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A Critical Introduction

Can Canada claim to be a just society for Indigenous peoples? To answer this question, and as part of the process of reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission urged a better understanding of Aboriginal law for all Canadians. Aboriginal Peoples and the Law responds to that call, introducing readers with or without a legal background to modern Aboriginal law and outlining significant cases and decisions in straightforward, non-technical language. Jim Reynolds provides the historical context needed to understand relations between Indigenous peoples and settlers and explains key topics such as sovereignty, fiduciary duties, the honour of the Crown, Aboriginal rights and title, treaties, the duty to consult, Indigenous laws, and international law. This critical analysis of the current state of the law makes the case that rather than leaving the judiciary to sort out what are essentially political issues, Canadian politicians need to take responsibility for this crucial aspect of building a just society.

This introduction to contemporary Aboriginal law lays the groundwork for any assessment of Canada’s claim to be a just society for Indigenous peoples.

Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice

A passionate account of how one man’s fight against racism and injustice transformed the criminal justice system and galvanized the Mi’kmaw Nation’s struggle for self-determination, forever changing the landscape of Indigenous rights in Canada and around the world.

Storytelling has the capacity to address feelings and demonstrate themes – to illuminate beyond argument and theoretical exposition. In Otter’s Journey, Borrows makes use of the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling to explore how the work in Indigenous language revitalization can inform the emerging field of Indigenous legal revitalization. She follows Otter, a dodem (clan) relation from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, on a journey across Anishinaabe, Inuit, Māori, Coast Salish, and Abenaki territories, through a narrative of Indigenous resurgence. In doing so, she reveals that the processes, philosophies, and practices flowing from Indigenous languages and laws can emerge from under the layers of colonial laws, policies, and languages to become guiding principles in people’s contemporary lives.

Told in contemporary Anishinaabe storytelling style, Otter’s Journey takes us across the globe to explore how the work in Indigenous language revitalization can inform the emerging field of Indigenous legal revitalization.

Drawing on the insights of Indigenous feminist legal theory, Emily Snyder examines representations of Cree law and gender in books, videos, graphic novels, educational websites, online lectures, and a video game. Although these resources promote the revitalization of Cree law and the principle of miyo-wîcêhtowin (good relations), Snyder argues that they do not capture the complexities of gendered power dynamics. The majority of the resources either erase women’s legal authority by not mentioning them, or they diminish women’s agency by portraying them primarily as mothers and nurturers. Although these latter roles are celebrated, Snyder argues that Cree laws and gender roles are represented in inflexible, aesthetically pleasing ways that overlook power imbalances and difficult questions regarding interpretations of tradition.What happens when good relations are represented in ways that are oppressive? Grappling with this question, Snyder makes the case that educators need to critically engage with issues of gender and power in order to create inclusive resources that meaningfully address the everyday messiness of law. As with all legal orders, gendered oppression can be perpetuated through Cree law, but Cree law is also a dynamic resource for challenging gendered oppression.

This powerful book investigates the relationship between the oversimplification of gender in representations of Cree law and its effect on perceptions of Indigenous women as legal agents and citizens.

The Indian Specific Claims Commission and the Struggle for Indigenous Justice

The Indian Specific Claims Commission (ICC) was formed in 1991 in response to the Oka crisis. Its purpose was to resolve and expedite specific claims arising out of promises made to Indigenous nations in treaties, the federal Indian Act, and within other Crown obligations.This book traces the history of Indigenous claims in Canada and the work of the ICC from 1991 until it was decommissioned in 2009. An insider’s account, it is written by long-standing ICC commissioner Jane Dickson, who draws upon the records of the commission and a wealth of research and experience with Indigenous claims and communities to provide an unflinching look at the inquiry process and the parties involved.By Law or In Justice provides a balanced, careful analysis of Canada’s claims policy, the challenges faced by Indigenous claimants, and the legacy of the commission. By documenting the promises made and broken to Indigenous nations, this book also makes a passionate plea for greater claims justice so that true reconciliation can be achieved.

This insider’s account of the work of the Indian Specific Claims Commission takes an unflinching look at the development and implementation of Indigenous claims policy from 1991 to 2009.

Aboriginal Identity and Group Rights in the Supreme Court of Canada

In 1982, after decades of determined mobilization by Aboriginal groups and their allies, the government of Canada formally recognized Aboriginal rights within its Constitution. The move reflected a consensus that states should and could use constitutionally enshrined group rights to protect and accommodate subnational groups within their borders. Decades later, however, almost no one is happy with the current state of Aboriginal rights in Canada, nor is there a consensus on what is wrong with these rights or how they can be fixed. Uncertain Accommodation tells the story of what went wrong.Dimitrios Panagos argues that the failure of Canada’s Aboriginal rights jurisprudence is ultimately rooted in our inability to agree on what aboriginality means. Through incisive analysis of judicial decisions, legal submissions, and academic debates, he reveals the plurality of conceptions of aboriginality put forth over the past three decades and shows how the vision of Aboriginal identity promoted and protected is that of the Supreme Court of Canada itself. Panagos concludes that there can be no justice as long as the state continues to safeguard a set of values and interests defined by non-Aboriginal people.

A bold analysis of what happened when Canada attempted to extend group rights to Aboriginal people in the early 1980s and why it went wrong.

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