Sara Neely
LAUNCH OF FIRST-EVER INDIGENOUS LAW DEGREE
Philanthropic Partnership Enhances Transformative Change for Indigenous Peoples
“
Please take an apple from the basket and join me outside on the grass.”
And so began the invitation from Professor John Borrows to the first students in the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law WSÁNEĆ Field School . . . an invitation to join him and Rob Clifford, member of the WSÁNEĆ and Tsawout First Nation (and pursuing his doctoral degree in law), in a sharing circle on a sunny September morning. It was at that point that we, as honoured guests to the launch of this pilot project, left the LÁU,WELNEW Tribal School on the Tsartlip First Nation reserve on the Saanich Peninsula. The lead-up to that day in fact started the year before with lunch with then-Dean of the Faculty of Law Jeremy Webber. Dean Webber brought forward a bold idea: The funding of a field school that would see students learn, on the land and water, about Indigenous peoples’ legal order in the context of, and in collaboration with, Indigenous communities. The field school would be an integral part of UVic’s new joint degree program, the first of its kind in the world, that grants students two professional degrees. • One allows them to practise within Canadian common law.
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• One allows them to reason and act within Indigenous legal traditions. Students of the 4-year degree program will participate in mandatory field studies in diverse Indigenous communities across Canada and will graduate with professional degrees in both Canadian Common Law (Juris Doctor or JD) and Indigenous Legal Orders (Juris Indigenarum Doctor or JID).
The JD/JID program launched at the University of Victoria in September 2018 and the WSÁNEĆ Field School accepted its first students. The development of the new JD/JID program is a direct response to Call to Action #50 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I n keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal organizations, to fund the establishment of Indigenous law institutes for the development, use, and understanding of Indigenous law and access to justice in accordance with the unique cultures of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
As noted by Dr. Borrows, “The difference between Indigenous law and common law is that Indigenous people look to the land to find the principles for judgment, whereas the common law looks to old cases in libraries to decide how to act in the future. Indigenous law is about law and order, and creating peace between peoples.” The JD/JID program launched at the University of Victoria in September 2018 and the WSÁNEĆ Field School accepted its first students. For this pilot phase, they are students who are currently enrolled in the JD degree program. Those starting the JD/JID program will participate in the Field School in their third or fourth year of study. The Field School engages 12 UVic law students, 2 law students from other Canadian universities, and community learners in a 4-month immersion in WSÁNEĆ culture, beliefs, laws, and their application; it includes both class time and community-based learning. Project placements and having the students contribute to community needs will be a key focus of the program as they examine major concerns such as family and child welfare, LNG or other natural resource projects, environmental rehabilitation, sustainable economic development, and issues on our local Gulf Islands. The course is focused on WSÁNEĆ peoples’ own laws and will assist Volume 27 Number 4 Winter 2018
