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The International Legal Status of North American Indians After 500 Years of Colonization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2009

Serv Wiemers
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Abstract

Next year, the ‘discovery’ of America by Columbus, 500 years ago, will be commemorated. The discovery of America started a time of colonization for the original inhabitants, the Indians. Since the 1970s an Indian movement has emerged in North America demanding the Indians' ‘rightful place among the family of nations’. This article contains a survey of the current international legal position of Indians in North America. Wiemers holds that international legal principles, developed in the decolonization context, are applicable to the North American Indian population. The right of a people to selfdetermination is the most discussed one.

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Student Contributions
Information
Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 69 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 1992

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References

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71. U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/42. Annex II. This text is not definitive. However, in the text prepared for the 1991 session only minor changes have been introduced.

72. U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1989/22. See also R.L. farsh, supra note 19.

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77. See, e.g., the reaction of the Canadian government to the protests near the town of Oka in the summer