There is international concern about the status and protection of indigenous people and their knowledge and culture.
The Mataatua Declaration
In 1993, the first International Conference on the Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted the Mataatua Declaration on Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous People. Although the Declaration has no formal legal power, it clearly indicates the issues and concerns of indigenous peoples regarding intellectual and cultural property rights.
The Mataatua Declaration declares that:
"Indigenous Peoples of the world have the right to self determination and in exercising that right must be recognised as the exclusive owners of their culture and intellectual property...the first beneficiaries of indigenous knowledge (culture and intellectual property rights) must be the direct indigenous descendants of such knowledge." |
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
On Thursday 29 June 2006, the Human Rights Council adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and recommended its adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
