Indigenous at the UN: An Interview with Roberto Múkaro Borrero
By Aja Two Crows
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Tuesday - July 11th
The United Nations has been a symbol of global connectedness for decades. American school children learn about the UN’s origins in the League of Nations. In the American mind, the UN has a certain glamorous prestige, in part because of post-World War II marketing and because we are told that the UN bridges global divides on matters from war, to famine, to climate change. And while this image of the UN is true to a certain degree, observers and those engaged in UN processes are often disgruntled by the lack of movement within its halls. Progress on complex issues can be arduously slow no matter where it is happening, but for those who depend on the UN for a platform lacking in their home nations—such as Indigenous Peoples—the process can be especially frustrating. Some within those communities wonder increasingly why they should even care about, or engage, the UN at all. So, for Indigenous Peoples and anyone looking to the UN for remedy, the question becomes what is the UN for and how do we use it?
To answer this question, we reached out to a dear friend and CEE advisor, Roberto Múkaro Borrero. Roberto has spent years advocating for the rights of Indigenous peoples and their interests at and beyond the UN. He is Guainía Taíno, from the island of Borikén (also known as Puerto Rico), and is traditionally sanctioned as kasike (chief). I wanted to meet with Roberto because I believe he offers a take on Indigenous liberation work that is insightful and built from years of work across local, national and international forums.
I sat down with Roberto and felt that first, we need to get a few things straight.
What is the UN?
Roberto: I think that many people get frustrated with the United Nations because they don't really understand the mandate or how the UN works. They hear or see a global body. They see world leaders convening and they think that the UN itself has the capacity or power to move a certain agenda forward. People have to remember that the United Nations is made up of its member states. States basically set the agenda, they agree on different agendas, and then it's up to the UN system to help remind them and to help move those agendas along. So, it’s not that the United Nations is over any country, it's really facilitating the work of bringing countries together around certain subjects. And then moving the agendas forward and sometimes it achieves its goals, sometimes it doesn’t.
Many people also, as much as they don't understand the UN, they don't understand Indigenous Peoples. They don't understand the character of Indigenous Peoples as nations, as peoples, as self-determining peoples, self-governing peoples and as people who name themselves. So, they often think about Indigenous Peoples in a kind of paternalistic sense, meaning that “these Native peoples, often primitive, not wanting to move forward with progress need to be taken care of like wards of a state.”—I’m putting all that in quotes of course.
As Indigenous Peoples, we never come to the UN, or we're not supposed to be there representing ourselves right as individuals; we're supposed to be connected to governments, right? So, you have a system here that doesn’t fully recognize the character of Indigenous Peoples.
Why bring Indigenous Peoples to the UN?
Roberto: I want to first remind and clarify that even the term Indigenous Peoples is linked to colonialism. And so, oftentimes because of our situation and because of our historic connection to colonization, we don’t find the remedy for our situations at the local or national level.
The UN presents opportunities. One time I was there, there was an opportunity to meet with government representatives and even high level government representatives that normally many Indigenous Peoples wouldn't be able to meet back in their home countries and so this provided an opportunity for raising the visibility of our issues, but also elevating who we are.
National Let Downs
Roberto: As Indigenous Peoples, we often get ignored, and there was a feeling amongst many tribal leaders very early on in the trajectory of the United Nations that if we cannot get restitution or we cannot get assistance for these situations that we face nationally as a result of colonialism, then we have to move away from trying to seek that remedy at the national level and try to seek international support as peoples, distinct peoples.
Over the years, I've seen many leaders of Indigenous Peoples, even those who seem more advanced in their advocacy processes, come to engage the United Nations. So, this means that even the more successful Peoples still are not finding the remedies they need nationally, so they come to the United Nations.
Impacts and Successes
Aja: Can you give us an example of a real world impact?
Roberto: Yes, we can see how the UN can support Indigenous Peoples especially in the elaboration and articulation of our human rights. It's through this process that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are understood as the rights of Peoples as indicated by the UN Charter. With the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, our inherent right to self-determination was recognized. Since then, we can engage the international system using that articulation. This means that the UN nation-states and the UN system not only recognized us, but they provided a framework for engagement. If it wasn't for that achievement, it would probably be more difficult for us to operate as distinct peoples within the UN system.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples happened because Indigenous peoples from around the world came together and lobbied states for a real articulation of our rights. And, even though we did not write the declaration, we were an active part of the process for about 30 years till its final adoption.
As a result of UNDRIP, we can now use safeguard language in other UN documents, which can potentially help when rights are being violated. This language can be used to remind states and other bodies that these codifications exist. International agreements affect us, so we have to lobby and use the recognized standards to support our positions.
Caveat
Roberto: UN Advocacy in the US context, for example, becomes a little more difficult because many times the UN programs are geared more for "developing countries". This means Indigenous Peoples in the US are not eligible for direct support, though there are partnerships that have been developed, for example, in the UN Environment Program and the United Nations Development program.
