Law Beyond and Within the State: The Resurgence of Indigenous Law in Canada

The revitalization of Indigenous peoples’ own legal traditions facilitates decision-making in challenging contemporary contexts, with implications for many socio-legal fields (criminal, constitutional, commercial, etc.). By describing the sources of Indigenous law, and centring Indigenous normativity and methodologies, this talk examines how Indigenous peoples in Canada simultaneously use and challenge nation State’s legal principles and processes to address their future needs.

John Borrows B.A., M.A., J.D., LL.M. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Osgoode Hall Law School), LL.D. (Hons., Dalhousie, York, SFU, Queen’s & Law Society of Ontario), D.H.L, (Hons., Toronto), D.Litt. (Hons., Waterloo), F.R.S.C., O.C., is the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the Henry N.R Jackman Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto Law School. This semester he is the Fowler Hamilton Visiting Fellow at Christchurch College, Oxford. He is as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

Lindsay Borrows is an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, Faculty of Law, where she teaches Indigenous law. She is inaugural Queen's Law Professorship in Indigenous Law & Governance. Prior to joining Queen's, she worked as a lawyer and researcher at the Indigenous Law Research Unit (University of Victoria Faculty of Law), and as a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, working with different legal traditions including Anishinaabe, Denezhu, Haíɫzaqv, Nlaka’pamux, nuučaan̓uł, St’át’imc, Syilx and Tsilhqot’in. Her book Otter’s Journey Through Indigenous Language and Law (UBC Press, 2018) explores the connections between language and law. Lindsay is Anishinaabe and a member of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation.