DOCUMENT: GRENLAND.TXT
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS
11th SESSION
July, 1993
GENEVA
DECLARATION
by the Prime Minister of Greenland
on Home Rule
Madame Chairman, Honourable Members of the Working
Group, Distinguished Representatives of States and
Indigenous Peoples.
During the eleven years of this Working Group's
existence the world has changed radically. Some changes have
been positive for our hopes for new global opportunities
Other changes have conjured up frightening monsters that we
had hoped belonged to the past.
I am thinking of the changes in the world's block
structure which have given a new lease of life to hopes for
democracy, equality and human rights At the same time I am
thinking of the racial and ethnic conflicts which have
arisen in the wake of the very same changes.
While this Working Group has worked on the creation of
paragraphs, which were intended to set minimal standards for
the world's treatment of indigenous peoples it has been
proved in several places that the problems this Working
Group discusses can be solved.
In those places it has been shown that the recognition
of the indigenous populations as peoples and the respect for
the right of self-determination is not destructive for a
state's unity.
Unfortunately, developments in other areas have shown
that ignoring wishes for new partnerships and self-
government between states and ethnic groups can lead to
violent conflicts In the worst cases this develops into war
and ethnic cleansing.
Regarding the positive as well as the negative
developments, the United Nations is at the centre. It is to
the UN that everyone turns when the good must be
strengthened and the bad must be stopped. There is no higher
place of appeal to the conscience of the world.
The establishment by the UN, of this Working Group in
1982, expresses all the hopes placed in this world
organization.
Firstly, the UN took a big and positive step by
recognising that the rights of indigenous peoples must be
treated as distinct from the minorities issue.
By this act alone, the UN system recognised that we,
the indigenous peoples, are in fact distinct peoples and not
just sub-groups within states.
Secondly, the establishment of the Working Group was an
expression of the wish of the UN - and later also of the ILO -
for a change of attitude.
This was a wish for a change of past policies of
assimilation towards a recognition of our right to separate
cultural, linguistic and economic forms of living within
nation states.
Thirdly, the establishment of the Working Group was an
expression of the recognition of indigenous peoples as
members of the global community. It was recognised that we
no longer belonged solely to the states in which we live,
but that we were distinct cultures belonging to
international society.
Finally, we must hope that through the Working Group,
the UN can achieve results which will set the standards on
how individual states can create new forms of self-
government for indigenous peoples. Last week's progress on
the draft declaration was certainly an important step
towards the fulfillment of these expectations.
Precisely by setting uniform standards for the rights
of indigenous peoples the states will achieve a situation
where the UN also becomes a place of appeal for them.
It will mean the creation of a third party, in the
relationship between indigenous peoples and states to whom
both parties are equal. A new partner to whom both can turn
for advice and support.
That is why this declaration by the Working Group is so
important for us indigenous peoples as well as for the
states we belong to.
During the whole process, it has been a sign of the
Working Group's wisdom that it has operated through open
meetings where everyone was allowed to speak.
This praiseworthy openness has been an excellent symbol
of the wish for a result based on mutual respect.
As the representative of an indigenous people, I wish
to emphasize to the Chairman and to the members of the
Working Group our appreciation of this attitude.
We have felt a deep respect for the willingness to
listen in patience and in understanding to our statements
over the years gone by.
No matter what the final result will be of this text of
declaration, which we all know must be based on compromises,
the process itself has been a big step forward towards
making indigenous peoples more visible on the world scene.
I believe that many of us have learned how to become
more visible on the international scene. At the same time,
we have learned that we too must respect the values and
cultural rights of our counterparts.
It is an incredibly complicated process for different
peoples to live together in a single state.
In order to avoid war and terror we must seek an
understanding of each other's cultures in a continuous
dynamic process. This understanding must be based on respect
for the individual human being as well as for the peoples We
must build on mutual loyalty based on respect for our
differences.
Lack of respect for other cultures as well as blind
self-satisfaction is the seed of any racism.
Madame Chairman,
We are aware that even with a UN Declaration on
Indigenous Peoples' Rights, only a few of our problems will
be solved.
The solution of the specific problems lies in
continuous co-operation and negotiations between the
individual peoples and their governments.
Already 14 years ago, Greenland established self-
government. A self-government which in virtually every way
incorporates all the aspirations of the draft declaration.
I am proud to be able to say that this has not only
been of tremendous importance to my people in Greenland, but
also to the unity of the Danish Kingdom.
I am completely aware that our model is not necessarily
suitable for other indigenous peoples and states.
But, hopefully, these positive results can prove that
self-government for indigenous peoples can lead to the
absolute opposite of secession from the nation state.
I would also like to point to the positive initiatives
taken for instance in the creation of the Nunavut-agreement
in Canada and the Sami Parliaments in Scandinavia.
Equally, positive steps have been taken in several
places in Latin America, in Australia, and also with the
arrangements in the international community which New
Zealand has made for the Cook-Islands.
All this proves that positive, just and dynamic
agreements can be created between mother states and
indigenous peoples None of these have yet had any negative
effect on the unity of the states.
But even when our fundamental rights have been granted
and we get new opportunities to develop our communities and
economies, we, as indigenous peoples are faced with problems
of an international magnitude.
Like all other peoples we are interested in creating
our own economic developments based on an active
participation in the international economy.
We need the protection of the international community
against the campaigns which are launched against our
wildlife-products on purely ethnocentric grounds. Products
which are harvested in full accordance with the
international standards for sustainable use.
In general, we need the help and support of the world
community in order to develop and protect our own economic
opportunities on the world market.
Here lies a big task which, unfortunately, can not be
solved alone through ILO convention 169 or with the coming
UN declaration.
We simply need the UN to maintain and enhance its work
with fundamental human rights as well as the rights of self-
development for the indigenous peoples.
Madame Chairman,
We are in the midst of the UN year for indigenous
peoples We are grateful that the UN General Assembly decided
to proclaim this year and we are well aware that it is to
the credit of this Working Group.
But the year must not only become a cultural
manifestation of our presence on this globe. It must be used
for pointing towards a permanent place for the indigenous
peoples in the new world order, which is today being built
up with the UN at the centre.
Thus it is necessary as a specific result of this year
to create a permanent institution within the UN which can
continue the positive contributions of the Working Group.
I would like to draw your attention to the UN Meeting
of Experts on Indigenous Peoples and Self-government which
was held in Greenland in 1991.
This meeting developed a series of principles for
national as well as international cooperation in relation to
indigenous peoples, the Nuuk Conclusions and Recommendations
I know that the Working Group has used these conclusions as
a source of inspiration in the drafting process.
When the time comes for the discussion of the Working
Group's future role, I feel that the Nuuk conclusions can be
an inspiration again.
It is my firm belief that this document can create a
valuable workbasis for a new institution within the UN,
dealing with the international needs of indigenous peoples.
Madame Chairman,
I started by pointing to the positive as well as the
negative developments in the world, which we are witnessing
today.
On closing, I would like to emphasize that we, as
indigenous peoples, do not have any wish to see new systems
based on negative ethnic criteria.
We wish to learn from the positive when it is happening
through new regional political forms of self-government, as
well as from the negative when ethnic chauvinism takes
control.
To this end we wish for the UN's help, so that we, the
indigenous peoples, through a peaceful dialogue with our
states, obtain the opportunity to show the world that
cultural diversity is of benefit to all and is part of the
battle for a richer and more peaceful world.
Thank you Madame Chairman.
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