ABSTRACT

This chapter identifies and discusses one such nuanced behavior: the practice of selectively endorsing Indigenous rights. It explores the phenomenon of selective endorsement through the history of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, specifically within the anglosphere community. Robert Hill concluded his statement with a somewhat derisive reminder that the Declaration was merely an aspirational document, and, due to concerns over its content, status, and process, Australia would not support it. The Mori affairs minister ended by acknowledging and restating the special cultural and historical position of Mori as the original inhabitants the tangata whenua of New Zealand, and by offering platitudes of possible paths forward and encouragement and inspiration for the future. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA were able to maneuver themselves out of a human rights dilemma, in which they stood alone in the world in their expressed opposition to international Indigenous rights.