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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
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