Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Laws

The Indigenous Law Journal is a student-run legal journal and the first and only Canadian legal journal to exclusively publish articles regarding Indigenous legal issues. Launched in 2002, the journal is dedicated to developing dialogue and scholarship in the field of Indigenous legal issues both in Canada and internationally. The journal publishes articles, notes, case comments, and reviews grounded in all areas of study pertaining to both the laws of indigenous peoples and the law as it affects indigenous peoples. Students, faculty, practitioners, and members of the judiciary are invited to submit papers. Submissions from all perspectives are encouraged as the Journal presents a non-partisan forum for discussion.

The Canadian Journal of Native Studies is a highly recognized journal in the field of Native Studies. It began as a publication of the Society for the Advancement of Native Studies which is no longer in operation and whose founder; Sam Corrigan; was the Chief Editor from 1981-2008. it comes out on a bi-annual basis, and publishes original research which is refereed by peer review. As a general focus, the journal publishes anthropological, historical, sociological, political, legal, education and cultural issues affecting First Nations people. Although the majority of articles deal with Indigenous peoples in Canada, it also publishes articles dealing with Indigenous peoples world-wide.

The journal brings together emergent and ground breaking research in the field of indigenous studies within the global community offering scope for critical international engagement and debate.

Author Pamela Palmater argues that the Indian Act’s registration provisions (status) will lead to the extinguishment of First Nations as legal and constitutional entities. The current status criteria contain descent-based rules akin to blood quantum that are particularly discriminatory against women and their descendants. Beginning with an historic overview of legislative enactments defining Indian status and their impact on First Nations, the author examines contemporary court rulings dealing with Aboriginal rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in relation to Indigenous identity. She also examines various band membership codes to determine how they affect Indigenous identity, and how their reliance on status criteria perpetuates discrimination. She offers suggestions for a better way of determining Indigenous identity and citizenship and argues that First Nations themselves must determine their citizenship based on ties to the community, not blood or status.

Canada's Indigenous Constitution reflects on the nature and sources of law in Canada, beginning with the conviction that the Canadian legal system has helped to engender the high level of wealth and security enjoyed by people across the country. However, longstanding disputes about the origins, legitimacy, and applicability of certain aspects of the legal system have led John Borrows to argue that Canada's constitution is incomplete without a broader acceptance of Indigenous legal traditions. With characteristic richness and eloquence, John Borrows explores legal traditions, the role of governments and courts, and the prospect of a multi-juridical legal culture, all with a view to understanding and improving legal processes in Canada. He discusses the place of individuals, families, and communities in recovering and extending the role of Indigenous law within both Indigenous communities and Canadian society more broadly. This is a major work by one of Canada's leading legal scholars, and an essential companion to Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide.

This book focused on decolonization of multiple justice-related areas, such as policing, the court system, prison, restorative justice, and the studies of law and criminology. This is quite likely one of the few student-led book projects in Canada covering the range of decolonization topics. Ten student authors explored the concept of decolonization in law, policing, prison, court, mental health, transitional justice and restorative justice. We are grateful to receive funding support from the University of Regina’s OER Publishing Program Small Project Grant, which enabled us to hire a professional copy editor for the book. This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Stemming from the Indigenous Bar Association Conference held in 2018, this special edition of the Canadian Native Law Reporter features rewritten decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, now reimagined and issued from the “Indigenous Nations Court”. The creation of the fictitious Indigenous Nations Court stems from years of frustration felt by Indigenous peoples with the Supreme Court of Canada decisions written by judges who, due to their backgrounds and training in Canadian law, do not have sufficient understanding of the history and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples and the importance of having their jurisdiction and legal orders respected. To respond to such concerns, the Indigenous Nations Court is comprised of individuals felt to possess such knowledge.

Drawing on a decade of writing on justice and community-based responses to conflicts, this substantive book features 45 articles from community members, scholars, judges, lawyers, and Elders. Justice As Healing is now the main textbook in countless classes on Indigenous Studies as well as on restorative justice.

This book examines the revitalization of Indigenous peoples’ relationship to their own laws and, in so doing, attempts to enrich Canadian constitutional law more generally. Organized around the seven Anishinaabe grandmother and grandfather teachings of love, truth, bravery, humility, wisdom, honesty, and respect, this book explores ethics in relation to Aboriginal issues including title, treaties, legal education, and residential schools. With characteristic depth and sensitivity, John Borrows brings insights drawn from philosophy, law, and political science to bear on some of the most pressing issues that arise in contemplating the interaction between Canadian state law and Indigenous legal traditions. In the course of a wide-ranging but accessible inquiry, he discusses such topics as Indigenous agency, self-determination, legal pluralism, and power. In its use of Anishinaabe stories and methodologies drawn from the emerging field of Indigenous studies, Law’s Indigenous Ethics makes a significant contribution to scholarly debate and is an essential resource for readers seeking a deeper understanding of Indigenous rights, societies, and cultures.

Otter’s Journey employs the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling to explore how Indigenous language revitalization can inform the emerging field of Indigenous legal revitalization. Indigenous languages and laws need bodies to live in. Learning an endangered language and a suppressed legal system are similar experiences. When we bring language back to life, it becomes a medium for developing human relationships. Likewise, when laws are written on people’s hearts, true revitalization has occurred.

Canada is covered by a system of law and governance that largely obscures and ignores the presence of pre-existing Indigenous regimes. Indigenous law, however, has continuing relevance for both Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state. In his in-depth examination of the continued existence and application of Indigenous legal values, John Borrows suggests how First Nations laws could be applied by Canadian courts, and tempers this by pointing out the many difficulties that would occur if the courts attempted to follow such an approach. By contrasting and comparing Aboriginal stories and Canadian case law, and interweaving political commentary, Borrows argues that there is a better way to constitute Aboriginal / Crown relations in Canada. He suggests that the application of Indigenous legal perspectives to a broad spectrum of issues that confront us as humans will help Canada recover from its colonial past, and help Indigenous people recover their country. Borrows concludes by demonstrating how Indigenous peoples' law could be more fully and consciously integrated with Canadian law to produce a society where two world views can co-exist and a different vision of the Canadian constitution and citizenship can be created.