Indigenous Links Page

[This page was last updated 06 August 2024]

Center for World Indigenous Studies

This institute, based in Washington State, is a terrific source of information regarding indigenous issues at the international level. Their Fourth World Documentation Project is the best source for United Nations documents, especially concerning the Working Group on Indigenous Populations.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In 2001 the Commission on Human Rights first appointed a special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The first Special Rapporteur was Dr. Rudolfo Stavenhagen of Mexico (2001-2008) who served the maximum allowable two three-year terms. He was succeeded by Dr. James Anaya of the United States (2008-2014). Next was Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of the Phillipines, who was Special Rapporteur from 2014 to 2020 and previously served as the Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The current mandate holder is Francisco Cali Tzay, who is Mayan Cakchiquel from Guatemala.

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The PFII -- a 16-member forum whose members are 50-50 Indigenous/Nation State representatives -- was created in 2000 and met for the first time in 2001. An offshoot of ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council), PFII  holds meetings in New York every March on a wide range of policy issues. With the demise of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations after 2006, PFII is the central forum in the UN system for consideration of Indigenous issues. 

Survival: The Movement for Tribal Peoples

Survival is an organization that supports tribal peoples worldwide through education, advocacy and campaigns. They also offer tribal peoples a platform to address the world.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

In the IWGIA's words" "IWGIA is an independent international membership organisation staffed by specialists and advisers on indigenous affairs." The organization "... supports indigenous peoples' struggle for human rights, self-determination, right to territory, control of land and resources, cultural integrity, and the right to development." In particular, check out their “Indigenous World” that gives an annual status report regarding Indigenous Peoples on every continent.

Union of BC Indian Chiefs

The Union has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and has played a significant role in British Columbia and Canadian politics since its initial formation in 1969. The Union has a splendid resource page including press releases and commentary on issues of the day.

Palys

Listed below are some articles that might otherwise prove difficult to obtain or that were published in open journals. You are welcome to download copies of any paper you wish as long as (a) you do not make money from its distribution; and (b) you acknowledge the original source whenever the ideas are referred to or a quote is used. They are listed in reverse chronological order.

·         Ted Palys (2024). Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief is ‘prisoner of conscience’ after failure of Delgamuukw ruling 25 years ago. The Conversation, 8 August.

·         Ted Palys and Michaela M. McGuire (2024). The Haida-BC agreement was a landmark deal, but where was Canada? The Conversation, 22 July.

·         Michaela M. McGuire (Jaad Gudghiliwah) and Ted Palys (2022). Grappling with the state: Self-determined Indigenous justice. Invited address to the BC Nurses Union Annual Human Rights Conference, Vancouver, BC, 30 November.

·         Michaela M. McGuire (Jaad Gudghiliwah) and Ted Palys (2020). Toward sovereign Indigenous justice: On removing the colonial straightjacket. Decolonization of Criminology and Justice, 2(1), 59-82.

·         Ted Palys (3 March 2015). Indigenous Justice: A Long and Winding Road. Speaking notes for an invited keynote address to community consultation meeting hosted by Circle of Eagles Lodge (COEL) at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre giving legal/historical background to the COEL's planned submission to create an Aboriginal Healing Centre in the Vancouver area under Section 81 of the Criminal Code.

·         Ted Palys (2014). A Programme Evaluation of Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services Society (VATJSS). Report prepared for VATJSS with funding from the Department of Justice Aboriginal Justice Strategy Capacity Building Fund.

·         Ted Palys (2013). Is the Government of Canada Living Up To Its Responsibilities Regarding Indigenous Justice Systems Under the UN Declaration? A report prepared on the occasion the October, 2013 visit to Canada of Dr. James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

·         Ted Palys, Richelle Schaefer, and Yana Nuszdorfer (2014). Lessons from a Case Study of Aboriginal and Canadian Justice Coexistence in Vancouver. Justice as Healing, 19(4), 1-8.

·         Ted Palys (2014). A Programme Evaluation of Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services Society (VATJSS). Report prepared for VATJSS with funding from the Department of Justice Aboriginal Justice Strategy Capacity Building Fund.

