A/HRC/21/53 J. Children and youth 80. Indigenous children and youth have an important role as progenitors of indigenous languages and cultures. Many indigenous children and youth have no or limited access to education in their languages or to curricula reflecting their history, languages, creation stories and teaching them how language and culture reinforce their identity and their relationship to the land and all of Creation. K. Assimilation 81. The perceived threat of indigenous cultures to “the national identity” has led many States to counter-factually deny the existence of indigenous peoples and to implement policies directed at assimilating them into mainstream society. Assimilation of indigenous peoples and individuals into mainstream cultures is a violation of international human rights law and especially indigenous peoples’ and individuals’ right to culture. 82. The forced and sometimes violent separation of indigenous children from their families and placement in boarding, residential or day schools or orphanages, with the aim of assimilating them into mainstream culture, constitutes a serious and ongoing breach of indigenous peoples’ rights to culture, contrary to article 8 of the Declaration. Indigenous peoples’ rights to engage in economic activities associated with their culture L. 83. Indigenous peoples’ economic activities embody much of their culture and often involve the application of their knowledge, skills, technologies and values, as passed down to them by their ancestors. They may also contain information about the sustainable use of the natural environment. M. Importance of indigenous cultures and languages for indigenous health 84. The importance of indigenous languages and cultures to their social, mental and physical health has been highlighted. The dislocation and disaffection experienced by indigenous peoples who have been colonized, dispossessed, urbanized and assimilated has had a devastating impact on the health of many indigenous peoples as collectives and as individuals. In contrast, strong cultural affiliations to cultures can be positive and, “protective factors against the high risk of suicide in indigenous communities”.70 N. Cultural relativity 85. As the Independent Expert has noted, “there is a misplaced tendency to equate cultural diversity with cultural relativism.” 71 Equally, it has been noted that the full promotion and protection of cultural rights has been hampered by the perception that these support cultural relativity, undermining the universality of human rights. As outlined above, cultural diversity is of universal value, with each culture and language contributing to our understanding of human capacity. Similarly, cultural rights are of universal 70 71 18 Submission from Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada). A/HRC/14/36, para. 32.