Indigenous Lifestyle Ministries

The purpose of the Ministry is to reaffirm that indigenous peoples are original, diverse societies with their own identities that constitute an integral part of the Americas; the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples, which derive from their political, economic, and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories, and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories, and resources; Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and determine their own priorities with respect to their political, economic, social, and cultural development in conformity with their own cosmovision. They also have the right to be guaranteed the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their economic activities. The collective intellectual property of indigenous peoples includes, inter alia, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, including traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, ancestral designs and procedures, cultural, artistic, spiritual, technological, and scientific expressions, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as knowledge and developments of their own related to biodiversity and the utility and qualities of seeds, medicinal plants, flora, and fauna. Self-identification as indigenous peoples will be a fundamental criterion for determining to whom this Declaration applies. States shall respect the right to such self-identification as indigenous, whether individually or collectively, in keeping with the practices and institutions of each indigenous people. Recognize that violence against indigenous peoples and individuals, particularly women, hinders or nullifies the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, Indigenous individuals and communities have the right to belong to one or more indigenous peoples, in accordance with the identity, traditions, customs, and systems of belonging of each people. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the exercise of such a right, and to develop ways in conjunction with other indigenous peoples, the necessary measures to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence and discrimination, particularly against indigenous women and children.