January 14, 2025
AGENCY VILLAGE, SOUTH DAKOTA —— The Coalition of Large Tribes, an intertribal organization representing the interests of the more than 50 tribes with reservations of 100,000 acres or more, encompassing more than 95% of the Indian Country lands and more than half the Native American population, welcomes the statement issued today by the Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on her statement acknowledging the United States’ commitment to take measures to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Since 2014, the US has committed “to taking, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, appropriate measures at the national level, including legislative, policy and administrative measures, to achieve the ends of the Declaration and to promote awareness of it among all sectors of society, including members of legislatures, the judiciary and the civil service [and] to cooperating with indigenous peoples, through their own representative institutions, to develop and implement national action plans, strategies or other measures, where relevant, to achieve the ends of the Declaration.” (UNGA Resolution adopting the Outcome Document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples).
Important examples include the United States’ participation in a diplomatic conference leading to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s adoption in 2024 of the first ever international treaty to reference the Declaration and articulate protections for indigenous peoples’ genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. “COLT pushed hard for this result and will continue to press the United States to ratify this treaty and others to protect tribes’ traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge and honor the promises of the United States’ Treaties with tribes,” said COLT Chairman J. Garret Renville, Chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate.
Additionally, the Interior Department has issued new regulations embracing the Declaration’s safeguard of “free, prior, and informed consent” in certain instances regarding federal treatment of indigenous peoples’ human remains. “Representing COLT in Geneva, I have seen first hand how transformative international recognition of indigenous rights and concerns can be,” said COLT-Secretary / Treasurer Lisa White Pipe, Vice President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “Secretary Haaland’s statement, on behalf of the United States, provides a strong roadmap for continued good work on implementation of UNDRIP by future administrations.”
She observed, “While these are important measures, much more remains to be done in to ensure the basic rights of U.S. tribal citizens. It is critical for the U.S. remedy past harms to tribes committed during the federal Indian boarding school period, as well as to ensure public safety on reservations, devote substantial resources to health and healing, language preservation and revitalization, religious freedoms, and other basic human rights of tribal citizens going forward.”
Chairman Renville looked ahead. He said, “Together with partner organizations, COLT will continue to push for a national action plan to implement the UNDRIP, as well as appointment of Special Envoy on Global Indigenous Affairs to ensure federal-tribal consultation on international issues, and support for indigenous peoples’ participation through our representative institutions at the UN. Doing so would recognize and respect tribes’ constitutional foundations as nation states preexisting the United States. COLT looks forward to working with the Trump-Vance Administration on the next steps in this important work to make Indian country more safe, healthy and prosperous.”
CONTACTS:
COLT Chairman J. Garret Renville – (605) 268-0589, chairman@swo-nsn.gov
COLT Secretary / Treasurer Lisa White Pipe, Vice President, Rosebud Sioux Tribe – (605) 208-2122, lwhitepipe@rst-nsn.gov
COLT Executive Director OJ Semans – (605) 828-1422, tateota@hotmail.com