Indigenous peoples, racism and the United Nations

The Regional Meeting of Indigenous Peoples on the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was hosted by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) in Sydney, Australia in February 2001. The meeting, designated a satellite meeting by the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, provided a forum allowing discussion and presentation by Indigenous Peoples from Aotearoa/New Zealand, mainland United States, Hawaii, Canada and Australia on racism and racial discrimination issues that affect Indigenous Peoples in those countries. Indigenous Peoples, Racism and the United Nations preserves a record for those who participated in the Sydney Conference as well as becoming a means to disseminate and canvass both local and international issues of racism and identity in the wider public domain. As well it serves to demystify the role and activities of the United Nations in relation to racism and Indigenous Peoples. This is a book addressing policy makers and politicians, but it is much more than that. It includes a collection of voices telling it 'like it is' for many of the world's Indigenous Peoples. It is a book that should be widely read by non-Indigenous communities as a means of connection with the humanity in us all, and as a call for change.