Contact State & White House TODAY on UNDRIP!

Tomorrow, July 15, is the deadline for public comment on the U.S. State Department's review of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [UNDRIP]. Only two nations - Canada and the U.S. - have openly opposed the Declaration, and Canada is now getting ready to add its endorsement. This leaves, as usual, the U.S. as the lone holdout. It's long past time for the U.S. to come to grips with its past, and to begin doing the right thing for the future. Below are two e-mail templates: one to the State Department; the other to President Obama. Feel free to use them, in whole or in part, to lend your voice to ours as we call on the federal government to do the right thing in this initial step to help protect the rights of indigenous peoples the world over. Note: When using the White House's Web contact from, be sure to check the box at the bottom asking for a response.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT

July 14, 2010

Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary, U.S. Department of State
C/O S/SR Global Intergovernmental Affairs
2201 C Street, N.W., Suite 1317
Washington, D.C. 20520

Via e-mail


Dear Secretary Clinton:

I write to ask you to expedite the State Department's review of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), and to recommend to President Obama that the U.S. become a signatory to the Declaration.

Canada has now expressed its intent to "'endorse" the Declaration, leaving the U.S. as the only country to oppose it. This does not reflect well on the U.S., either with regard to our international standing as a good citizen, or with regard to our country's desperate need to come to terms with the sins of its own past, which continue today to inflict a disparate negative impact upon our own indigenous peoples.

As a wisaakodewikwe, a woman of mixed-blood ancestry, I know all too well the dire straits in which too many of our Native peoples find themselves today, including the continuing loss of land, resources, culture, language, spiritual traditions, and even identity. UNDRIP is necessary to ensure the very survival of our peoples, both in the U.S. and around the globe. It is long past time for the United States to do the right thing: Become a signatory to UNDRIP, work to enforce it, and remove the taint that comes with being the only nation in the world actively to deny indigenous peoples this first step to ensuring their fundamental rights.

Please: Complete the review and recommend signing UNDRIP now.

Very truly yours,


Ajijaakwe ("Echo Maker Woman")

THE WHITE HOUSE

July 14, 2010

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
202.456.1414

CC: Kimberly Teehee, Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs

Via e-mail


Dear President Obama:

I write to ask you to expedite your Administration's review of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), and, on behalf of the United States, to become a signatory to the Declaration.

Canada has now expressed its intent to "endorse" the Declaration, leaving the U.S. as the only country to oppose it. This does not reflect well on the U.S., either with regard to our international standing as a good citizen, or with regard to our country's desperate need to come to terms with the sins of its own past, which continue today to inflict a disparate negative impact upon our own indigenous peoples.

As a wisaakodewikwe, a woman of mixed-blood ancestry, I know all too well the dire straits in which too many of our Native peoples find themselves today, including the continuing loss of land, resources, culture, language, spiritual traditions, and even identity. UNDRIP is necessary to ensure the very survival of our peoples, both in the U.S. and around the globe. It is long past time for the United States to do the right thing: Become a signatory to UNDRIP, work to enforce it, and remove the taint that comes with being the only nation in the world actively to deny indigenous peoples this first step to ensuring their fundamental rights.

Please: Sign - and enforce - UNDRIP now.

Very truly yours,


Ajijaakwe ("Echo Maker Woman")