Territorial autonomy and the rights of indigenous peoples in international law

Abstract

This paper examines the mechanisms through which indigenous peoples can recapture their political and territorial identity in international law. From a doctrinal perspective, the link between sovereignty and statehood is becoming increasingly tenuous; consequently, there is greater scope for sovereignty being perceived as a divisible concept that can be utilized by sub-State groups in order to achieve greater self-governance. This development is particularly advantageous to indigenous peoples since it enables them to transform their susceptible claims to pre-colonial statehood into viable contemporary entitlements. Indigenous sovereignty can be most effectively realized through the right of internal self-determination, which validates an entitlement to territorial autonomy that can protect and promote cultural identities without disrupting the territorial integrity of established States. Although a nascent right to autonomy exists in international law, it has gained greater salience for indigenous peoples as a result of their ongoing experiences of colonial oppression and their profound communal attachments to 'place,. Further, the origins of a specific indigenous entitlement to territorial autonomy are discernable from the IW Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (1989) and the draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1994); an evolving right that could facilitate the harmonious co-existence of States and indigenous peoples in keeping with the aims of contemporary international law.