UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 (IPS) - After 22 years of long and cumbersome negotiations, leaders of the world's 370 million indigenous people have won a powerful symbolic victory in their fight for recognition of the right to self-determination and control over their land and resources.

On Thursday, an overwhelming majority of the 192-member U.N. General Assembly said "yes" to a resolution calling for the adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.