truth and reconciliation indigenous , ScOtt. September 30—National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day—is heavy and important, but you can still weave in music, comedy, and storytelling that both honors survivors and engages your URD audience. Here’s a structure to get us started:
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Unit Structure for URD (Sept 30: Truth & Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day)
1. Opening
• Begin with a short spoken word or clip about what the day means: honoring survivors, remembering the children who never came home, and committing to reconciliation.
• You could also use a survivor’s voice if possible (clips are often available through CBC or the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation).
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2. Music Selections
Here’s a mix that balances reflection, power, and connection:
• Buffy Sainte-Marie – “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying”
Hard-hitting, historical, a cornerstone.
• William Prince – “Breathless” or “The Spark”
His voice carries weight and tenderness.
• Jeremy Dutcher – “Honor Song”
Deeply moving and draws listeners into Indigenous tradition and resilience.
• Tanya Tagaq – “Retribution” (excerpt)
Intense, could be used to underscore urgency.
• Blue Rodeo – “Fools Like You”
A Canadian rock angle on colonialism and responsibility.
• Snotty Nose Rez Kids – “Boujee Natives”
Brings humor, edge, and pride—helps balance heavier material with resilience and energy.
• Robbie Robertson – “Ghost Dance”
A spiritual, haunting song about survival and memory.
• Orange Shirt Connection:
Phyllis Webstad’s own story has been turned into songs by community choirs—you could play one, or if not available, weave in a simple dedication with a song like Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Starwalker.”
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3. Comedy / Levity
This needs a delicate hand. Indigenous comedians often use humor as survival and resistance.
• Charlie Demers or Ryan McMahon (Indigenous comedian, also host of Red Man Laughing) – short clips about colonialism, reconciliation, or daily life.
• Snotty Nose Rez Kids tracks often have playful lines you can pull for comic relief.
• A gentle approach could also be you doing a wink-nod piece about how “being nice” can sometimes be harder than wearing orange.
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4. Orange Shirt Day Segment
• Tell Phyllis Webstad’s story (the orange shirt taken on her first day of residential school).
• Tie in the symbol: “Every Child Matters.”
• You could invite listeners to wear orange, even in Dawson, as part of the national action.
Song suggestion here:
• William Prince – “The Spark” (ties to carrying memory and hope).
• Or go heavier with Buffy Sainte-Marie if you want to punch through the history.
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5. Outro
• Balance hope and honesty: “Reconciliation isn’t a one-day thing. It’s an everyday practice. We remember. We listen. We learn. And we act.”
• Play something uplifting and communal, like:
• Leela Gilday – “Rescue Me”
• Susan Aglukark – “O Siem” (a unifying, joyful song).
⸻ Perfect, ScOtt. You’re thinking like a radio architect. If we treat the 94 Calls to Action as 18 clusters (the groupings I laid out), and you’re aiming for a two-hour show, then six minutes per cluster fits beautifully once you add an intro and conclusion. That’s a strong structure for UcOtt Raddio Daddio.
Let me sketch out a draft skeleton for your unit, anchored by Emma Blackbird at the start:
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URD: Sosillyology of Truth & Reconciliation (2 hours)
Intro (10 minutes)
• Song: Emma Blackbird (powerful start, symbolic of rising voices).
• Spoken piece: “We’re going to look at the sosillyology of truth and reconciliation in Canada—through 94 Calls to Action grouped into 18 themes. Each theme is a lens, each lens a step toward peace.”
• Brief Orange Shirt Day story (Phyllis Webstad).
• Set the frame: Be Nice, Wabi-Sabi, and listening as your guiding threads.
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Body: 18 Sections (~6 minutes each)
1. Child Welfare (1–5)
Music: William Prince – The Spark.
Comedy/Levity: Clip about family or kinship resilience.
2. Education (6–12)
Music: Robbie Robertson – Testimony.
Commentary: Becker’s labeling theory—what gets taught, what gets erased.
3. Language & Culture (13–17)
Music: Jeremy Dutcher – Mehcinut.
Could weave in a joke about how “English is hard enough—try Cree, and you’ll see what hard really is!”
4. Health (18–24)
Music: Susan Aglukark – O Siem.
Sociology of health disparities.
5. Justice (25–42)
Music: Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Boujee Natives.
Commentary: Overrepresentation in prisons.
6. Governments & UNDRIP (43–56)
Music: Buffy Sainte-Marie – Carry It On.
