Declaration Project

Memorial Letter from the Cherokee Nation to Congress – 1829

Editor’s note: Though not officially a declaration, this eloquent ‘memorial letter’ written in 1829 by tribal leaders of the Cherokee Nation and delivered to both chambers of Congress — just as it was set to debate Indian removal bills — springs in many respects from our Declaration of July 4, 1776, but also they point […]

Inter-American Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1995)

Editor’s Note: Iin 1989, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was asked by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) to compose a declaration of rights of “indigenous populations.” This declaration was intended to have legal standing. In February 1997, this draft declaration was endorsed by the Commission. Our understanding is that it has […]

Declaration of Continuing Independence – First Indian International Indian Treaty Council (1974)

Editor’s Note:  This declaration emerged out of a growing activist movement among Native Americans to re-establish their autonomous rights of government, their rights under existing treaties, and their continued grievances with the U.S. government and how their rights have been continually subverted. Nearly 100 indigenous tribes and Nations took part in the 1974 gathering at Standing […]