scholarly journals Heroes, Tricksters, Monsters, and Caretakers: Indigenous Law and Legal Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Borrows
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Law Professors

Teaching Indigenous peoples’ own law in Canadian law schools presents significant challenges and opportunities. Materials can be organized in conventional or innovative ways. This article explores how law professors and others might best teach Indigenous peoples’ law. Questions canvassed include: whether Indigenous peoples’ law should primarily be taught in Indigenous communities, whether such law should even be taught in law schools, whether it is possible to categorize Indigenous peoples’ law or teach it in English, and whether it is possible to theorize Indigenous peoples’ law within a single framework or organize the subject within common law categories. While this article suggests that Indigenous peoples’ law can be discussed in numerous ways, including within conventional law school frameworks, it emphasizes that such law is best taught in other ways. Indigenous legal traditions should be organized in accordance with Indigenous frameworks. Some of these frameworks include Heroes, Tricksters, Monsters, and Caretakers. Using these Anishinaabe law examples, this article stresses how the teaching of Indigenous peoples’ law should be done in culturally appropriate ways that open rather than confine fields of inquiry within Indigenous law and practice.

scholarly journals OUTSIDER EDUCATION: INDIGENOUS LAW AND LAND-BASED LEARNING

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Borrows
Keyword(s):  
Outdoor Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Indigenous Development ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
Meaningful Context

This article examines pedagogical developments in Canadian law schools related to outdoor education. In the process, it shows how recommendations from the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission can be applied, which called for law schools to create Indigenous-focused courses related to skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights and anti-racism. Land-based education on reserves can give law students meaningful context for exploring these Calls to Action. At the same time this article illustrates that taking students outside law school walls is not solely an Indigenous development. Thus, it first provides a few examples about how outdoors legal education is occurring in non-Indigenous settings. Next, the article examines unique Indigenous legal methodologies for learning law on and from the land. Finally, the author discusses his own experience in teaching Anishinaabe law on his reserve to demonstrate how students can develop deeper understandings of their professional responsibilities.  Dans cet article, l’auteur aborde les développements pédagogiques liés à l’enseignement de plein air dans les écoles de droit du Canada. Ainsi, il montre comment il est possible de donner suite aux recommandations de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation relative aux pensionnats indiens, notamment en ce qui concerne la création par les écoles de droit de cours axés sur les compétences au regard de l’aptitude interculturelle, du règlement des différends, des droits de la personne et de la lutte contre le racisme. L’éducation axée sur le territoire qui est offerte sur les réserves peut donner aux étudiants en droit un contexte significatif qui les aidera à explorer ces appels à l’action. Au même moment, cet article montre que l’apprentissage du droit à l’extérieur des murs de l’école de droit n’est pas observé uniquement chez les Autochtones. Ainsi, l’auteur donne d’abord quelques exemples de la façon dont l’enseignement du droit à l’extérieur se fait dans des environnements non autochtones. Il décrit ensuite des méthodologies autochtones uniques utilisées pour l’apprentissage du droit axé et fondé sur le territoire. Enfin, l’auteur décrit l’expérience qu’il a lui-même vécue lorsqu’il a enseigné la loi anishinaabe sur sa réserve afin de démontrer comment les étudiants peuvent parvenir à mieux comprendre leurs responsabilités professionnelles.

scholarly journals The Lifeworlds of Law: On Revitalizing Indigenous Legal Orders Today

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Mills
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
Liberal Constitutionalism ◽  
Intensive Course

What ultimately counts as law and as the legitimate processes of its generation, adjustment, and destruction are both empowered and constrained by the constitutional order from which they derive life. A constitutional framework, in turn, reflects unique understandings about what there is and how one can know: a lifeworld. Reflecting on his own experience, the author emphasizes how legal education harms when it fails to acknowledge and to begin to articulate the lifeworld beneath any system of law it aims to impart. There are serious questions to be taken up in considering whether we may move law between constitutional contexts without subjugating the law of one community to the lifeworld of another. The author asserts this is particularly important with respect to Canadian law schools’ recent interest in teaching Indigenous peoples’ own systems of law. He argues that Canadian (liberal) and Indigenous (what he calls “rooted”) constitutionalisms are not only different, but different in kind. As such, efforts to articulate Indigenous law within the forms of liberal constitutionalism ignore or trivialize the ongoing significance of Indigenous lifeworlds to governance of Indigenous lives today. Many Indigenous legal scholars are adverting to this tension, moving on from simply making space for Indigenous law in the academy to asking whether and how this may be done. The author briefly canvasses Indigenous theorists (students, professors, lawyers, and elders) whose works present Indigenous systems of law within their own lifeworlds. Tracking the lifeworld-law relationship, he proposes three reforms to legal education in Canada: (1) teach that all law is storied; (2) teach that Canadian constitutional law is a species of liberal constitutionalism; (3) require students to enrol in a prerequisite on an Indigenous people’s constitutional order before enrolling in a course on their law. By way of example, he concludes with the syllabus for an intensive course he designed and taught on Anishinaabe constitutionalism.

