Indigenous People

The following section provides a list of online resources related to Indigenous People, as well as examples of conflicts that have involved Indigenous Peoples.

• Mining and Indigenous Peoples
• The UN and Indigenous Peoples
• General Resources on Indigenous Peoples

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has produced  a practical guide for IFC clients who operate in countries that have ratified Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

The ILO Convention 169 and the Private Sector, (pdf file) launched on March 2007 should be read in conjunction with IFC's Performance Standard on Indigenous Peoples (pdf file)

“All that Glitters: Gold Mining in Guyana,” (pdf file) A Report elaborated by the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program. The IHRC report provides an in-depth study of the impact of small and medium scale gold mining on Amerindian indigenous communities and extensive legal analysis of the regulatory scheme.

Advancing the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (pdf file).. A Critical Challenge for the International Community Voices from a forum at the 61st Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 13 April 2005. Presented by Amnesty International, la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), the Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples (NCIV), Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), and Rights and Democracy.

International Council on Metals and Minerals (ICMM)
The ICMM (formerly the International Council of Metals and the Environment - ICME) have produced several publications relating to indigenous people that are available for download from the publications section of their website.

• Mining and Indigenous Peoples: Case Studies
• Mining and Indigenous Peoples: The Red Dog Story - R. McLean and W. Hensley

Performance Indicators Relating to the Social, Environmental and Economic Effects of Mining on Indigenous Peoples - Ally Bedford and Alyson Warhurst , Mining and Energy Research Network (MERN), Doc No.: 128, 74 pp., 1998. - Document not available online, contact MERN for further information.

Mining Indigenous Lands: Can Impacts and Benefits be Reconciled? - Cultural Survival Quarterly, Vol.: 25.1, 2001
This special issue of the Cultural Survival Quaterly journal provides indigenous people perspectives on the mining industry.

Moving Mountains: Communities Confront Mining and Globalization - Geoff Evans, James Goodman and Nina Lansbury, Mineral Policy Institute (MPI), Australia, September 2001.

Mining and Indigenous People - Mine Ministries of the Americas (CAMMA) Workshop

Mining, the Environment and Indigenous Development Conflicts - Saleem H. Ali, University of Arizona Press, 2003.

Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) - Indigenous People activities

Uranium Mining and Indigenous People - WISE

Mirrar Clan - Information on the Mirrar aboriginal people of Northern Australia and their opposition to the Jabiluka uranium mining operation within the Kakadu National Park World Heritage Area.

JATAM - Jaringan Advokasi Tambang/Mining Advocacy Network - A network of non-governmental organizations and community organizations working on behalf of human rights, gender, the environment, and indigenous people's rights impacted by mining policy and activities within Indonesia. (Bahasa/English)

The Gulliver File - Mines, people and land: a global battleground. Roger Moody, March 1993. - An extremely comprehensive account of the social and environmental impacts of the mining industry. The book charts the development, interests and impacts of 700 mining companies worldwide.

United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR)

• Indigenous Peoples
• Working Group on Indigenous Populations - One of items addressed at the 18th Session in July 2000 was 'Standard-setting activities, including indigenous peoples' relationship with natural resource, energy and mining companies'.
• Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• United Nations Guide for Indigenous Peoples
  A United Nations Guide for Indigenous Peoples is available consisting of a series of 12 leaflets ranging from "Indigenous Peoples and the UN System" through to the "World Intellectual Property Organization and Indigenous Peoples". (English, Spanish and French)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - Indigenous Peoples

International Labour Organization (ILO) - Indigenous Peoples

• Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (1989)

United Nations (UN) - International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

UN International Day of the World's Indigenous People - 9 August
The International Day is to be held every August 9th for the duration of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The page contains links to UN activities in relation to Indigenous Peoples.

The World Bank Group - Indigenous Peoples

The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Indigenous Studies

Forest Peoples Programme - An NGO involved with The World Bank Group - Extractive Industries Review.

Red Indigena - Indigenous Peoples Development Network

Organization of American States (OAS)

• Proposed Interamerican Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People - 26 February 1997

Development Gateway - Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Indigenous Knowledge topic pages. A programme initiated by the World Bank and designed to provide improved access to online development resources for indigenous peoples. The sections have three main objectives: to provide practical information, capacity building tools, and access to resources; to encourage indigenous peoples participation in macro-policy decision-making; and to promote information exchange among indigenous organizations.

See also the MRF Development > Documents > Human Resources > Land and Resources for further documents and resources in relation to Indegenous Peoples.

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