Applicability of the UD to Indigenous Peoples

It is interesting to note that in the United NationsÆ Declaration of Human Rights, the preamble clearly states: ôWhereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights, and fundamental freedomàö (UD 2) The immediate problem, within the United States, is that for some reason much of this idea of dignity and fundamental freedom does not seem to apply to Native Americans. It is important to identify what many people called ôIndiansö as Native Americans, since they were here long before the pilgrims and the conquistadors arrived on this continent. However, as some of the readings point out, the problem is land. ôLand has always been the issue central to North American politics and economicsà.Within North America, American Indian reservations

àconstitute a small but crucial æpiece of the rockÆö (LaDuke, 1996, p. 147). The interest of the American power elite, therefore, is not in the people now herded onto reservations, but on the valuable minerals, petroleum, and water, that lies beneath their lands.

It seems that the conditions in which the Bureau of Indian Affairs has left the indigenous peoples of North America is a clear violation of the principles enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, simply because these ôrightsö seem to be ignored in favor of mineral and water and gas and oil rights. W

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159). The cause seemed to be the so-called ôsafety standardsö under the Kerr-McGee Act. What is the true horror of this incident, management of the operation knew about cracks at least two months before the accident, and (LaDuke, 1996, p. 159) 1,700 Navajo people were immediately affected, their single water source contaminated beyond any conceivable limit. The contaminated water killed over 1,000 livestock, as well- all part of the attempt by the Navajos to carry on some sort of trade to sustain themselves and their families. As the author points out (159) the Navajo nation has been the victim of a number of incidents. Does this mean that the industrial giants of America are heartless? That is a philosophical question deserving of hundreds of pages of answers. But, it certainly seems that, in the name of ôprogressö there are sacrifices to be expected, and that Native Americans tend to be the lowest common denominator. Living in the nuclear age- which is seen as technological advancement with unlimited future potential, the major problem is not where to build the power plants, but where to get rid of the waste, the spent fuel; even, how to transport it safely from a plant to a repository. In 1982, Congress passed the Nucl
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Approximate Word count = 2315
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)