U.N. Permanent Forum names North American representative

by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today

NEW YORK - Tonya Gonnella Frichner, an impassioned advocate for the rights of more than 370 million indigenous peoples in some 70 countries worldwide, has been named the North American representative to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Frichner is the founder and president of the American Indian Law Alliance and the vice chair of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, both nonprofit indigenous organizations dedicated to supporting, promoting and maintaining sovereignty, human rights and social justice for indigenous peoples through advocacy, grants, training, technical assistance and other assistance.

A citizen of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, Frichner is widely known for her dedicated work as an attorney, educator, advocate and longtime leader on behalf of indigenous peoples' rights throughout North America and beyond.

Born and raised in the Onondaga's traditional territories (what is now known as New York state), Frichner was imbued with and shaped by her people's history and culture, which she then applied through two decades of work in the United Nations and other international forums.

''Her life has been guided and defined by the rich international advocacy heritage of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, as well as by the excellent oratory and critical thinking skills she learned directly from her mother and family, and her chiefs and clan mothers whose ancestors were the first Indigenous Nation to execute a treaty with the new United States in 1776,'' Christopher Peters, president of Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, said in a prepared statement.

Frichner's legacy has impressed her with the power and importance of an indigenous presence in international relations, and of the critical significance of treaty rights and obligations between nation states and indigenous nations, Peters said.

''Clearly, such a perspective will be of great benefit to her new role in the U.N. Permanent Forum,'' Peters said.

The U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

The forum is the United Nation's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The forum holds annual two-week sessions in New York and Geneva.

Frichner's three-year term will begin Jan. 8, 2008, and run until December 2010, a period in which the struggle for the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the U.N. General Assembly will continue to take center stage.

Frichner is committed to the declaration's adoption.

''This document is built of the sweat and tears of indigenous peoples, and when adopted, it will provide hope and optimism for meaningful change for our peoples throughout the world,'' Frichner said in a statement announcing her election as representative to the forum.

The declaration was finalized last year at the forum's fifth session and adopted by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, but last fall the general assembly failed to adopt what has been called ''the most important international instrument for the promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples'' by Roberto Mucaro Borrero, of the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus, and chair of the NGO Committee on the Decade of the World's Indigenous People.

During last fall's session, a group of African states, many of which had chosen not to participate during 24 years of negotiating the declaration, blocked its adoption by voting to hold more ''consultations'' about the document. The move was made with the support and encouragement of New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the United States. These opponents are all countries with large populations of indigenous peoples who own significant land and resources, including more than 560 federally recognized tribes in the United States.

The sixth session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will take place at the United Nations in New York May 14 - 25. This year's special theme is Territories, Lands and Natural Resources.

President of Bolivia Meets with Indigenous Leaders in New York

Indigenous Leaders at the UN. UCTP News Photo:
(From left to right) Tonya Frichner; President Evo Morales;
Roberto Mucaro Borrero; Oren Lyons; and Sid Hill

by Roger Atihuibancex Hernandez,

UCTP Taino News Correspondent

United Nations, NY (UCTP Taino News) - Evo Morales Aima, an Aymara indigenous leader who was recently elected to Bolivia’s highest office as President met with a small group of indigenous leaders at the United Nations on Monday, September 18, 2006. The President, along with his country's Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, (Aymara), are in New York City for the first time attending the 61st Session of the General Assembly at the United Nations.

The meeting was hosted by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), an Indigenous Peoples’ non-governmental organization working in New York City.

A member of the President’s delegation, Tom Kruse stated that the meeting was set up at the request of President Morales and “is meant to be a substantive exchange between Indigenous leaders from the North and the South to discuss the issues shared by Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere.”

Representatives of the Haudenosaunee, Lakota, Cree, and Taino Nations participated in the historic meeting, which was described by Kent Lebstock of AILA as “another step in the undeniable presence of Indigenous Peoples in international advocacy, especially human rights."

A traditional welcome for President Morales was extended by Sid Hill, Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations, Iroquois Confederacy) from Onondaga in upstate New York. Other indigenous participants included Chief Oren Lyons, also from Onondaga; Chief Alex White Plume, Tribal Chairman of the Oglala Sioux Nation; Chief J. Wilton Littlechild, Ermineskin Cree Nation and member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), AILA Director; and Roberto Mukaro Borrero (Taino), Chairman of the Regional Coordinating Office of the United Confederation of Taino People. Several human rights advocates were also present including Esmeralda Brown of the United Methodist Church.

Substantive discussion among the participants took place and included issues such as lands, resources, the revitalization of traditional Indigenous processes in government, and conservation and environmental management. Advocacy toward the revocation of the 1493 Papal Bull and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the World’s Indigenous Peoples were other specific items discussed. The meeting coincided with the beginning of the General Assembly session where the issue of the Declaration is expected to be addressed.

During the meeting President Morales recounted parts of his personal and political history as well as key events that galvanized the rise of his political party to power in Bolivia. He also expressed his view that his work and that of his party are a continuation of the “500 Years of Resistance” campaign. The President stressed however, that the goal now is to move “beyond resistance to power” so that the “people” can live well.

“President Morales is an inspiration for all our Peoples, especially our youth in that he exemplifies what can be accomplished when we accept and affirm the profound teachings of our ancestors” stated Boriken Taino leader Roberto Mukaro Borrero.

Borrero continued by noting “don’t lie, don’t steal and don’t be lazy are basic laws that all Indigenous Peoples can relate to and it is a great honor to be present at time when these ancient ideals are once again being put into practice.”

President Morales considered meeting a success and felt that such meetings are his obligation as a “defender of Mother Earth.”

In a clear demonstration of his commitment President Morales not only invited the group to visit him in Bolivia but he also requested they draft comments about the Declaration, which he could consider incorporating in his speech to the UN General Assembly.