World Council of Indigenous Peoples

The World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) was a formal international body
dedicated to having concepts of aboriginal rights accepted on a worldwide scale. The
WCIP had observer status in the United Nations, a secretariat based in Canada and
represented over 60,000,000 Indigenous peoples worldwide.
The council dealt with the economic, cultural, political, and social rights of indigenous
peoples, along with the retention of their land and natural resources. Before
dissolving in 1996 the WCIP was a powerful force for indigenous peoples, giving its
members a concrete experience in international politics.

Indigenous Rights[edit]
The WCIP was built upon the shared history of Indigenous peoples around the world.
The WCIP believes that indigenous peoples have experienced a shared history of
intimidation, threat, deprivation, injustice, discrimination and genocide, and have felt
themselves threatened by extinction. They seek rights to self-determination and self-
government, as the WCIP believes that colonialism has rendered them vulnerable to
domination and control by more powerful nations and peoples.[1]
The WCIP was the first global effort established by indigenous peoples to preserve
and protect the group integrity of aboriginal and indigenous peoples worldwide. They
regard the "preservation and protection of Indigenous interests essential to the
preservation of world peace and world development."[1]

Formation[edit]
George Manuel, President of the National Indian Brotherhood and member of
the Shuswap Tribe of British Columbia, had travelled with Jean Chrétien to New
Zealand. Upon his return, Manuel said:
"I hope that the common history and shared values that we discovered in each other
are only the seeds from which some kind of lasting framework can grow for a
common alliance of Native Peoples."
In 1972 Manuel, along with the General Assembly of the National Indian Brotherhood
(NIB) endorsed the idea of an international conference of indigenous peoples. It also
authorized the NIB to apply for Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status at the
UN.
The first preparatory meeting for the world conference was held from April 8 - 11th
in Guyana 1974. It included representatives from Australia, Canada, Colombia,
Greenland, Guyana, New Zealand, Norway and the United States.
They developed a social and political definition of "indigenous people" which stated:
"The term indigenous people refers to people living in countries which have a
population composed of differing ethnic or racial groups who are descendants of the
earliest populations living in the area and who do not as a group control the national
government of the countries within which they live."
In May 1974 the NIB was granted NGO status by the Economic and Social Council
of the UN, based on the fact that there was not yet another international organization
of indigenous peoples in existence. The NIB was thus supposed to transfer its NGO
status to an international organization should one form.

The Conference[edit]
The final international conference was held in Port Alberni, British Columbia, from
October 27 - 31st, 1975. It was hosted by the Sheshaht Band of the Nuu-chah-
nulth people on reserve land. Representatives were present from the following
countries: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Greenl
and, Guatemala, Mexico, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden, the United
States and Venezuela. There were 260 participants, 135 observers, 25 members of
the press and 54 staff members present. Each country wore its traditional garb and
showed cultural pride through song, dance and ceremony.
The delegates were scheduled to attend 5 workshops, each pertaining to important
indigenous issues:

1. representation at the United Nations

2. the Charter of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples
3. social, economic and political justice
4. retention of cultural identity
5. retention of land and natural resources.
The final days of the Conference elected George Manuel as chairman, Sam
Deloria of the US as secretary general, and also elected a board of representatives.
Finally, the conference resolved to prepare a study of the problems of discrimination
against Indigenous peoples, and decided that the WCIP would take over the NGO
status of the NIB.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is an Indian social movement that was started in
1985 by local tribal people, farmers, environmentalists, and human rights
activists. The movement's main aim is to oppose the construction of large dams on
the Narmada River. The Narmada River flows through the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.
The movement was formed by activist Medha Patkar. Patkar's campaigns are based
on two basic tenets in the Indian constitution: the rights to life and to livelihood.
The movement's biggest triumph was in 1993, when the World Bank withdrew its
Narmada loan and published an independent review of the project.
The Narmada Valley Project is the largest river development project in the
world. It envisages the construction of thirty large and hundreds of small dams
along the Narmada River. The Sardar Sarovar Dam and Narmada Sagar would
have displaced close to 250,000 people once it was erected