![](https://www.soonerpolitics.org/uploads/1/6/2/2/16224166/david-writer_orig.png)
September 13th, 2007: The UN General Assembly adopts the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The votes were:
143 vote for
4 voted against
11 abstained
34 absent
The 4 countries that originally voted against it (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America) have since reversed their positions and now support the Declaration, as have three of the abstaining countries (Colombia, Samoa, Ukraine).
The Declaration is legally non-binding but delineates certain rights of Indigenous peoples, including:
Rights of self-determination
Rights to protect their culture, including intellectual property
Rights to own type of government and economic development
Health rights
Land rights
On This Day In History