Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, Dec 12, 2019
In this paper, I explore several issues emerging in the discourse about the recording of indigeno... more In this paper, I explore several issues emerging in the discourse about the recording of indigenous law by drawing on several examples of my research and work with indigenous law in Canada. This is an important inquiry because there are limiting and disturbing fundamentalist premises underlying the debat e regarding the recording of indigenous law. To take up these issues, I analyse and articulate the law and legal processes from two indigenous oral histories. The question under consideration is whether by this recording and analysis, I have somehow damaged Gitxsan law.
RésuméC'est avec désolation qu'on constate l'ethnocentrisme continu des cours dans le... more RésuméC'est avec désolation qu'on constate l'ethnocentrisme continu des cours dans leur traitement des histoires orales autochtones comme artefacts culturels, en dépit des recommandations de tenir compte des perspectives des peuples autochtones et d'y adapter les règles de la preuve. Dans cet article, je décris comment le Juge en chef McEachern de la Cour suprême de la Colombie Britannique répondait à un témoin gitksan, Gwaans, lorsqu'elle présentait son adaawk comme preuve de l'organisation sociale Gitksan et de leur propriété sur les terres. La cour fut incapable d'entendre ni d'accepter l'adaawk tel que présenté—une institution juridique et politique plutôt qu'un simple artefact culturel ou le rapport d'une histoire chronologique. Les formes d'expression, le symbolisme et les liens entre les mondes des esprits, des humains et des animaux dépassaient la compréhension du juge. Est-ce que lors de litiges futures le adaawk sera traité différemment? L'article aborde un ensemble de questions inquiétantes, notamment le fait que le pouvoir judiciaire (1) adopte une approche réductionniste face au adaawk et (2) évalue l'adaawk selon les règles de la cour plutôt que celles propres au adaawk.
Both community activism and anthropological research affect local communities materially, whether... more Both community activism and anthropological research affect local communities materially, whether this research is conducted by "activists" or "objectivists". It is ethically and methodologically important that these activisms be recognized and built into the subject of the research. Aboriginal rights litigation entails both explicit and implicit activism by all concerned, although few admit as much. In this light, some of the effects of such activism on a local community engaged in aboriginal rights litigation in Canada are discussed in the form of a dialogue between an anthropologist and a community activist who is now working in aboriginal law.
RésuméLa thèse de cet article est que les principes des ordres juridiques autochtones, prévalant ... more RésuméLa thèse de cet article est que les principes des ordres juridiques autochtones, prévalant avant le contact avec les Européens, concernant les droits individuels et collectifs peuvent être articulés de manière à s'appliquer aux questions contemporaines d'orientation sexuelle et de transgenre dans les communautés autochtones. Selon le cadre d'analyse proposé (1) les sociétés autochtones avant contact acceptaient en général une diversité d'orientations sexuelles ainsi que les phénomènes de transgenre; (2) l'intolérance envers la diversité sexuelle est une conséquence du colonialisme; (3) des contestations récentes et l'action politique ont initié un débat sur ces enjeux dans les sociétés autochtones; et (4) les Autochtones peuvent s'appuyer sur des ordres juridiques avant contact et une approche pragmatique et critique pour construire des nations autonomes non oppressives. Le conflit entre droits collectifs et individuels est au fond une fausse dichotomie, selon l'auteur. Le défi posé est d'imaginer comment des systèmes juridiques autochtones et occidental peuvent coexister tout en maintenant l'intégrité de chaque culture et en protégeant les droits de gays, de lesbiennes et de transgenre autochtones.
My older sister, Lorna, lived with our Cree grandmother on the reserve until she turned six, then... more My older sister, Lorna, lived with our Cree grandmother on the reserve until she turned six, then she came to live with us. When Lorna was four or five, she began to run away and hide whenever she saw a white person on the reserve. My relatives asked her: "Why do you run and hide whenever a white person comes around ? " She replied: "Because I don't got no Indian outfit." Lorna meant that she was a non-status Indian (she was mistaken, but that is a different story), and because of this, she feared that the Indian agent, whom she equated with all white people, would take her away from her grandmother. She thought that because she had no "Indian outfit", she would not be allowed to live on reserve with her grandmother. A simple and perhaps cute story-if viewed with no compassion at all for that terrified little girl who feared being ripped out of her world and cast into the unknown. How is it that the tentacles of federal legislation, the Indian Act', reached across Canada to a tiny reserve in northeastern British Columbia, to strike dread into the heart and mind of that small child ? A fear of the Indian agent that she could only articulate as the lack of an "Indian outfit".
