The Trail of Broken Dreams: The Status of Indigenous Peoples in International Law

The chapter examines the evolution of international law on indigenous peoples, starting from an historical perspective and describing in detail the various strategies used by the Western world to annihilate the resistance of those peoples. However, notwithstanding the genocidal practices perpetrated against them, indigenous peoples have been able to transmit their cultural identity and distinctiveness until the present days, when international law has finally taken conscience of the need to elaborate specific rules aimed at allowing the peoples concerned to give full expression to their dignity and retrieve their place in the world.