Photo by Broddi Sigurðarson.

On September 13, 2007, an event over two decades in the making happened: the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 143 countries voted in favor of the Declaration; although the United States voted against it, the U.S. has since voiced its support for the Declaration.

The Declaration addresses issues such as the right to self-determination, preservation of cultural heritage and ethnic identity, and the forcible removal of indigenous peoples from their lands or territory. Work to ensure the implementation of the Declaration continues, particularly by the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which meets for its thirteenth session in May 2014.