Navajo woman at forefront of indigenous rights fight

Wednesday, March 12, 2008  

Valerie Taliman, a member of the Navajo Nation, has worked as an educator and journalist. Now she's talking indigenous rights issue on the international level.

Taliman, the director of communications for the Indian Law Resource Center in Montana, said the movement saw success last fall when the United Nations adopted the declaration on the rights of indigenous people. But she noted that the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which have large indigenous populations, voted against it.

Taliman said racist policies in the U.S. continue to hurt Indian people. She cited the federal government's mismanagement of the Indian trust and the illegal takings of Indian land.

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Anti-indigenous policies criticized (The Billings Gazette 3/12)