ABSTRACT
Since the late 1980s, legal innovations at international, continental and national levels have converted indigenous peoples into subjects of rights. This means that they are now recognized not only as individual citizens of the countries they live in, but also as collectives with specific group rights that are different from those pertaining to the rest of the population. Indigenous peoples’ rights to continue living in a manner different from dominant society imply that governments must respect spheres of autonomy for indigenous government and legal jurisdiction. According to current international human rights law, these autonomy rights are based on the principle of self-determination that underpins the contemporary system of sovereign nation-states. 2
