate their ceremonial deer heads, known as maso kova, from Sweden. As EMRIP chairman, Carpenter facilitated dialogue between Sweden and the Yaquis, leading to an agreement in 2020 and eventual repatriation in 2023. The Yaky-Sweden issue was hailed as a criterion for engagement by EMRIP countries aimed at giving the declaration a practical effect.

Recourse to international diplomacy is often critical, especially when the United States or other nations violate tribal rights. AILP faculty and students support indigenous leaders’ access to international law and international law, helping to facilitate the resolution of real-world human rights issues.