This petition does not seek to override, replace, or invalidate the rights of any previously recognized Indigenous nations or populations. Under international law, indigeneity is not a zero-sum designation.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Articles 9 and 33, affirms that Indigenous peoples have the right to belong to an Indigenous community in accordance with their traditions and that no state may arbitrarily deny that identity. Recognition of one group’s rooted status does not extinguish the rights of another.

International human rights law recognizes that multiple Indigenous and historically rooted populations may coexist within the same geographic territory. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 27, protects the cultural rights of minorities without requiring exclusivity over land or identity. The Inter-American human rights system similarly affirms cultural identity and continuity without framing recognition as competitive.

This petition does not claim exclusive sovereignty, territorial displacement, or superior status. It does not seek to negate documented migrations or previously established Indigenous nations. Rather, it asserts that long-standing, multi-generational Black American populations with deep historical continuity on this land should not be misclassified as immigrants solely on the basis of race or genetic ancestry.

International law recognizes continuity, cultural survival, and self-identification as relevant principles. It does not require that recognition of one historically rooted people invalidate another.

Accordingly, this petition seeks coexistence of recognition — not erasure, replacement, or hierarchy.