image: University of Victoria Faculty of Law professor and Next Steps academic lead Val Napoleon speaks to the crowd assembled to witness the launch of the project designed to revitalized Indigenous legal orders in Canada and around the world.
Credit: Geoff Howe
Indigenous communities will be empowered to renew and rebuild their own legal systems with support from Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Law, the new research initiative from the University of Victoria (UVic) Faculty of Law.
“UVic is in the forefront of a profound shift in how education and research can be done—with Indigenous Peoples as co-creators and leaders,” says Qwul’sih’yah’maht, Robina Thomas, acting president and vice-chancellor of the University of Victoria. “Next Steps not only represents a model of collaboration rooted in respect, reciprocity, and Indigenous sovereignty, it is our committed response to the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action.”
Next Steps is a research initiative dedicated to rebuilding entire Indigenous legal orders, focusing on all areas of law. Each Indigenous society has its own unique traditions from which legal orders—systems of law, including common law—are drawn from by centuries of knowledge and interactions within and across cultures. Next Steps will work with Indigenous partners to rebuild these legal orders and to revitalize and apply their own legal traditions to respond to today's realities.
“We are expanding the scope and scale of work to rebuild and comprehensively restore Indigenous law in Canada,” says Val Napoleon, founder and academic lead for Next Steps. “There is no intact Indigenous legal order that will spring to life with its mere recognition. This work is about self-determination in action. Indigenous Peoples have vibrant, sophisticated legal systems that have governed our lands and relationships from before time. Rebuilding these systems is the foundation for a just future for Indigenous Peoples and for Canada.”
The process of rebuilding Indigenous legal orders reaffirms Indigenous laws as living systems that can help solve today’s problems, in communities and beyond. It serves as a model of Indigenous self-determination that can inspire similar initiatives worldwide.
The first project is underway with the Secwépemc Nation. They have been selected based on their previous work building a strong foundation for revitalizing Secwépemc legal orders, both independently and in collaboration with Indigenous Legal Research Unit (ILRU).
It builds upon the foundation of UVic’s leadership through ILRU and the Faculty of Law’s innovative Juris Doctor & Juris Indigenarum Doctor (JD/JID) degree.
The Next Steps initiative is supported through a $10 million investment by the Law Foundation of BC. This remarkable commitment builds on the foundation's long-standing partnership with UVic Faculty of Law to support innovative legal education and lift the revitalization of Indigenous legal orders, ultimately driving meaningful societal transformation.
Next Steps is in alignment with and furthers the goals and principles of TRC Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ (MMIWG) Calls to Justice, the Canada United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA), and the British Columbia United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
Next Steps is an example of UVic’s commitment to the teaching of Nəc̓ əmaat kʷəns čeʔi | ĆȺNEUEL OL | Work together, one of four Laws and Philosophies that guide the Indigenous Plan. Learn more.
For more information, go to www.nextstepsindigenouslaw.ca.