Actions and Commitments

Call to Action # 50: Equity for Aboriginal People in the Legal System (50-52)

UVic commitment to Indigenous Law Institutes

March 20, 2019

This learning and research centre and UVic’s Indigenous law degree program are part of UVic’s commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Report and Calls to Action to establish Indigenous law institutes for the development, use and understanding of Indigenous laws.” The centre will also house the Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU), which is a world leader in the study and application of Indigenous law. ILRU has partnered with over 50 Indigenous communities across Canada on legal research questions related to lands, water, governance, citizenship, gender and human rights, harms and injuries, and child welfare, and works with institutions across the globe to revitalize and rebuild Indigenous legal orders. Sample initiatives include:

  • Kipimoojikewin (“the things we carry with us”): How Anishinaabe Law Upholds Local Governance
  • Tsimshian Inter-nation Co-operation and Dispute Resolution
  • Kwseltkten: Secwepemc Citizenship Law
  • Indigenous Governance and Citizenship: Developing a Collaborative ILRU Methodology
  • Tracking Change – The Role of Local and Traditional Knowledge in Watershed Governance
  • Revitalizing Law for Land, Air and Water Project