E/CN.4/2002/97 page 18 55. The land rights issue cannot be separated from the issue of access to, and use of natural resources by indigenous communities. These rights are recognized in Convention 169 (art. 15) and in articles 28 and 30 of the draft declaration.24 The draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples has similar wording.25 56. Indigenous organizations have insistently demanded that attention be given to these rights, because access to the natural resources available in their habitat is essential for their economic and social development. Too frequently, such resources are being extracted and/or developed by other interests (oil, mining, logging, fisheries, etc.) with little or no benefits for the indigenous communities that occupy the land. Whereas the World Bank has developed operational directives concerning its own activities in relation to these issues (see Introduction) and some national legislation specifically protects the interests of indigenous communities in this respect, in numerous instances the rights and needs of indigenous peoples are disregarded, making this one of the major human rights problems faced by them in recent decades. 57. The Special Rapporteur considers, on the basis of the evidence and in agreement with Ms. Daes, that land, territory and resources together constitute an essential human rights issue for the survival of indigenous peoples, and proposes to pursue this issue further by looking more closely at the lessons that can be learned from a study of particular cases in different parts of the world. C. Education and culture 58. The extensive literature produced over the last few decades on the situation of indigenous people around the world shows that they maintain, generally speaking, a cultural distinctiveness which distinguishes them clearly from other groups in society and from those sectors that are usually identified by the concept of “national culture”. There are many features associated with this cultural distinctiveness, and in this report the Special Rapporteur wishes to underline only a few of those that have a direct bearing on the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people. 1. Language 59. Mention must be made in the first place of the importance of language in providing an essential cultural distinctiveness to any people. Language, as specialists have shown, is not only a medium of communication, but also a crucial element in the structuring of thought processes and in providing meaning to the natural and social environment of any person. A language community is also an epistemic community, that is, it links people through their participation in a common medium and in shared understandings. Indigenous language communities provide their members with the full range of cultural meanings attached to the use of a shared idiom. Most indigenous languages are very ancient and while they have undergone changes - just like any other language - they are transmitted from generation to generation and thereby help preserve the continuity of a language community and its culture. 60. Language rights are an essential element of the cultural rights that all persons enjoy under international human rights standards. The right to one’s own language pertains not only to individuals but also to communities, nations and peoples. If a language community as such is