The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP) and the Haudenosaunee International Relations Committee cordially invite you to a participatory side event during the 25th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
“International Repatriation of our Sacred Items:
Progress, Challenges, and the Road Ahead”
Conference Room 9, UN Headquarters, New York
THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2026
13:15 – 14:30 EST (1:15 – 2:30 PM during UNPFII lunch break)
Presenters include:
• Roberto Borrero, President, UCTP (moderator and cultural opening)
• Andrea Carmen, Executive Director, IITC
• Sheryl Lightfoot, Vice Chair, UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and University of Toronto
• Angel Valencia, member, Yaqui Maaso Kova Repatriation Committee
• UNESCO (via video, tbc)
• Manuel May-Castillo, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
• Kenneth Deer, Haudenosaunee External Relations Committee
• Ambassador Francsico Cali Tzay, government of Guatemala, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and former Chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
“States shall seek to enable the access and/or repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains in their possession through fair, transparent and effective mechanisms developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned.” — Article 12, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
For more information: Andrea Carmen, [email protected], or Roberto Borrero, [email protected]. English and Spanish interpretation by DOCIP.