The ground of Indigenous-settler relations in BC — in both legal and literal terms – is rapidly changing. Our commitment to reconciliation, including the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, is being tested in fundamental ways. The Cowichan Tribes and the Gitxaala court cases, in particular, are being taken up as battlegrounds for contesting the meaning of property, authority and, ultimately, whether we will follow pathways of respect or conflict when it comes to the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous law.
Simon’s talk will explain why these cases are so significant, how they are being (mis)used to provoke division and what lessons they hold for allies committed to understanding and respecting Indigenous laws as we continue to live on, be cared by, and draw wealth from unceded and Treatied lands.
The talk will include lots of time for discussion. Bring your questions!
What does it mean to take Indigenous law seriously? This is a question that Simon Owen is encountering in legal research and practice, as well as in daily life as a settler-descendant Canadian.
Simon is past Senior Researcher with the Indigenous Law Research Unit at UVic. With ILRU, he worked with community-guided legal revitalization projects in a wide range of areas of law and legal traditions, including Secwépemc (territorial governance and citizenship); syilx, Nłeʔkepmx, Tsilhqot’in and Cowichan (water governance), Sm’algyaxspeaking/Tsimshian (inter-nation cooperation and conflict resolution), Anishinaabeg (familycentred governance and responses to harm), Coast Salish (child and caregiver nurturance & safety), Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (land- centred human rights), and Dene, Dane-zaa, Cree and Saulteaux (land and treaty relationships).
Simon is the founder of Three Paces, dedicated to helping Nations implement their Indigenous laws across the governance spectrum.
CLICK HERE to register and you will be sent a Zoom link for the session.
This event will be recorded.
For more information about the two legal cases see:
For more information about this event, please contact: movingwithspirit@gmail.com
Sponsored by Reconciling with Indigenous Peoples and the Land (RIPL).