The most egregious actions against the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have to do with the recurring notion of “free, prior, and informed” consent of Native peoples to any measures of development or legislation that may adversely affect them.
Articles 10, 11, 19, 28, and 29 all reference this required consent. The Kennecott mining company did not consult the Ojibwa peoples in the area before infringing upon their sacred space. Moreover, once the existence of the sacred space was brought to their attention, they tried to skirt around the requirements to protect it. They claimed that the surface would be left unharmed and that there was insufficient evidence to prove it was a sacred site in the first place.
With stronger enforcement of UNDRIP in the United States, the KBIC would have had another document to lean on in their legal efforts to protect Eagle Rock, perhaps avoiding the rigamarole through the EPA with the loophole that allowed Kennecott to begin mining.
