13 the isolated cases of some indigenous communities who received title to property over their 52 corresponding lands during the 1970s, in the name of the community; such is the case, for example, of Misión La Paz. At the moment of presenting the initial petition to the IACHR in 1998, the petitioners held that even though they were the inhabitants of the territory they have occupied since time immemorial, the State had not legally recognized them as communal owners of Lots 14 and 55, although they had undertaken numerous actions to obtain such recognition since the return of Argentina to democracy in 1983. 51. On June 26, 1984, the indigenous communities of Lots 55 and 14 sent the Governor of the Province of Salta a “Joint Declaration”, claiming the issuance of property title to the lands, and 53 opposing the parceling of the territory. 52. In 1986, Provincial Law No. 6373 on “Promotion and Development of the Aboriginal” in Salta was approved, Chapter III of which dealt with the granting of lands to the indigenous communities; later, in 1987, the provincial legislature passed Law 6.469 on “Regularization of the Situation of Occupation of Fiscal Lot 55”, regulated in detail through Provincial Decree 1467/90. In 1989, Provincial Law 6570/89 was approved, on “Regularization and Organization of Fiscal Lands”. This legislative framework allowed for the adjudication of the collective property of the land to the indigenous communities who inhabited the area. 53. In 1991, with the support of different organizations, the chiefs of the indigenous communities of Fiscal Lots 14 and 55 undertook the task of gathering all of the documentation required by Law 6.469 to claim the formal adjudication of territorial property, including population censi, histories of their occupation, maps of the settlements and areas of economic use; consequently, different maps were drawn, indicating in detail the cultural routes through which each community traveled throughout the 54 territory. 54. On July 28, 1991, 27 communities of Fiscal Lot 55 submitted to the Government of the Province of Salta an administrative claim of legalization of the property title to the land; therein they exposed the results of their documentation task, namely, the different maps with the names of the territory …continuación adoption of urgent measures to regularize the legal situation. In 1960 and 1964 Senator Raúl Fiore Moulés presented a bill which later became Law 3844, which mandated the sale of the lots to the descendants of the original settlers, and the reservation of tracts of land to ‘create colonies for the education and adaptation of the indigenous’ (Art. 4). This legislation was not implemented. Finally, in 1967 the limit between the provinces of Salta and Formosa, established by the Barilari line, was finally approved.” CARRASCO, Morita and BRIONES, Claudia: “La Tierra que nos quitaron”. Documento IWGIA No. 18, Buenos Aires, 1996, p. 204-205. Document provided as an annex to the petitioners’ observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on January 4, 2007, and transmitted to the State through note of January 12, 2007. 52 The historical study provided by the petitioners indicates that “The dictatorial governments of 1971-1972 carried out a land cession policy, granting usage permits to some indigenous communities. These cessions, far from recognizing the existence of aboriginal rights, crystallized a notion of donation or gift, excluding any connotation of legal entitlement (…). All of these cessions stemmed from Decree 2293 of April 12, 1971, on the creation of ‘Provincial Indigenous Reservations’. The lands were granted at the name of the ‘Aboriginal Community’ represented by any indigenous person whose representativeness was not confirmed anywhere and without a legal instrument that secured legality to the community, which in most of the cases lacked juridical personality (…). The communities of Santa María and Misión La Paz, of Fiscal Lot 55, are included within this category [Law 4086/67, of indigenous land colonization, which establishes a reservation in favor of the Community of Misión La Paz]. The communities of La Puntana, La Curvita and Monte Carmelo are settled in a measured parcel of 7.500 hectares, whose plan was never approved even though it dates from the seventies.” CARRASCO, Morita and BRIONES, Claudia: “La Tierra que nos quitaron”. Documento IWGIA No. 18, Buenos Aires, 1996, p. 204-205. Document provided as an annex to the petitioners’ observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on January 4, 2007, and transmitted to the State through note of January 12, 2007. 53 Initial petition, received by the IACHR on August 4, 1998, and transmitted to the State on January 26, 1999. Petitioners’ observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on January 4, 2007, and transmitted to the State through note of January 12, 2007. 54 CARRASCO, Morita and BRIONES, Claudia: “La Tierra que nos quitaron”. Documento IWGIA No. 18, Buenos Aires, 1996, p. 204-205. Document provided as an annex to the petitioners’ observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on January 4, 2007, and transmitted to the State through note of January 12, 2007.