Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms the “minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.” The Declaration responds to past and ongoing injustices suffered by Indigenous peoples worldwide, and provides a strong foundation for the full recognition of the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples. Despite this, Canada was one of the few countries to oppose the Declaration. With essays from Indigenous leaders, legal scholars and practitioners, state representatives, and representatives from NGOs, contributors discuss the creation of the Declaration and how it can be used to advance human rights internationally.

Jackie Hartley is a Policy and Research Officer with the Australian Human Rights Commission (the views expressed in the jointly authored Introduction and Conclusion are her personal views and not those of the Australian Human Rights Commission). Jackie previously worked as Policy Analyst with the First Nations Summit in British Columbia, Canada. She holds a Master of Laws from the Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy Program, University of Arizona, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales, where she was awarded the University Medal in History. She has taught Australian history and public law at the University of New South Wales, and is a member of the editorial panel of the Australian Indigenous Law Review.

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Paul Joffe is an attorney who, since 1974, has specialized in human rights and other issues relating to Indigenous peoples at the international and domestic level. For over two decades, he has been involved in international standard-setting processes, including those relating to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989. In 1998, he was involved in the Québec secession referendum, acting on behalf of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) before the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a member of the Québec and Ontario bars.

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Jennifer Preston is the Program Coordinator for Aboriginal Affairs for the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers). Educated at McMaster University, Hamilton (BA (Hons.), and the University of Guelph (MA), she has been a lecturer in Canadian Studies at the University of Waterloo. Her work in recent years has focused on international Indigenous rights, specifically the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She was involved in the lobbying to ensure the successful adoption of the Declaration at the United Nations in both Geneva and New York, and has worked with Indigenous and state representatives as well as human rights organizations in various regions of the world. Her work is now focusing on implementation of the Declaration.

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