The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was passed in 2007. It outlines the various human rights held by Indigenous peoples and was supported by 143 countries in the UN general assembly. Although initially voting against its adoption, the United States eventually lent its support to the document in 2010 under the Obama administration. Below are articles selected from UNDRIP relevant to this case.
Article 8.2(b): States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for, any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them [indigenous peoples] of their lands, territories, or resources. This article addresses the dispossession of land by the United States in the Gadsden Purchase and the Treaty of Hidalgo which allowed homesteaders to settle on Tohono O’odham land, which is an act of dispossession.
Article 11.1: Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature. This right to maintain and to practice traditions and customs comes in the Tohono O’odham desire to maintain and care for Baboquivari Peak as their own.
Article 19: States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them. While consultation has occurred in the Baboquivari case, Tohono O’odham consent has not been received for the nation to not be the primary caretakers of Baboquivari Peak.
Article 26. 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. This directly applies to Tohono O’odham claims to Baboquivari Peak, which their right to should have superseded non-Native concerns of what Tohono O’odham maintenance of the Peak would look like.
Article 36.1: Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as other peoples across borders. This more applies to the current struggle between the Tohono O’odham and the border wall and border enforcement. Amy Juan’s UN address explains the importance of honoring Tohono O’odham borders and land.
Article 36.2: States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the implementation of this right. This act tells us that the United States’ actions in enforcing the border wall attempt to honor Tohono O’odham rights, but ultimately create an entirely new environment for the Native nation, as Amy Juan explains below.
