Native women want Canada to support UN aboriginal rights declaration

Canada has a duty to support a United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples, say women gathered at an international conference in Kahnawake, Que.

The delegates from First Nations across North and South America say Canada's Conservative government erred when it announced it would not support the UN declaration, which upholds Aboriginal Peoples' land rights and ways of life.

The previous Liberal government had said it endorsed the declaration but Stephen Harper's Conservative government has backed awayfrom the UN document.

Canada's lack of support sends a strong international message about aboriginal rights, said June Lorenzo, a lawyer from New Mexico who is attending the conference.

"It's really disappointing, not only for Canadian indigenous people, but all indigenous people, because Canada played such a critical role in getting the draft declaration adopted by the human rights commission [at the UN]," she told CBC News.

More than 250 women from 17 countries have gathered in the Mohawk community for three days, for the fifth Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas.

They say violence against native women in Canada is also a pressing concern, with reports reaching crisis proportions.

The delegates say Canadian government policies restrict the role native women can play in their communities.

The conference ends Wednesday.