ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that because Indigenous rights ultimately push for a set of fundamental changes in the international order, which can have long-term and extremely broad potential effects, the passage of the Declaration by the UN General Assembly was an important transformational moment in global politics. It also argues while states have indisputably dominated and disrupted the emergence of Indigenous rights in multiple ways, in precisely the ways which these critics point out, the final draft of the Declaration actually does live up to the vast majority of its original intent, as articulated by the Indigenous rights movement in the 1970s. Its case study of the Declaration process, comprising documentary analysis coupled with interviews, demonstrates several important points about how the final text largely lives up to its original intent, and also represents several important global shifts. The final report, published in 1987, serves as an accessible and comprehensive summary of the conclusions, proposals, and recommendations of the full report.
