NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WILL BE

4 August 1998

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WILL BE

19980804 CELEBRATED AT NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS 5 AND 6 AUGUST

Ceremonies, Workshop, Music among Activities to Raise Awareness about Indigenous Peoples, Their History and Culture

Indigenous people from around the world will gather at United Nations Headquarters on 5 and 6 August to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Participants will mark the Day, officially observed on 9 August, with a sacred pipe ceremony, music, discussions, performances, presentations and workshops.

The celebration will open at 11:30 a.m. on 5 August with a drum convocation at the Visitors Entrance plaza. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will speak at the opening event.

At noon on 5 August, a traditional pipe ceremony will be carried out by Arvol Looking Horse, of the Lakota tribe and the nineteenth generation of "Keeper of the Sacred Buffalo Calf Pipe". Following a musical presentation, Ghanaian Chief Nana Osei Boakye Yiadom II will say a blessing for the children. A ceremonial presentation will then be conducted by Jose Luis Piaroa, an elder and community leader from the Venezuelan Amazon.

A panel will convene at 3 p.m. in conference room 4 to discuss this year's theme of the International Decade for the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004): language and education. Panelists will include United Nations representatives and indigenous peoples.

Throughout the day on Thursday, 6 August, a workshop will focus on United Nations human rights programmes and reporting mechanisms, focusing on issues of particular interest to indigenous peoples, including the environment and development, land rights and children's rights. The workshop will meet in conference room 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The International Day was created in 1994 by the General Assembly within the context of the International Decade for the World's Indigenous People

(1995-2004). The ninth of August was chosen as the Day in honour of it being the anniversary of the first meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1982. The first meeting of the Working Group of the Subcommission -- a subsidiary body of the Commission on Human Rights -- is viewed by many as the beginning of United Nations efforts on behalf of indigenous people.

The International Day provides an opportunity for groups, working together with indigenous peoples and other interested parties, to organize activities which raise awareness about indigenous peoples, their history, their cultures, their aspirations and contemporary issues. The first official observance in 1995 coincided with the first year of the International Decade, the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and the United Nations Year for Tolerance.

A goal of the International Decade is the adoption of a draft declaration on the rights of indigenous people. The draft affirms that indigenous peoples are equal in dignity and rights to all other peoples and recognizes the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such. It also affirms that all peoples contribute to the diversity and richness of civilizations and cultures, which constitute the common heritage of humankind. The draft, which is currently being considered by the Commission on Human Rights, also outlines protection of specific rights in the context of indigenous peoples, such as: religious practices; land rights and environment; language and oral traditions; self- determination and participation in decision-making; and access to education in their own language.

For further information on the International Day, please contact:

New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations, NY 10017 Room S-2914 Tel: (212) 963-5930; fax: (212) 963-5931

Development and Human Rights Section United Nations Department of Public Information United Nations, NY 10017 Room S-1040 Tel: (212) 963-3771; fax: (212) 963-1186

* *** *