Aja: Understood, and it’s clear that this story is complex, but I want to pause here to look back and ask how we got here.
History
Roberto: Okay, back in the 1920s, following centuries of colonial suffering, two different Indigenous leaders went to the League of Nations—it wasn't even the United Nations yet—to seek remedy for the problems that they were facing. Chief Deskaheh from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was from North America. And there was also, following Deskaheh’s visit, a visit by Tahupōtiki Wiremu (T.W.) Ratana from the Māori people of Aotearoa, what's known as New Zealand now. These two leaders of their people didn't coordinate beforehand, they just came to the same conclusion on different sides of the world that they were not getting the remedy or what they wanted nationally, so they had to appeal to others outside that national context. So, they went to the League of Nations, and both were unsuccessful at bringing their concerns. They weren't even let in the door.
Aja: Wow, so, how did we get in?
Roberto: After the founding of the United Nations, Indigenous people started more actively engaging around the mid-1970s. They called for the UN to recognize them as distinct peoples who have governments, languages, cultures, lands and territories, et cetera. Since that time, there's been many great leaders who followed the footsteps of Deskaheh and Ratana to continue to seek remedy for their people. However, the only open door for Indigenous Peoples was to come through the NGO process. We engage the UN in a way that they see us not as vulnerable groups that need to be dealt with in a paternalistic way, but as rights holders and real partners in the agenda.
I know that the bureaucracy of the United Nations is frustrating but I tell you personally, just seeing the way things are around the world, while the UN is not the silver bullet to solve all of our problems, it could be a lot worse without the UN.
Drive it home
Roberto: And if they open the space for us and we don’t come, then they come up with their own conclusions. That could be even worse for our people than, you know, if we participate and they don't follow through. Then at least we can say that when we went there, we told them, we have the proof that we went, we presented and we spoke about X topic, but they didn't follow it up, right? You know, rather than just, well, we invited them, they didn't come.
Counter Arguments
Aja: Surely someone will ask the devastating question: what does any of this matter to me? Roberto, I want to ask you to address why it is important for Indigenous people to be at the UN from the perspective of non-Indigenous people. What do we bring to the table?
Roberto: Indigenous Peoples have profound perspectives on the Earth. Through the power of observation and spiritual communion over generations, our Peoples have made positive decisions that impact not only themselves, but their future generations, right? And so, that level of observation and being in connection with the environment is not something that an average urban person really thinks about or can grasp because their engagement with the environment is very structured and very limited. This is a perspective that is sorely needed within the international discussions on climate change and biodiversity, among others.
I’ll tell you one story as an example. In my community, ancestrally our folks would collect turtle eggs from the shores (turtles were not endangered at the time). The people knew that if they collected all the turtle eggs, there would be no turtles next cycle and they would be out of a real significant food source. Perhaps one generation picked too many eggs one year and it had a detrimental impact. They learned their lesson and then they had to work to rebuild that relationship. And so, that's like a little snippet of traditional ecological knowledge which is something most have lost.
At the Biodiversity COP 15
Aja: So how do you bring traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous wisdom to the COP process?
Roberto: Well, the COPs have their own frameworks and rules. Indigenous Peoples engage in these processes. Our engagement at COP15 was significant. And, in my opinion, we have to thank the International Indian Treaty Council, who developed particular safeguard language that was introduced to the Latin American Caucus of Indigenous Peoples in a pre-COP meeting. They endorsed this safeguard language strategy.
Basically, the language was introduced to make sure that somewhere in this [Global Biodiversity Framework] was a mention of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and that nothing in that framework could be construed as diminishing or extinguishing the rights of Indigenous Peoples that they currently have now or may acquire in the future.
Hopeful Wisdom
Aja: Well Roberto, thank you so much for being with us. This topic is daunting and we always appreciate your candor and clarity. I want to ask in these final moments if you have any wisdom to offer those who are afraid? Your tribe was the first to meet Columbus on the beach on that fateful day in 1493 so you all have been weathering the storm of colonization the longest.
Roberto: That’s right. Well, you know, Manatee is a Taíno, Carib word. They were like our buffalo. Some years ago, a baby manatee appeared in a lagoon on the island of Borikén (now known as Puerto Rico). One hadn't appeared there for many generations. And so what the elders told us was: “You see nature, our relatives are showing that what once sustained us is still here, we just have to recognize it and respect it and engage with it again.”
For me, remembering that story is about remembering who we are, where we come from, and being open to what signs nature can give us to show us that we're on the right track.
Photography Attributes:
Caleb Oquendo - Bird's Eye View of Waves Rushing To The Shore - Page 17
Jolo Diaz - Blue Turtles on Brown Sand - Page 23 & 24
Caleb Oquendo - Scenic View Of Mountains During Daytime - Page 25 & 26
Illustrations by Aja Two Crows