Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989

[3] The ILO 169 convention is the most important operative international law guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples.

[7] It asserts the rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples to choose to integrate or to maintain their cultural and political independence.

In November 2009, a court decision in Chile, considered to be a landmark in Indigenous rights concerns, made use of the ILO convention law.

Mapuche leaders filed an injunction against Michelle Bachelet and minister of the presidency José Antonio Viera Gallo, who is also coordinator of Indigenous affairs, with the argument that the government had failed to fully comply with the Convention 169 clause on the right to "prior consultation", which must be carried out "in good faith and in a form appropriate to the circumstances, with the objective of achieving agreement or consent to the proposed measures," such as logging, agribusiness or mining projects in Indigenous territories.

There were already several examples of the successful use of the ILO Convention in Chile, like the case of a Machi woman who brought legal action to protect a plot of land with herbs used for medicinal purposes, which was threatened by the forest industry.