"An oft-heard criticism of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is that it’s an “aspirational” document, one with no teeth, enforceability or bearing in law, and thus a waste of time.

It is important to note that human rights are by nature, aspirational. They assert that we aspire to a higher code of ethics, a higher standard to which we hold our lives and our interactions with others.

While the UNDRIP does not yet have any force of international law or standards of practices, it is a significant marker, a placeholder in time. We take pause at this moment to appreciate the view—because to see where the UNDRIP may take us, we need to look back at where we’ve been."

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Lise Balk King: What UNDRIP Can Mean for the Future (Indian Country Today 4/24)