Rethinking Indigenous legal traditions is fundamentally about rebuilding citizenship. The theory ... more Rethinking Indigenous legal traditions is fundamentally about rebuilding citizenship. The theory underlying this paper is that it is possible to develop a flexible, overall legal framework that Indigenous peoples might use to express and describe their legal orders and laws, so that they can be applied to present-day problems. This framework must be able to, first, reflect the legal orders and laws of decentralized (i.e., non-state) Indigenous peoples, and second, allow for the diverse way that each society’s culture is reflected in their legal orders and laws. In turn, this framework will allow each society to draw on a deeper understanding of how their own legal traditions might be used to resolve contemporary conflicts, complex social injustices, and human rights violations. The Canadian state is not going away and the past cannot be undone. This means that Indigenous peoples must figure out how to reconcile former decentralized legal orders and law with a centralized state and l...
Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.
This paper is about the project of teaching law comparatively at McGill University and at the Uni... more This paper is about the project of teaching law comparatively at McGill University and at the University of Victoria. It underlines Sally Engle Merry's contribution to such projects, especially in inspiring responses to the various challenges faced by such projects.
[First paragraph]: "There is a move afoot in Canada towards the privatization of Indigenous ... more [First paragraph]: "There is a move afoot in Canada towards the privatization of Indigenous lands. This move is striking, given the centrality of lands to Indigenous laws and legal orders, as well as to overall economic and social flourishing. But what is privatization? While widely used across many discourses, what is meant by privatization varies. Privatization is often defined as “the transfer of an ongoing business or service from government control and ownership to the private sector.” However, there is no bright line between what is public and what is private, especially when concerning Indigenous peoples and their lands. For our purposes and to set the stage for the chapters that follow, privatization is used here to capture the replacement of services on Indigenous lands and ownership of those lands by governments with individuals or organizations owned and controlled by individuals."
13 no one can love and be just who does not understand the empire of force and know how not to re... more 13 no one can love and be just who does not understand the empire of force and know how not to respect it. 1 * Val napoleon is of Cree heritage and is an adopted member of a Gitksan House (matrilineal kinship unit). Val is an associate professor with the university of alberta teaching in the faculties of native studies and law. Her doctoral research focused on a substantive articulation of Gitksan law and the development of a Gitksan legal theory. in June 2010, Val was awarded the university of Victoria's Governor General's Gold medal for her dissertation entitled ayook: Gitksan law, legal order, and legal theory. she publishes and teaches in areas of aboriginal legal issues, indigenous legal traditions, indigenous feminism, oral histories, restorative justice and governance.
Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, Dec 12, 2019
In this paper, I explore several issues emerging in the discourse about the recording of indigeno... more In this paper, I explore several issues emerging in the discourse about the recording of indigenous law by drawing on several examples of my research and work with indigenous law in Canada. This is an important inquiry because there are limiting and disturbing fundamentalist premises underlying the debat e regarding the recording of indigenous law. To take up these issues, I analyse and articulate the law and legal processes from two indigenous oral histories. The question under consideration is whether by this recording and analysis, I have somehow damaged Gitxsan law.
RésuméC'est avec désolation qu'on constate l'ethnocentrisme continu des cours dans le... more RésuméC'est avec désolation qu'on constate l'ethnocentrisme continu des cours dans leur traitement des histoires orales autochtones comme artefacts culturels, en dépit des recommandations de tenir compte des perspectives des peuples autochtones et d'y adapter les règles de la preuve. Dans cet article, je décris comment le Juge en chef McEachern de la Cour suprême de la Colombie Britannique répondait à un témoin gitksan, Gwaans, lorsqu'elle présentait son adaawk comme preuve de l'organisation sociale Gitksan et de leur propriété sur les terres. La cour fut incapable d'entendre ni d'accepter l'adaawk tel que présenté—une institution juridique et politique plutôt qu'un simple artefact culturel ou le rapport d'une histoire chronologique. Les formes d'expression, le symbolisme et les liens entre les mondes des esprits, des humains et des animaux dépassaient la compréhension du juge. Est-ce que lors de litiges futures le adaawk sera traité différemment? L'article aborde un ensemble de questions inquiétantes, notamment le fait que le pouvoir judiciaire (1) adopte une approche réductionniste face au adaawk et (2) évalue l'adaawk selon les règles de la cour plutôt que celles propres au adaawk.
Both community activism and anthropological research affect local communities materially, whether... more Both community activism and anthropological research affect local communities materially, whether this research is conducted by "activists" or "objectivists". It is ethically and methodologically important that these activisms be recognized and built into the subject of the research. Aboriginal rights litigation entails both explicit and implicit activism by all concerned, although few admit as much. In this light, some of the effects of such activism on a local community engaged in aboriginal rights litigation in Canada are discussed in the form of a dialogue between an anthropologist and a community activist who is now working in aboriginal law.
