Left to right: Dr. Marie Wilson, Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair and Chief Wilton Littlechild. Photo courtesy umanitoba.ca/nctr
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is calling on Canadian law schools to incorporate Indigenous teachings within their curricula in a number of ways.
The various calls to action include mandatory courses on Indigenous law, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and Indigenous-Crown relations.
Aimee Craft is the director of research at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.
She says Indigenizing law faculties will require universities to think outside the box.
“By no means is law an easy thing and it’s changing and evolving,” Craft says. “It’s the same thing for Indigenous law. It may be that we haven’t made as much space for it in the past but, as we’re making that space, there’s a lot to fill. It’s just a question in some cases of being attuned to it and aware of what’s happening”
Karen Drake teaches in the Faculty of Law at Lakehead University.
She says there remains a false perception within some universities that Indigenous law is unimportant and this needs to be dispelled.
“The reason why we need to get this into law schools is because judges need to know how to apply Indigenous law as law,” Drake says. “And not just see these stories, which are sources of Indigenous law, as fables, as children’s bedtime stories.”
Gillian Calder is the associate dean of the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law.
She says the TRC’s calls to action pose both challenges and opportunities for Canadian law schools.
“Legal educators have to break the chains of the past where we teach in a very conservative way and this kind of work involves innovation and creativity,” Calder says. “It involves different layers of action, not just mandatory classes which are important, but there has to be integration of these questions throughout the curriculum.”
The TRC’s final report also calls on law schools to ensure students are versed on the history and legacy of residential schools, treaties and Indigenous rights.
The three legal scholars were part of a panel discussion at the University of Saskatchewan on February 1.