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Earth-born rights: The International Indian Treaty Council By Randall Lyman Leonard Paltier has spent nearly 22 years in federal prison for a crime the federal government is unable to prove he committed, the killing of two FBI agents in a 1975 gunfight on Pine Ridge Reservation. The parole board has repeatedly denied the Native American parole, blatantly ignoring evidence that demonstrates Paltier's innocence and even rejecting its own officers' recommendations. Now Amnesty International, the European Parliament, and world leaders such as Nelson Mandela are urging the U.S. government to grant Peltier clemency. But one organization has been backing Peltier since the beginning: The International Indian Treaty Council . The council turned 20 in 1997, and it's name remains something of an understatement. A non-governmental organization created by the United Nations, the IITC does not defend only American Indians, nor is it concerned solely with treaties. Rather, it seeks to protect and promote the rights of indigenous peoples all over the world. That may include preventing the removal of sacred objects from burial sites, defending rights to traditional lands, or fighting religious/spiritual persecution. It works on treaties too. In 1989 it succeeded in getting the U.N. to initiate a worldwide study of treaties between governments and indigenous peoples. The study is due for completion in 1998. Before the IITC, indigenous peoples were always viewed as ethnic minorities, "but we have since moved out of that category in the U.N. system," says IITC executive director Antonio Gonzales, who will speak at the 10th Digital Be-In. "Governments know we're not minorities, but they still haven't given us unequivocal respect and recognition as distinct peoples." "Our earth-based spirituality makes us unique among the world's denominations. We say we're related to all living things, whereas non-indigenous people see living things as resources to be exploited." The IITC joins the Be-In this year. "Indigenous peoples are not static. We move with the times," says Gonzales. "High tech is becoming more of an essential tool for indigenous voices to be projected into the real world."