RésuméLa thèse de cet article est que les principes des ordres juridiques autochtones, prévalant ... more RésuméLa thèse de cet article est que les principes des ordres juridiques autochtones, prévalant avant le contact avec les Européens, concernant les droits individuels et collectifs peuvent être articulés de manière à s'appliquer aux questions contemporaines d'orientation sexuelle et de transgenre dans les communautés autochtones. Selon le cadre d'analyse proposé (1) les sociétés autochtones avant contact acceptaient en général une diversité d'orientations sexuelles ainsi que les phénomènes de transgenre; (2) l'intolérance envers la diversité sexuelle est une conséquence du colonialisme; (3) des contestations récentes et l'action politique ont initié un débat sur ces enjeux dans les sociétés autochtones; et (4) les Autochtones peuvent s'appuyer sur des ordres juridiques avant contact et une approche pragmatique et critique pour construire des nations autonomes non oppressives. Le conflit entre droits collectifs et individuels est au fond une fausse dichotomie, selon l'auteur. Le défi posé est d'imaginer comment des systèmes juridiques autochtones et occidental peuvent coexister tout en maintenant l'intégrité de chaque culture et en protégeant les droits de gays, de lesbiennes et de transgenre autochtones.
My older sister, Lorna, lived with our Cree grandmother on the reserve until she turned six, then... more My older sister, Lorna, lived with our Cree grandmother on the reserve until she turned six, then she came to live with us. When Lorna was four or five, she began to run away and hide whenever she saw a white person on the reserve. My relatives asked her: "Why do you run and hide whenever a white person comes around ? " She replied: "Because I don't got no Indian outfit." Lorna meant that she was a non-status Indian (she was mistaken, but that is a different story), and because of this, she feared that the Indian agent, whom she equated with all white people, would take her away from her grandmother. She thought that because she had no "Indian outfit", she would not be allowed to live on reserve with her grandmother. A simple and perhaps cute story-if viewed with no compassion at all for that terrified little girl who feared being ripped out of her world and cast into the unknown. How is it that the tentacles of federal legislation, the Indian Act', reached across Canada to a tiny reserve in northeastern British Columbia, to strike dread into the heart and mind of that small child ? A fear of the Indian agent that she could only articulate as the lack of an "Indian outfit".
Rethinking Indigenous legal traditions is fundamentally about rebuilding citizenship. The theory ... more Rethinking Indigenous legal traditions is fundamentally about rebuilding citizenship. The theory underlying this paper is that it is possible to develop a flexible, overall legal framework that Indigenous peoples might use to express and describe their legal orders and laws, so that they can be applied to present-day problems. This framework must be able to, first, reflect the legal orders and laws of decentralized (i.e., non-state) Indigenous peoples, and second, allow for the diverse way that each society’s culture is reflected in their legal orders and laws. In turn, this framework will allow each society to draw on a deeper understanding of how their own legal traditions might be used to resolve contemporary conflicts, complex social injustices, and human rights violations. The Canadian state is not going away and the past cannot be undone. This means that Indigenous peoples must figure out how to reconcile former decentralized legal orders and law with a centralized state and l...
Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.
This paper is about the project of teaching law comparatively at McGill University and at the Uni... more This paper is about the project of teaching law comparatively at McGill University and at the University of Victoria. It underlines Sally Engle Merry's contribution to such projects, especially in inspiring responses to the various challenges faced by such projects.
[First paragraph]: "There is a move afoot in Canada towards the privatization of Indigenous ... more [First paragraph]: "There is a move afoot in Canada towards the privatization of Indigenous lands. This move is striking, given the centrality of lands to Indigenous laws and legal orders, as well as to overall economic and social flourishing. But what is privatization? While widely used across many discourses, what is meant by privatization varies. Privatization is often defined as “the transfer of an ongoing business or service from government control and ownership to the private sector.” However, there is no bright line between what is public and what is private, especially when concerning Indigenous peoples and their lands. For our purposes and to set the stage for the chapters that follow, privatization is used here to capture the replacement of services on Indigenous lands and ownership of those lands by governments with individuals or organizations owned and controlled by individuals."
13 no one can love and be just who does not understand the empire of force and know how not to re... more 13 no one can love and be just who does not understand the empire of force and know how not to respect it. 1 * Val napoleon is of Cree heritage and is an adopted member of a Gitksan House (matrilineal kinship unit). Val is an associate professor with the university of alberta teaching in the faculties of native studies and law. Her doctoral research focused on a substantive articulation of Gitksan law and the development of a Gitksan legal theory. in June 2010, Val was awarded the university of Victoria's Governor General's Gold medal for her dissertation entitled ayook: Gitksan law, legal order, and legal theory. she publishes and teaches in areas of aboriginal legal issues, indigenous legal traditions, indigenous feminism, oral histories, restorative justice and governance.
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