Indigenous Rights: International Aspects of New Zealand Maori Experience

Abstract

The increasing international attention to indigenous peoples' issues inspired this Master's Thesis. Its analysis focuses on the impacts of international human rights law and United Nations instruments on domestic legislation. Experiences of New Zealand Maori demonstrate the challenges which indigenous people face when attempting to articulate their collective rights under the existing international and national political structures. The topic raises questions concerning state sovereignty, international governance, and democratic participation. The study contains three parts. Part I provides a brief description of the historical roots of Maori relations with the New Zealand Government. The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 by Maori and the Crown, established the basis for subsequent aboriginal rights claims. However, Maori, like many indigenous people, do not feel that their rights are adequately protected or promoted domestically. Maori representatives have used both national and international institutions to try to increase protection of their rights. Part II reveals the obstacles to participation by indigenous groups in the drafting, ratification, and implementation of international human rights laws. Part III examines the United Nations' Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The on-going drafting process highlights fundamental breakdowns in communication between government diplomats and indigenous delegations to the United Nations. The experiences of New Zealand Maori testify to the need for both national and international levels of government to incorporate non-nation participants in a dialogue of Treaty formation. Forums at both levels must include indigenous groups directly into drafting, ratification, and implementation of the treaties concerning their rights.