Indigenous people are common elements in many countries. They constitute a minor part of the population; especially in the Americas they are largely the inhabitants that were present on the territory historically before the arrivals of the Europeans. The issues related to the indigenous people vary from socio-economic to cultural aspects of the country. It deals with the social integration and legislative norms such as human rights and right to self-determination. It is very important to note that nowadays the issue with indigenous rights has taken a strong political form in its nature, and the example for that is the Quebec.
As far as I am concerned, the problems with indigenous people arise because of the failure to socially integrate with the rest of the population. Indigenous people differentiate themselves from others, and claim for special treatment. In the case with Canada, the self-determination and the urge for state secession seems very doubtful for me, because both politically and judicially the indigenous people’s rights were not violated.
The main problem stems from the international law, as there is no special treaty or custom that would have defined clearly the legal and political status of the indigenous people. For that reason it is impossible to define the broader scope of the rights of indigenous people, and to define to what extent the independence is considered to be possible. The issue is very complicating in its turn, and it is merely important that international organizations took a major part in solving this issue, because it is very crucial for a lot of states apart from Canada.
These countries include also the Pacific region, the New Zealand and Australia. As there is no such special law and the help from the United Nations is hulled down to assist in indigenous struggles, the states are left alone to deal with this issue. The only possible measure for now is to support the rights of indigenous people in the state, by letting them being involved in the political life of the country and giving full rights for being represented at all layers of the society. The Canada should take into consideration the fact that it should apply all means to integrate indigenous people with the rest of the population, and support related policies towards that issue. The differences could serve as the means for unity, instead of the means of separation. The important point is to share the differences and to serve for the common good.
Reference
Turpel, M. E. (1992). Indigenous People's Rights of Political Participation and Self-Determination: Recent International Legal Developments and the Continuing Struggle for Recognition. Cornell Int'l LJ, 25, 579-602.
