From its very inception, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has
been a pioneer in addressing indigenous peoples’ issues, albeit initially
from a culturally biased, integrationist perspective. Its contributions have
progressed from the preparation of studies on the working conditions of
indigenous peoples in the 1920s, to the elaboration of recommendations and
conventions on indigenous labour rights in the early 1940s and 1950s, and
most recently to the adoption of legally binding instruments recognizing a
broader range of indigenous rights, such as those pertaining to land and
resources, which are at the top of indigenous peoples’ agendas. This article
reviews and assesses these developments with a particular focus on ILO
Convention nos. 107 (1957) and 169 (1989). The author concludes that,
setting aside its initially assimilationist orientation, the ILO has made
invaluable contributions in partial satisfaction of indigenous demands and
has succeeded in establishing a solid floor of basic, minimum prerequisites
for the safeguarding of the dignity and rights of these most disadvantaged,
both historically and presently, peoples.