Tribal Implementation Toolkit

The important role of tribes was highlighted in a 2017 Resolution of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which, per the Resolution: Affirms and recognizes the critical role held by Indigenous constitutional and customary tribal governments, as the direct and accountable representatives to constituencies of Indigenous Peoples and tribes of the United States, in the implementation of t. [...] 2 Wholesale Adoption of the Declaration Some tribes may wish to adopt the Declaration “wholesale,” and amend tribal law to recognize and incorporate the entirety of the instrument, including its preamble and forty-six operative provisions, or to adopt a localized version of the Declaration, specific to the unique circumstances and needs of the individual tribe. [...] The Nation ultimately adopted the Muscogee Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: WHEREAS, the translation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Mvskoke language is an exercise of the Nation’s sovereign rights with the ultimate goal of removing the legal and cultural obstacles that prevent the Muscogee people from continuing their traditional and ceremonial life. [...] Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains. [...] The rights and freedoms of the people to the use of the sacred elements of life as mentioned above and to the use of the land, natural resources, sacred sites and other living beings must be accomplished through the proper protocol of respect and offering and these practices must be protected and preserved for they are the foundation of our spiritual ceremonies and the Diné life way.