This summary critically analyses the legal regime that protects the ancestral lands and natural resources traditionally used, the so-called traditional communal property, of indigenous and tribal peoples in the Americas. It also analyses the legal regime’s connection with indigenous and tribal people’s right to cultural identity and the right to a dignified life. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I-ACtHR, or the Court) has developed safeguards to establish a fair balance between potentially conflicting interests over these lands.
