"When indigenous leaders first visited the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland in 1977, they were seeking justice and a fair forum for the many treaty and human-rights violations being committed against Native peoples by the governments that had colonized their homelands.

It was a time when Indian country was throbbing with activism and a time when civil and human rights were at the forefront of the national conversation following demonstrations at Alcatraz and Wounded Knee and the ongoing protests over the Vietnam War.

Even though they were able to push their issues onto the front pages of newspapers around the world, many Native activists and leaders eventually realized that they would never get justice in the courts and political systems, and came to believe that the system was stacked against them. The many losses for Indian nations in the United States Supreme Court were a resounding message that Native land and water-rights claims would never be fairly decided there. It was clear to these leaders that they needed to go beyond the courts of Canada and the United States for intervention and sanctions—and for justice."

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Valerie Taliman: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: 10 Years of a Powerful Message (Indian Country Today 5/16)