Sociology of law and power.
7. Church Apologies & Reconciliation (57–61)
Music: Choir version of Amazing Grace in Cree (if available).
Reflective commentary.
8. Education for Reconciliation (62–65)
Music: Tanya Tagaq – Retribution.
Comedy/Levity: clip from Ryan McMahon on “teaching history right.”
9. Youth Programs (66)
Music: A Tribe Called Red (The Halluci Nation) – Electric Pow Wow Drum.
Energy burst.
10. Museums & Archives (67–70)
Music: Leela Gilday – K’eintah Natse Ju.
Commentary: Who tells the story?
11. Missing Children & Burial Information (71–76)
Music: Buffy Sainte-Marie – My Country ’Tis of Thy People You’re Dying.
Quiet reflection.
12. National Centre for TRC (77–78)
Music: William Prince – Breathless.
Commentary: Preserving memory.
13. Commemoration (79–83)
Music: Robbie Robertson – Ghost Dance.
Orange Shirt Day tie-in.
14. Media & Public Education (84–86)
Music: Tom Jackson – Blue Water.
Commentary: Role of CBC and storytelling.
15. Sports & Reconciliation (87–91)
Music: Local Indigenous sports anthem (if you find one, Dawson-specific?).
Comedy: playful clip about hockey vs. lacrosse.
16. Business & Reconciliation (92)
Music: Neil Young – Comes a Time.
Commentary: Extraction industries in the Yukon—tie to Marchak’s work.
17. Newcomers to Canada (93)
Music: Susan Aglukark – Hina Na Ho (Celebration).
Commentary: What newcomers learn about treaties.
18. Closing Call (94: Papal Apology)
Music: Buffy Sainte-Marie – Starwalker.
Reflective but forward-looking.
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Conclusion (10 minutes)
• Restate: Truth and Reconciliation is not one day, not one show—it’s ongoing.
• Tie back to Be Nice.
• Outro Song: Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down the Crazy River (gentle, contemplative).
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That’s the map. We can flesh out each of those 18 six-minute sections with tighter scripts: intro line, sociological hook, and segue into music/comedy.
Would you like me to start by writing out Section 1 (Child Welfare) in full URD style (intro script + music suggestion + light levity)? That way you can see how the pieces fit together before we do the rest.
✨ My thought: if you keep each music/comedy piece tied into survivor voices or Indigenous artists, you’ll keep the integrity of the day, while still giving your audience the full URD treatment—music, comedy, sociology, and sincerity.
Would you like me to build you a ready-to-read script intro/outro for each of these five sections (like a 2-hour show skeleton), or do you want just a shorter one-off segment you can slot into your programming that day?
urdindigredo2025june21
urdindiginousjune20$
All earshot distro
1. Fight for the Rights
Kelly Fraser
The National Documentary | “When you grow up in a place where people have witnessed a lot of trauma, you grow up having some scars too.” — An intimate look at the music of Inuit artist Kelly Fraser.
Warning today is truth and reconciliation day. The following program focuses on what needs to be done and in doing that will present songs, documentaries, and a speech that will likely trigger some of those who are uncomfortably close to the subject. This is the number if, at any time, you are feeling that stress.
Its called
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The National Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925_4419
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This is cfyt 106.9 fm the spirit of Dawson Broadcasting from the traditional territory of the Trondek Hwechin’ Mahsi Cho
My name is ScOtt
I’m going to play a bunch of music a few documentaries and a speech for you. And maybe we should talk about culture too … What is it and how does it matter…
Lets play a few songs
2. Guess I’ll See You
Jay Gilday
Jay Gilday was born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and spent his youth there. He is a member of the Dene Nation through his mother, with his father being of Irish heritage.[1] He is the brother of singer-songwriter Leela Gilday.[2] After high school, he attended the University of Alberta, where he spent much time as a busker in Edmonton’s LRT system.[1] He was later featured in an episode of the television series Dene: A Journey that filmed his return to the Dene Nation later in life.[3]
Gilday performs both with an eponymous eight-piece rock band[4] and as a solo artist.[1] In 2017, he was a recipient of a Western Canadian Music Award for his album Faster than Light, being named Indigenous Artist of the Year.[4]
3. Magic Hits
Adrian Sutherland
ADRIAN SUTHERLAND: THE MAN FROM ATTAWAPISKAT SEIZES THE DAY
Isolation is nothing new for Adrian Sutherland. All his life, the singer-songwriter and frontman for rock band Midnight Shine has lived in Attawapiskat, a fly-in town 220 km northwest of Moosonee, on the shore of James Bay. No one is arriving or leaving much these days. While Sutherland doesn’t actually enjoy being “married to his monitor” in the COVID era, he also doesn’t really miss flying to Timmins, then to Toronto, and booking a hotel, and fighting big-city traffic, in order to work with collaborators on his upcoming solo album.
