KARI-OCA DECLARATION
Brazil, May 30, 1992

PREAMBLE
The World Conference of Indigenous Peoples on Territory, Environment
and Development. (25-30 May 1992).

The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, Asia, Africa, Australia,
Europe, and Pacific. United in one voice at Kari-oca village express
our collective gratitude to the Indigenos Peoples of Brazil.
Inspired by this historical meeting, we celebrate the spiritual unity
of the Indigenous Peoples with the land and ourselves.

We continue building and formulating our united commitment to save our
Mother the earth.

We, the Indigenous Peoples, endorse the following declaration as our
collective responsibility to carry our indigenous minds and voices
into the future.

We, the Indigenous Peoples, walk to the future in the footprints of our ancestors.

From the smallest to the largest living being, from the four directions, from the air, the land and the mountains. The creator has placed us. The Indigenous peoples upon our Mother the earth.

The footprints of our ancestors are permanently etched upon the lands of our peoples.

We, the Indigenous peoples, maintain our inherent rights to self-determination. We have always had the right to decide our own forms of government, to use our own laws, to raise and educate our children, to our own cultural identity without interference.

We continue to maintain our rights as peoples despite centuries of deprivation, assimilation and genocide.

We maintain our inalienable rights to our lands and territories, to all our resources -- above and below -- and to our waters. We assert our ongoing responsibility to pass these onto the future generations.

We cannot be removed from our lands. We, the Indigenous peoples are connected by the circle of life to our lands and environments.

We, the Indigenous peoples, walk to the future in the footprints of our ancestors.

Signed at Kari-oca, Brazil on the 30th Day of May, 1992