scholarly journals LEARNING FROM BEAR-WALKER: INDIGENOUS LEGAL ORDERS AND INTERCULTURAL LEGAL EDUCATION IN CANADIAN LAW SCHOOLS

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Askew
Keyword(s):  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
Personal Experiences

This article investigates educational strategies that law schools could implement to honour Recommendation #28 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and foster strong intercultural interpretation and communication skills amongst new generations of legal professionals in relation to Indigenous legal viewpoints.  The paper is divided into four sections: the first draws on Indigenous legal scholarship to explore definitions of Indigenous law; the second provides a case study of one method of learning Indigenous law based on the author’s personal experiences of being taught Annishinabe law at Neyaashiinigmiing (a reserve community on Georgian Bay); the third discusses some of the initiatives, opportunities and challenges involved in integrating Indigenous legal traditions into the curriculum of Canadian law schools; and fourth and final section highlights some of the concerns being raised as these initiatives develop, and the related need for the legal profession to proceed with caution and humility. Cet article porte sur les stratégies d’éducation que les écoles de droit pourraient mettre en œuvre pour donner suite à la recommandation n° 28 de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation et promouvoir de fortes aptitudes en interprétation et communications interculturelles chez les nouvelles générations de professionnels du droit en ce qui concerne les points de vue juridiques autochtones. Le texte compte quatre sections : la première présente diverses définitions juridiques fondées sur la théorie du droit autochtone; la deuxième traite d’une méthode d’apprentissage du droit autochtone fondée sur l’expérience que l’auteur a vécue lorsqu’il a fait l’apprentissage de la loi anishinaabe à Neyaashiinigmiing (communauté vivant sur une réserve indienne située dans la baie Georgienne); la troisième porte sur les initiatives, possibilités et défis liés à l’intégration des traditions juridiques autochtones dans le programme des écoles de droit canadiennes; enfin, la quatrième et dernière section met en relief quelques-unes des préoccupations soulevées au fur et à mesure que ces initiatives prennent forme, et la nécessité pour la profession juridique de faire preuve de prudence et d’humilité. 

The Proliferation of Case Method Teaching in American Law Schools: Mr. Langdell's Emblematic “Abomination,” 1890-1915

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Kimball
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law School ◽  
Case Method ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
American Law ◽  
Law Professors

Case method teaching was first introduced into American higher education in 1870 by Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906) of Harvard Law School (HLS), where it became closely associated with—and emblematic of—a set of academic meritocratic reforms. Though regnant today, “the ultimate triumph of [Langdell's] system was not apparent” for many years. The vast majority of students, alumni, and law professors initially derided it as an “abomination,” and for two decades case method and the associated reforms were largely confined to Harvard. During the subsequent twenty-five years between 1890 and 1915, a national controversy ensued as to whether case method teaching—and the concomitant meritocratic reforms—would predominate in legal education and, ultimately, professional education in the United States.

scholarly journals Sites of Resistance: LGBTQI+ Experiences at Trinity Western University

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-133
Author(s):  
Heather Shipley
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Law School ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Sexual Diversity ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

AbstractTrinity Western University’s Community Covenant has been the subject of public and legal attention with specific reference to a proposed law school. At the heart of much of the contention about the law school, opponents have expressed concern about the provisions in the Covenant that restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ students—their identities and relationships. While much of the focus has been on the potential harm for LGBTQI+ students, and the expectation that law schools uphold Charter values—the voices of queer students and allies have largely been sidelined. This article offers space for LGBTQI+ students, staff and allies to discuss their lived experiences of sexual diversity and the harm facing the queer community at Trinity Western University. As they state, the Covenant is only a part of the issue; the culture it supports is what needs to change.