Documentary: Trauma and Resilience: Roy Johnson’s Experiences at Chootla Residential School in Carcross, Yukon (MP3 of complete documentary)
Produced by: Jen Laliberte with contributing editing and recording by Dan Dowhal
Featured Speakers/Guests: Roy Johnson from Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Nation
Music: Yukon Flat Gwich’in Songs, University of Alaska Fairbanks Native Language Centre, 1979.
Summary: In this documentary, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen Roy Johnson shares some of his experiences and traumas from the Chootla Residential School in Carcross Yukon, which operated from 1911-1969. Roy’s strength and resilience is powerful, and his willingness to share his difficult memories for the greater knowledge and awareness of people listening is inspiring. Jen would like to thank the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in for allowing her and her baby to live in their beautiful Traditional Territory, where this documentary was recorded and produced.
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The National Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925_4419
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My name is ScOtt and This is cfyt 106.9 fm the spirit of Dawson Broadcasting from the traditional territory of the Trondek Hwechin’ Mahsi Cho
Coming up next
4. You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)
Buffy St. Marie, Tanya Tagaq
That was The Honor Song
5. Honor Song
When Jeremy Dutcher released “Honor Song” in 2017, it was a revelation. A gorgeous reimagining of a traditional Mi’kmaq honour song, the track fused Dutcher’s operatic tenor with strings, piano, hand drum and electronics for a stirring and contemporary work. This year Dutcher has returned to the song, this time with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma for a collaboration that the Tobique First Nation artist says changed his life. “I’m so grateful to [Yo-Yo Ma] for sharing his platform and allowing so many more people to hear our songs and languages! Music brings the whole world together like nothing else,” he said via Instagram. Ma’s cello brings a new weight to the piece, and it’s as if the two artists — cello and voice at the fore — were always meant to stand together. — Holly Gordon
Lots of resources
This is CFYT 106.9 fm the spirit of Dawson
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
NCTR’s spirit name – bezhig miigwan
The NCTR is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience will be honoured and kept safe for future generations.
The NCTR was created as part of the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). The TRC was charged to listen to Survivors, their families, communities and others affected by the residential school system and educate Canadians about their experiences. The resulting collection of statements, documents and other materials now forms the sacred heart of the NCTR.
The NCTR Archives and Collections is the foundation for ongoing learning and research. Here, Survivors, their families, educators, researchers, and the public can examine the residential school system more deeply with the goal of fostering reconciliation and healing.
Coming up next
6. The Most Unprotected Girl
JB the First Lady
Jerilynn Webster, aka JB The First Lady, is a member of the Nuxalk and Onondaga nations. She is a Vancouver-based hip hop and spoken word artist, beat-boxer, cultural dancer and youth educator. With five studio albums under her belt, JB sees her songs as a way of capturing oral history, and isn’t afraid to write lyrics that speak to challenging subjects like residential schools and missing and murdered indigenous women.
7. Human
Twin Flames
Human is UNESCO’s Official song to celebrate 2019 International Year of Indigenous languages. It was written by Twin Flames as artists in Residence with Folk Alliance International and it is on their new album OMEN.
Human won a Native American Music Award for Best music video concept in 2019. It made it to #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown
Human was chosen as part of CBC’s Music Class Challenge in 2019 where students throughout Canada learned to sing in Inuttitut.
The song has now been translated into over 300 languages.
This is cfyt 106.9 fm the spirit of Dawson Broadcasting from the traditional territory of the Trondek Hwechin’ Mahsi Cho
My name is ScOtt
On my Dad’s side I believe my Grandfather came over with his brother from Norway.
I’m a third generation immigrant.
Settler sort of but Im new in Dawson and Ive got roots all over BC. I have no idea where I will end up but while I’m here. I have a massive passion to learn, and a need not be afraid of my imperfections.
Dawson seems to be the best fit ever. No slight intended
How does it matter? I like my individuality
Culture (/ˈkʌltʃər/) is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.[1]
Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies.
