GRSJ224/Sovereignty
What is Sovereignty? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sovereignty refers to unlimited power over a country, and/or a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself. Concepts that relate to sovereignty include self-determination and autonomy, which both illustrate the amount and effect of external control over a country.
Sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms the "fundamental importance of the right to self-determination of all peoples", and further specifies that "indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development". However, the issue of indigenous peoples, groups, and tribes struggling to gain and/or maintain sovereignty is often the foundation through which other issues arise, including the struggle for indigenous environmental and land rights (Roy, 1998). As such, many indigenous groups are unable to truly live in an autonomous manner, without some influence of, or reliance upon the society in which they reside.
Sovereignty and Colonialism The official creation of the human right to self-determination resulted from an effort to make some reparations for damages to indigenous autonomy and sovereignty during the period of colonialism. The United National Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that "indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injus- tices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests". This was done via the Doctrine of Discovery, which was "used for centuries to expropriate indigenous lands and facilitate their transfer to colonizing or dominating nations" (Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 2012). Though the Doctrine has been repudiated by the United Nations, its lasting effects are still seen.
Sovereignty, The Doctrine of Discovery, and Terra Nullius The principle of terra nullius is internationally recognized as a manner through which land belonging to no one could be seized; it was used under colonialism with reinforcement from the Doctrine of Discovery (Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 2012). According to Robert A. Williams Jr., the Doctrine of Discovery is "based invalidly on racial superiority of Christian Europeans, compounded by regulations (Requerimiento), “discovery” used as framework for justification to “dehumanize, exploit, enslave and subjugate indigenous peoples and dispossess them of their most basic rights, laws, spirituality, worldviews and governance and their lands and resources”…ultimately the very foundation of genocide" (The American Indian in Western Legal Thought; 1990). This undermined the sovereignty of indigenous groups residing in regions, as terra nullius could only be imposed in regions "belonging to no one"; it was created in context of Western colonization of the world, and as such, any instances where the Doctrine of Discovery or terra nullius were imposed, need to instead be replaced with contemporary standards of human rights and international indigenous rights (UN Term).
"Terra Nullius" in Domestic Indigenous Cases
- Mabo (Australia)
In 1992, the High Court of Australia recognized Mabo indigenous title to land, and famously rejected both terra nullius and the Doctrine of Discovery. http://www.7genfund.org/sites/default/files/helpful-resources/Mabo%20v%20Queensland%20(No%202)%20(%2522Mabo%20case%2522)%20%5B1992%5D%20HCA%2023.pdf
- B.C. (Canada)
A 2010 case illustrated that Canada's policies and authority surrounding indigenous rights and land claims is still largely based in authorities stemming from ownership via the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius. http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GtnJiZIjsDIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Tracey+Lindberg,+“Contemporary+Canadian+resonance+of+an+imperial+Doctrine”,+in+Robert+J.+Miller+and+others&ots=U2AgDEM4Ga&sig=5Wvgp1zWjE5QIeQ3kOrfgtZRoUc#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Awas Tigni (Latin America)
Nicaragua was found to have violated multiple human rights through articles of the American Convention on Human Rights; specifically due to their failure to recognize land of Awas Tigni indigenous community. http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GtnJiZIjsDIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Tracey+Lindberg,+“Contemporary+Canadian+resonance+of+an+imperial+Doctrine”,+in+Robert+J.+Miller+and+others&ots=U2AgDEM4Ga&sig=5Wvgp1zWjE5QIeQ3kOrfgtZRoUc#v=onepage&q&f=false
Links:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N14/423/63/PDF/N1442363.pdf?OpenElement