ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the development of indigenous peoples’ rights through three cases: Australia, Finland and Greenland. Each represents a different stage of what might be regarded as progress in indigenous issues. For the past 20 years, Australia has been in the process of finally recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in its Constitution as the country’s indigenous peoples. There is hope that constitutional recognition will strengthen the peoples’ indigenous identity and finally legitimise the societal value of the country’s indigenous cultures. The discussion of Finland centres on the country’s lengthy but as yet unsuccessful process to ratify ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, a binding instrument adopted in 1989. The Convention is of great significance for the Sámi, the country’s indigenous people and their land rights. In the case of Greenland, the chapter looks into the country’s self-government, gained from Denmark in 2009, and the prospect of independence that this has enabled. While this development has sparked hopes for future wealth on the island, the era of self-government has shown that turning hopes into reality is challenging.
