United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: 10 Years of
a Powerful Message 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