The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions Introduction to Part I The first part of the Manual is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 begins with a brief history of developments concerning indigenous peoples at the international level and addresses the question of the definition of indigenous peoples. Chapter 2 begins the discussion on the content of the Declaration and examines the right to equality and non-discrimination, culture and the significance of collective rights. Chapter 3 discusses indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination and autonomy and addresses the rights to participation and consultation. It also explores the concept of free, prior and informed consent. Chapter 4 examines the rights to lands, territories and resources, as well as the rights for redress and compensation. The Manual is not intended to comprehensively address each of the rights affirmed in the Declaration. Instead it seeks to provide the foundational elements of rights and thematic issues, clustering them for ease of reference and with no hierarchy between them. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the significance of the Declaration and its legal status and introduces Part II of the Manual on the role of national human rights institutions. 2