Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere have an ancient tradition of Nationhood, that developed long before Europeans arrived on our shores. Our traditional values are the basis for our social and political institutions, as well as our sense of place within the natural world.

It was evident from our first contact with those who arrived here over 500 years ago, that our basic philosophies on life were different. This created conflict and that conflict still continues today.

Despite the brutality lodged against Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere, we continue to exist to challenge the systems of religions and the philosophies of governance of our white brothers from Europe.

Indigenous Peoples have a long History of being victims of development projects throughout the world. We live in what is called undeveloped or underdeveloped territories, and the natural resources, the land and the water, are the targets of development.   The extraction of our natural resources results in a fundamental change in the natural environment, where we have culturally and physically adapted for thousands of years.

That development is now promoted as sustainable development. The term itself is an oxymoron. Sustainable and Development contradict each other. Development involves the extraction of resources, but if resources are plundered, how is that sustainable?

Our development came in the form of subsistence, and still does: subsistence hunting, subsistence fishing, gathering, and fur trading. Indigenous Nations also participated in active trade and commerce with each other, as well as with the United States and European Nations.

But even today, those who are well meaning work to halt our ways of life. Consequently they have wrecked the economies of many Indigenous Peoples. Today we have forced upon us globalization, which is the integration of trade, finance and information that is creating a single global economy. And the globalization mechanism or the agreement created to make all this happen in the Western Hemisphere, is NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

NAFTA is a radical experiment in rapid deregulation of trade and investment among the governments of the U.S., Mexico,  and Canada. Effective since 1995, NAFTA has resulted in lowered wages, worsening health and working conditions in Mexico and a decline in environmental and labor standards across borders. NAFTA, as well as the World Trade Organization, focuses on regulatory policy, not traditional trade matters such as tariffs and quotas, NAFTA and WTO pacts prioritize commerce over other goals and values. They do this by setting constraints on governmental policies concerning among other things, the environment, food or product safety, and social justice.

For instance, under NAFTA, industry is allowed to sue governments. And under WTO, any violations against their rules are heard by a panel composed of representatives of industry. A country can file against another country at the WTO offices in Geneva, Switzerland. The WTO Secretariat has an appeals process; however, a unanimous agreement between members can stop this process. None of the basics of jurisprudence are followed and there is no inherent democratic process. No outside appeal is allowed. A government's sole option is to pay the complainant and to change their domestic laws. Trade sanctions are automatic.

The theory is that deregulation or free trade will make things better. This is an ideological construct. WTO and NAFTA are not about free trade, They are about the rules of trade. WTO and NAFTA are about industry managed trade. For instance (Canada and three other governments have issued reports on cities throughout the world which have local laws that violate WTO rules. Every day the lines between industry and governments blur a bit more.

This brings us to how the mechanisms affect us all individually; how they affect our families, our communities, and Indigenous Peoples throughout the world whose territories sit on many of the world's resources. Indigenous Peoples in the United States are still the poorest of the poor. We have the highest rates of infant mortality, the highest rates of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and the lowest rates of income. President Clinton recently visited the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota; located in one of the poorest countries of the United States. He was the first president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to do so.  In the view of Ghandi, poverty is the worst form of violence

I respectfully offer the following recommendations:

1 - A permanent forum for indigenous Peoples within the World Trade Organization

Indigenous Peoples are faced with two strong legal norms. The first is sovereign governments who do not recognize our customary laws. The second pertains to intellectual property rights, which stress private rights as opposed to collective rights. Our intellectual property is being restructured genetically under the pretense that a new version of our medicines, our plants, and our national patrimony is new.

Since the WTO gives direct access to the natural resources located on indigenous territories, it would be most appropriate for Indigenous Peoples be parties to all discussions and negotiations.

2 - Public debate of these issues and institutions must be conducted, in order to introduce a concrete proposal of an international commercial policy. The debate should include all parties involved and be conducted with full disclosure and transparency.

3 - A North/South dialogue must include the North's need for standards, and the South's need for sustainable development.

4 - On a national level, there is a need to expand and enforce internationally recognized labor rights, for example, ILO 169, as well as to adopt the Draft Declaration on the Rights of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Labor rights need to be incorporated into Trade Laws, and industry must be required to meet international labor standards.

On an international level, there is a need to incorporate standards into trade organizations and international financial institutions.