Free virtual event part of Native American Heritage Month celebration
Nov. 25, 2020
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a free online lecture this Monday on Indigenous human rights as part of its series in recognition of Native American Heritage Month.
The presentation, International Indigenous Human Rights: An Introduction, will be given by Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough, who is Inuit-Alaska and the international chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a non-governmental organization that represents approximately 180,000 Inuit from the Russian Far East, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
In her talk, Dorough will provide the background of the international human rights standard-setting process that resulted in the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the UN General Assembly in 2007 and its content. In addition, commentary on the various Indigenous-specific bodies that this work triggered as well as the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169, the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and recent jurisprudence will be offered.
The talk, scheduled at noon on Monday, Nov. 30, will be live-streamed on SHI’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/sealaskaheritageinstitute). The series, which focuses on citizens and shareholders in Alaska Native corporations and tribes, is also offered as part of a one-credit course through the University of Alaska Southeast.
The talks are offered through the Preparing Indigenous Teachers and Administrators for Alaska Schools (PITAAS) program and funded by the Alaska Native Education Program.
About the Lecturer
In addition to her work at the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough is affiliated with the University of Alaska Anchorage where she served as an assistant professor of International Relations within the Department of Political Science from 2008-2018. Her current UAA title is senior scholar and special advisor on Arctic Indigenous Peoples.
Serving as an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for two consecutive three-year terms, she held the position of chairperson from 2014-2015. She was also a member and chair of the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. Presently, she serves as the co-chair of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Her past service to the ILA includes membership in the former Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Recent publications include a chapter co-authored with Siegfried Wiessner entitled “Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Heritage” in The Oxford Handbook on International Cultural Heritage Law and a brief essay and commentary entitled “Perspective on Convention 169, its Significance to Inuit and Some Troubling Developments” published in The International Journal of Human Rights, to name a few.
She holds a Ph.D. from University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law (2002) and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University (1991).
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
CONTACT: Amy Fletcher, SHI Media and Publications Director, 907.586.9116, amy.fletcher@sealaska.com.