·         Ted Palys (2013). Be Careful What You Wish For: Reconciling Indigenous and State interests at the UN. Speaking notes for an invited paper presented at Stó:lō Nation Conference 2013: "Bridging the Milennia, Bridging Cultural and Legal Traditions." June 1-3.

·         Ted Palys (2013). Is the Government of Canada Living Up To Its Responsibilities Regarding Indigenous Justice Systems Under the UN Declaration? A report prepared on the occasion the October, 2013 visit to Canada of Dr. James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

·         Ted Palys, Richelle Isaac, and Jana Nuszdorfer (2012). Taking Indigenous Justice Seriously: Fostering a Mutually Respectful Coexistence of Aboriginal and Canadian Justice. Research report prepared for Vancouver’s Downtown Community Court and Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services.

·         Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2007).   “Getting to a Better Place”: Qwi:qwelstóm, the Stó:lō and Self-Determination. Pre-publication draft of a paper prepared under a Law Commission of Canada award within its Indigenous Legal Traditions initiative that appeared in an edited volume of papers published by UBC Press. See the UBC Press web site for more information.

·         Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2005). Aboriginal Justice: Taking Control and Responsibility. Paper presented as part of a Law Commission of Canada symposium at the 30th Annual Congress of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Calgary, Alberta; 28 October.

·         Ted Palys and Wenona Victor (2005). "Getting to a Better Place": Qwi:qwelstóm, the Stó:lō Nation and Self-Determination. Paper presented as part of a Law Commission of Canada symposium on “Indigenous Legal Traditions” at a conference on “Law’s Empire” hosted by the Canadian Law and Society Association with the collaboration of the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand and the Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society. Harrison Hot Springs, BC; 27 June.

·         Ted Palys (2004). Resolving Conflicts Involving Indigenous Peoples: Lessons From the Search for "Indigenous Justice" in Canada. Intervention to the U.N Working Group on Indigenous Populations at its 22nd Session; July 19-23; Geneva, Switzerland.

·         Ted Palys (2004). Ten Years After: Has Anything Changed During the Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples? Invited paper presented at the Stó:Lō Nation Justice Conference held in Mission, BC, March 22-24.

·         Ted Palys (2001). Are Canada and BC Meeting International Standards Regarding the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? Stó:Lô Nation and its Search for Justice. Paper presented at Stó:Lô Nation Conference 2001: Bridging the Millennia, Bridging Cultural and Legal Traditions, April 5-7, 2001

·         Ted Palys (1999). Vancouver's Aboriginal Restorative Justice Programme: The Challenges Ahead. Aboriginal Justice Bulletin, 3(1), 2-3.

·         Barry Warhaft, Ted Palys and Wilma Boyce (1999). “This is How We Did It”: One Canadian First Nation Community's Efforts to Achieve Aboriginal Justice. In a special issue of The Australia-New Zealand Journal of Criminology, entitled Crime, Justice and Indigenous Peoples, 32(2), 161-81.

·         Ted Palys (1997). Fifty years of human rights: The Universal Draft Declaration on Human Rights and its Legacy. Invited address to the Human Rights Fiftieth Anniversary Conference Celebration, held by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the United Nations Association, and Kla-How-Ya, at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, 8 December 1997.

·         Ted Palys (1996). Histories of Convenience: Understanding Twentieth Century Aboriginal Film Images in Context. Paper presented at an international conference regarding Aboriginal peoples and film entitled Screening Culture: Constructing Image And Identity, held in York, Great Britain, by the Aboriginal Studies Circle of the British Association of Canadian Studies. 

·         Ted Palys (1993). Considerations for Achieving "Aboriginal Justice" in Canada. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Western Association of Sociology and Anthropology.

·         Ted Palys (1993). Prospects for Aboriginal Justice in Canada. A position paper written for myself.

·         Ted Palys (1990). Ideology, Epistemology, and Modes of Inquiry: Aboriginal Issues, Trajectories of Truth, and the Criteria of Evaluation Research. Paper presented at a meeting of the West Coast Law and Society Group.