Vol. 24 No. 1 (2024)

At the time of his death, Dr. Rudolph Rÿser, founding editor of the Fourth World Journal and chair of the Center for World Indigenous Studies, had just completed the charter for The Nations Indigenous Criminal Tribunal (NICT), a mechanism to hold perpetrators of genocide against indigenous peoples to account. The NICT was the final implementation strategy reflecting Dr. Rÿser’s more than 50 years of work defining domestic and international policy and law that served the rights and needs of indigenous peoples.

The charter was just one mechanism Dr. Rÿser developed to apply his theories of Fourth World geopolitics, which have as their foundation the principle that indigenous peoples must take the initiative and secure power for self-determination to achieve justice and not rely on state actors or mechanisms. Despite devoting more than 25 years of annual visits to the UN in Geneva and New York to contribute to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Dr. Rÿser was aware of the weaknesses of the declaration from the start. He identified its ultimate failure to be the lack of enforceability. Dr. Rÿser expressed concern that the UN, which was run by and for state governments—many often still functioning as colonists or meshed with corporate interests—would be unable to act in the best interests of Indigenous Nations living within states’ territories.

With the NICT project, Dr. Rÿser was defining current and past acts of genocide against indigenous peoples. Never one to avoid controversy, his research on the ground revealed that Indigenous Nations were also perpetrating acts of genocide, often against their indigenous neighbors, and thus, also had to account for their actions.

His critiques and his efforts during his later career aimed to define mechanisms for implementing policies to achieve justice and equity for indigenous peoples. This would have to be effected, he asserted, by Indigenous Nations defining, directing, and funding the process for themselves and not looking to the states to do it for them.

This second commemorative issue of the Fourth World Journal, part two of a retrospective on Dr. Rÿser’s work, is devoted to his focus on these implementation strategies and their evolution during the last thirty years of his work. These strategies ranged widely and included inviting all interested and affected parties to the table to participate in defining solutions. Dr. Rÿser worked with and educated all who were curious and eager to listen.

During his career as a speechwriter, policy analyst, author, peace negotiator, and educator, he mentored and guided numerous students, advisees, and mentees, including attorneys, indigenous leaders around the globe, state department officials, and undergraduate and graduate students, some of whom became co-authors and contributed to the journal.