Fitting Indigenous Rights to Land and Resources into International Human Rights Law: The Challenge of Advocating within a State-Centred System

Abstract

The author questions whether it is effective to advocate for indigenous rights to land and resources in international human rights arena, given the state-centered structure of international law. The author examines why indigenous peoples have historically been excluded from the international legal arena;why the structure of international law causes challenges for the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights; why rights to land and resources are necessary components of indigenous peoples’ fundamental human rights; and in what ways indigenous rights to land and resources have been recognized in international human rights doctrine over the past several decades.