The Rise of International Indigenous Rights in the United States

Limit: 20 Students

This seminar focuses on understanding and implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into United States law and social policy. It will trace the rise of indigenous rights in international human rights law leading to the UNDRIP. It will then survey federal Indian law to compare the UN standards with domestic law and policy to identify areas where domestic law fails to meet the UN standards. It will explore reasons to implement the UN standards; how implementation might be accomplished through a broad-based social movement; and what philosophical principles can guide us toward a new human rights framework. Readings will be based principally on Professor Echo-Hawk’s book, In the Light of Justice: The Rise of Human Rights in Native America and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Grades in this seminar will be based on attendance (5%), active classroom participation (5%), performance in live class presentations (10%), and a paper (80%). Paper topics will be assigned by the professor early in the semester. The paper will require a draft and re-write according to a schedule the professor will provide; it will qualify for the Capstone requirement.