A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change.[2] Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typical behavior for an individual and duty, honor, and loyalty to the social group are counted as virtues or functional responses in the continuum of conflict. In the practice of religion, analogous attributes can be identified in a social group.
8. Imiqtaq
Riit
Riit is a singer-songwriter who was raised in Panniqtuq (Pangnirtung), Nunavut. The multi-talented musician has toured the world as a throat singer, guitarist, and accordion player, performing with the likes of The Jerry Cans, IVA, Elisapee Isaac, and Twin Flames. She has taken the stage in her home territory of Nunavut and in places as far away as Scotland and Australia. The Nunavut Sivuniksavut graduate is currently signed to Aakuluk Music and recording her first EP of original songs, which is expected for release in June 2017.
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The National Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419
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Documentary: Why can’t the past be the past? (MP3 of complete documentary)
Produced by: Matthew Norris
Broadcast Territory: Musqueam territory
Featured Speakers/Guests: Dr. Daniel Justice, Dr. Dorene Nasin, Shawn Chapkwee, Rick Ouellette, Christy Charles, Sayliyah Joseph
Music: by Christy Lee
Summary: This documentary aims to educate the listener (who is most likely not Indigenous) about common misconceptions and about the history of Indian Residential Schools not often taught in schools. This documentary provides a safe place for people to learn and find answers to their questions regarding Indian Residential Schools in an open and accessible way.
9. We Won’t Forget You
N’we Jinan Artists
Song written, recorded and filmed with students from Sk’elep School of Excellence in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, Kamloops, British Columbia.
10. Resistance
Leonard Summer
Leonard Sumner (aka Lorenzo) is an Anishinaabe MC from the Little Saskatchewan First Nation located in Interlake Region of Manitoba. He provides perspective from a voice often unheard and over-looked in the traditional music communities: truthful, insightful, and providing a new sound straight from ‘the Rezzy’. His music is best described as a fusion of Hip-Hop, Country and Rhythm & Blues. His lyrics are both intricate and honest, combined with his heart, message into a raspy flow that growls with the bittersweet existential angst of Reservation Indian. On stage, he captivates crowds with a guitar slung over his shoulder, singing and rhyming to the beats, allowing his style to be enjoyed by people who typically ‘aren’t into rap.’
11. Qujannamiik
The Jerry Cans
Iqaluit’s The Jerry Cans are a band from and for the north—they’ve always been committed to making music that honours and dialogues with their home communities. The JUNO Award-nominated group bring a wash of glassy, slashing electric guitars, thundering drums, effects-warped throat singing, and darkened violin work,
12. Spring to Come
Digging Roots
After four years of touring in Canada, the US and Europe, 2010 JUNO Award winners Digging Roots have released their new recording ‘WE ARE’. The musical force behind Digging Roots is the chemistry of ShoShona Kish and Raven Kanatakta. Their convergence of styles is that Digging Roots almost undefinable sound…somewhere blurred between the lines of roots, rock, hip-hop, and blues. Backed by their vintage styled rhythm section Digging Roots’ have just completed a tour with dates in the US, Mexico, Australia and Canada. Digging Roots is currently working on a full length feature film, recording their third album and gearing up for another tour that includes performances across Canada and in Norway.
13. K’eintah Natse Ju
Leela Gilday
What is the story behind “K’eintah Natse Ju”?
“K’eintah Natse Ju” (pronounced Kay-tah Naht-say Joo) is a song I wrote for the project celebrating resilience of Indigenous northerners-Gho-Bah (first light of dawn). Natse Ju- healing, to heal. We are healing together. This song is about the legacy of colonization and its impact on our (Indigenous) family relationships- part of what happened in residential school was the dismantling of the Indigenous family structure. This was intentional- if you take away children from their families you deprive them of the love and cultural traditional values that growing up in a loving home gives to them. This song is about some of those relationships. Part of this was inspired by the tragic deaths of Colton Boushie and Tina Fontaine.
Kids News Cbc
14. Echo My Soul
N’we Jinan Artists
N’we Jinan artists perform their hit single ‘Echo My Soul’ at the 1st Annual Youth4Music Leadership Symposium.
At the 1st Youth4Music Leadership Symposium, youth from different musical backgrounds met to share their wisdom about the importance of music. Our purpose? To create a youth-led manifesto for learning, making, creating and valuing music in Canada.
