What Is Indigenous Self-Determination and When Does it Apply?

Self-determination is an expression often used in discussion of indigenous goals. However, the meaning of self-determination varies among Indigenous Peoples, scholars, international documents, and nation states. The most common meaning of self-determination suggests that peoples with common political and cultural organization have the right to self-government and territory. The latter use of the term self-determination was used by the United States, and to a large extent by the United Nations in the post-World War II period to argue that the many former colonies of European nations, including the British, French, Dutch, Germans, Italians and others, had the right to form independent nation-states, declare territory, and join in the United Nations and international commerce...