A/59/258 comprehensive indigenous human rights package. This also applies to the right of indigenous peoples to freely develop their cultures, including through free access to the mass communications media and the conservation of their sacred sites and objects and of their traditions. 47. The idea of multiculturalism does not imply the artificial preservation of indigenous (or tribal) cultures in some sort of museum, but only the right of every human community to live by the standards and visions of its own culture. Some cultures change over time, but whether there will ever be one universal culture or any number of interrelated local, regional, ethnic and national cultures, only time will tell. In human rights terms, it is clear that cultural rights pertain to every individual, yet these rights can only be fully enjoyed by all persons in community with other members of the group. Thus, indigenous people require guarantees that their cultures will receive the respect and consideration that other groups in society also enjoy, and that they will have the freedom to develop their cultural creativity in communion with other members of their group. At the international level, these issues have been taken up by UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with regard to the cultural heritage and intellectual property of indigenous peoples. 48. The cultural rights of indigenous peoples are also addressed in a number of national legislations, though not always with the clear intent of promoting and enhancing them. For example, in the Philippines, the Constitution includes several provisions concerning the rights of the “cultural communities”, and article XIV, paragraph 7, states that “the State shall recognize, respect and protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions, and institutions”. The constitutions of some Latin American countries contain similar provisions. In Japan, the Ainu culture is legally recognized, but it is not established as an inherent right of the Ainu people. 49. It was pointed out above that indigenous cultures are closely linked to the concept of land rights and the occupation and possession of territorial homelands. A question frequently asked of indigenous peoples is whether their cultural identities can survive in a de-territorialized environment, that is, in dispersed settlements and urban centres where indigenous migrants live interspersed with non-indigenous populations. In many countries, indigenous people have settled in the large cities; examples include Baguio City, Philippines; Santiago de Chile; and Winnipeg, Canada. Thousands of indigenous migrants from various Mexican states are now living in cities in the United States of America. The human rights of indigenous migrants are an issue of special concern, as the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants of the Commission on Human Rights has noted. 50. How the cultural, educational and linguistic rights of indigenous peoples are being protected — or not — under varying circumstances is an empirical question that needs more comparative research. UNESCO has recommended that States take special measures to ensure the protection and promotion of indigenous cultures. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has set out guidelines that require States to take specific measures aimed at the promotion of cultural identity and the “awareness and enjoyment of the cultural heritage of national ethnic groups and minorities and of indigenous sectors of the populations”. The Commission has established a working group on the rights of indigenous populations and communities and is also encouraging indigenous peoples of Africa, among other 14

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