15. Re-educate
Paint the Town Red
Paint the town red is a local hip hop group composed of rappers YellowWolf and Barndawg, vocalist Addie Elliot and DJ Goadman. This song and video scratches the surface of the ripple effect that residential and indian day schools have left behind and was inspired by the students Lau Wel New Tribal school. Tsartlip reservation in Brentwood Bay.
16. First Mother
Mike Bern
Mike Bern is an Indigenous singer and songwriter from Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick. Before embarking on a solo career, Bern sang in award-winning bands Kickin Krotch and District Avenue. The singer’s raspy voice can be heard on “First Mother ” which had early success and climbed to the number one spot on the Indigenous Music Countdown.
Jim Robb interviewed Charlie Isaac, son of Chief Isaac of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in on April 13, 1970. The interview contains a discussion of family history and the cultural effects of the Klondike Gold Rush. Charlie Isaac also sings a traditional Crow song from Coffee Creek. Mussi cho Jim Robb. Thank you for this interview. You have done so much for Yukon and Indigenous Heritage.
http://chiefisaac.com/historical_accounts_files/Jim_Robb_SR6_1_A1.mp3
17. Tiny Hands
Quantum Tangle
Quantum Tangle combines the wide-ranging artistic visions of Greyson Gritt and Tiffany Ayalik who draw from their respective Anishinaabe-Métis and Inuit backgrounds to create a fusion of old-world sounds and new-world flair. Woven throughout Shelter as we go…, blues riffs, traditional throat singing, and haunting melodies intertwine with hard beats and equally hard-hitting storytelling.
Proudly and boldly displaying their Indigenous roots, Gritt and Ayalik tailor their music to examine systemic racism and colonialism, while offering ways to empower marginalized groups. As vocal advocates for gender-equality and the need for safe-spaces, Quantum Tangle looks back through history to challenge, educate and encourage audiences to be socially aware.
18. The Unforgotten
Iskwe, Tanya Tagaq
iskwē is a Juno Award winning artist – a creator and communicator of music and of movement, of pictures, poetry and prose. And through it all, she’s a teller of stories that have impacted our past and will inform our future.
19. Electric Pow Wow Drum
The Halluci Nation
A Tribe Called Red, a DJ group from Ottawa, Canada, mix bruising electronic music with traditional First Nations pow wow singing, drumming and dancing and a strong political message about the issues and systematic problems that face indigenous people. Made up of producers/DJs Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau, Bear Witness, and Tim “2oolman” Hill, A Tribe Called Red will release their third album ‘We Are The Halluci Nation’ September 16th on Radicalized Records. The 15-track album is an intense, incendiary collection; a visionary blend of electronic and dance music that’s forward-thinking with a deep sense of heritage and cultural identity.
20. Northern Lights
The Jerry Cans
21. Round Dance (feat. Northern
Cris Derksen, Northern Voice
D m,
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The National Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419
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NCRA documentaries
https://ncra.ca/resonating/documentaries
Gilday has released five solo albums to date. In 2002, she was awarded Best Female Artist, Best Folk Album, and Best Songwriter at the Canadian Indigenous Music Awards for her first release, Spirit World, Solid Wood.[citation needed] She was also named in Maclean‘s Top 50 Under 30 that same year.[citation needed] In 2003, she was nominated at the Juno Awards for Best Music of Aboriginal Canada.
Famous Fakes
Joseph Boyden CM (born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Irish and Scottish descent.[2][3] He also claims Indigenous descent, but this is widely disputed.[3][4] Boyden is best known for writing about First Nations culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Boyden’s second novel, Through Black Spruce follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as The Orenda.
Archibald Stansfeld Belaney (September 18, 1888 – April 13, 1938), commonly known as Grey Owl, was a British-born conservationist, fur trapper, and writer who disguised himself as a Native American man. While he achieved fame as a conservationist during his life, after his death the revelation that he was not Indigenous, along with other autobiographical fabrications, negatively affected his reputation.
Integrity. Ethical Intelligent and Knowledgable Principled
2021 Tom Courchene Distinguished Speaker Series – The Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
2,101 viewsMay 20, 2021
UNDRIP
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the General Assembly on Thursday, 13 September 2007, by a majority of 144 states in favour, 4 votes against (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) and 11 abstentions (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine).Click here to view the voting record.
Years later the four countries that voted against have reversed their position and now support the UN Declaration. Today the Declaration is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples. It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world and it elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of indigenous peoples.