Law Professors: A Profile of the Teaching Branch of the Legal Profession

1980 ◽  
Vol 5 (03) ◽  
pp. 501-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Fossum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Law School ◽  
Overwhelming Majority ◽  
Academic Careers ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Law Professors

In the United States, law schools provide the principal route of entry into the legal profession. Indeed, education in a law school is the only experience that virtually all members of the modern legal profession have in common. The gatekeeping function of law schools places the nation's law teachers in a most influential position. Although law professors play a vital role in selecting and molding the members of the profession, little research has been done on them. This article presents the results of the American Bar Foundation's first major study of law teachers. The author finds them to be a most highly credentialed group of lawyers, the overwhelming majority of whom are graduates of a small group of elite law schools. She also finds that possession of a degree from one of these schools appears to be not only highly determinative of who become law teachers but also of the nature of teachers' academic careers.

An Historical Introduction to the Teaching of International Law in Canada

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 67-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. St. J. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Law School ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
General Curriculum ◽  
Present Decade ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

The purpose of this paper is to describe from an historical point of view the main developments in the teaching of international law in Canadian law schools from the time when the subject was first taught, in the mid-nineteenth century, to the early years of the present decade.The paper is divided into five parts, dealing respectively with the law schools of Quebec, the Maritime provinces, Ontario, the Prairie provinces, and the Pacific coast. A chronological account is given of the teaching of international law in each law school, describing first the teachers, their backgrounds, personalities, attitudes to international law and other interests, and, second, the courses taught, texts and casebooks used, and the importance placed on international law in the general curriculum, as indicated by the time devoted to it, whether it was elective or compulsory, and the year in which it was taught. For the most part, the discussion is restricted to the law schools in the various universities. Although it would be interesting to consider the parallel development of international law teaching in other disciplines, such as political science, the subject is so vast that some limit must be imposed on it.

scholarly journals Bioethics, culture and infanticide in Brazilian indigenous communities: the Zuruahá case

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saulo Ferreira Feitosa ◽  
Volnei Garrafa ◽  
Gabriele Cornelli ◽  
Carla Tardivo ◽  
Samuel José de Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Public Hearing ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
The Subject ◽  
National Congress

This article analyzes the practice of infanticide in indigenous communities in Brazil. Taking as a reference point a specific case involving two children of the Zuruahá people, it takes a broader look at the issue and discusses how infanticide is understood among other indigenous peoples. A debate focusing specifically on this topic that took place during a public hearing held in the Brazilian National Congress in December 2005 has also been taken into consideration in this discussion. In view of the positions adopted as a result of the hearing, this paper seeks to identify the ethical problems and moral dilemmas relating to the subject, by putting them into context and analyzing them in the light of respect for cultural pluralism. Seeking to contribute to the debate, the authors analyze the possibilities for intervention in the traditional practices of infanticide, while rejecting those positions that are not anchored in an attitude of profound respect for other people's cultures or that do not create conditions for dialogue between individuals or groups with different moralities.

scholarly journals Resources for Becoming Culturally Competent in a Multijurisdictional Practice: G20 Nations and Associated Legal Traditions

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-115
Author(s):  
Heidi Frostestad Kuehl
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Competency ◽  
International Business ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Law School ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Business Law ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Comprehensive List ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the importance of cultural competency skills for multijurisdictional practice and a comprehensive list of resources for international business law for G20 nations. Law students today are certain to confront issues of cultural competency in both clinical settings during law school and also during their legal careers as a result of the increasingly global practice of law. This article focuses on cultural competency as an essential lawyering skill in the context of private international law. First, the article will provide a brief history of cultural competency and its inclusion as a type of skills training in a clinical legal education setting at some law schools. Then, the article includes a brief survey of current globalization offerings and initiatives at U.S. law schools. Finally, the article provides a comprehensive list of resources to aid cultural competency and understanding of the legal systems and, further, an authoritative survey of international business resources for G20 countries.

Wahkohtowin in Action

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Matthew Wildcat
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Institutional Transformation ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Common Concern ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Legal Principle ◽  
Do So

From a Canadian legal standpoint, a common concern expressed about Indigenous law is that it is difficult to track down. As Hadley Friedland summarizes, “even people who want to engage more deeply with Indigenous legal traditions struggle to understand how to do so.” In response, Friedland has proposed a case law method that allows Indigenous communities and legal practitioners to access Indigenous law. I believe the case law method can be valuable, but I hope to provide an illustration of the operation of Indigenous law by looking at how the Cree/Metis principle of wahkohtowin was infused through the work of the Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission (MESC). My work here does not attempt to describe in full how wahkohtowin operates as a legal principle within Maskwacîs. Rather, I focus on the central role wahkohtowin played in the largest institutional transformation the community has ever undertaken.

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