via Indian Country Today

President Barack Obama made major news during the second annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, announcing United States’ support for the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“[A]s you know, in April, we announced that we were reviewing our position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” the president said in a speech before tribal leaders Dec. 16 at the Department of the Interior. “And today I can announce that the United States is lending its support to this declaration.

“The aspirations it affirms – including the respect for the institutions and rich cultures of Native peoples – are one we must always seek to fulfill.”

Obama said the administration will release a more detailed statement about U.S. support for the Declaration.

While not legally binding under international law, the U.N. describes the declaration as setting “an important standard for the treatment of indigenous peoples that will undoubtedly be a significant tool towards eliminating human rights violations against the planet’s 370 million indigenous people and assisting them in combating discrimination and marginalization.”

Big news. Hat tip to David G.