Indigenous Peoples, Art, Law, and Canada at 150

• Author: Jeffery Hewitt
• Pages: 202-217



IndigenousPeoples

ArtLawandCanadaat

JeeryHewi*

This lecture was originally delivered in Toronto for the Law Societ y of Upper

Canada’s Special Lecture Series, and was accompanied by a series of slides, con-

taining art and imagery discussed herein. What follows is my contribution to

theSpecialLectureseriesand isnotquiteadirecttranscriptofthetalkthough

largelybasedonitInadditionanumberofaendeesapproachedmetoinquire

about further readings, so I have very lightly footnoted this chapter to provide

those interested with suggested additional readings.

Iam grateful forthis morningsopeni ngand theacknowledgementof

landa ndpeopleAs part ofthe protocolI havebe entaught Ialso ac

knowledgewearei ntheter ritoryofthe Mississaugasof NewCreditI

dothisbec auseasanehiyawCreemanlivi nginAnish inaabeterritory

partofthe lawsofmypeopleasIu nderstandthemrequir ethatwhen

welive insomeone elsesspacewe agreeto followtheir lawsIti sim

portant toacknowledge ourown personal relationship tola ndwhich

maychange overtimeandI amgrateful forhowthat hasbeen donea

numberoftimesatthisSpecialLectureseriesItisalsoimportantforme

totellyouwhoI amasbestas Icanandlike myrelationshiptoland

myrelationshipscontinuetoevolveovertime

Myfathera longwith his siblingswas placedin foster carewhen

theywereallveryyoungTheywerefurtherseparatedandadoptedinto

nonIndigenous families who lived in dierent cities My father was

raisedinLondonOntariowhereIwassubsequentlybor nHisadoption

 AssistantProfes sorFacultyofLawUniversityofWindsor

Indigenous Peoples, Art, Law, and Canada at 150 

likema nyissealed Oneof the Truthand Reconciliation Commission

of CanadasTRC Calls to Action is to allow access to these records

Itmakes itdicu ltoften painful and veryembarrassingthat whileI

knowfromgovernmentagentsthatIamCreeIstilldonotknowwhich

speciccommun ityIamfromI amnot aloneint hisThere remains a

colonial economyi n keeping some of us from knowing Nonetheless

sinceI wasmuchyoungerCreeteachershavespentt imesharing Cree

culturewith meTheyhavecaredformeItell youallofthisbecauseit

ispartofCreeprotocoltoexplainwhoIamandwhereIamfromsothat

youmaydecidehowyouwanttorelatetomeornotIamnotuentin

nehiyawinmylanguagethoughitissomethingIamworkingonLike

culturelawsfami lyandhomela nguagewasalsot akenaspart ofthe

ongoingprocessofcolonizationColonizationisnotathi ngofthepastIt

stillliveswithinmewithi nmyfamilywithinmanyfamil iesThatsaid

Iamvery gratefulformyCree Anishinaabea ndmanyotherteachers

Icontinuetobehumbledbythei rknowledgeThoughIamspeakingto

youtodayIalsoacknowledgethatIknowverylile

PartofthelawsoftheAnishi naabewhichIamgoingtotalkal ile

bitabout todayrequires people toget up earlyevery morning before

sunrise because ceremony maersCeremony is oneof the sources of

Creea ndAnish inaabelawT hereare peoplei nAnishinaabe territory

including in the city of Toronto whoconti nue toawake in da rkness

everydaymakeoeringsof thanksgiving andsing asthesu nrisesi n

theskysothattherest ofusmaygoaboutlivingt helivesthatwedoI

expressmygratitudeforthoseAnishinaabewomenandmenwhowork

sohardforusthroughceremonyeverysingledayinthi scity

Iamgoing totalk toyoual ilebitaboutaquest ionthatI askrst

yearst udentsin constitutional lawWhat islaw Clearlythe students

hadan ideaorthey wouldnothavetaken thetrouble toapplyforlaw

schoolTodayIexam ineth isquestion alongw ithtwo othersW hatis

artHowmightartinformlawIconsidertheseinquiriesforavarietyof

reasonsthoughtheoneth atIwilltalktoyouabouttodayaddressesan

underlyingcollectivecompulsionMyhopeis thatinnami ngitwecan

allworktochangeitWehaveacompulsiontocategorizeeveryth ing

I spent some time this past sum mer doingr esearch at the British

MuseuminLondonwiththeassistanceofafewverygenerouscurators

there Though my workat the museu m is not donewhile v isiting I

learned thatamong the museumsobjectiveswas a mandateto goout

andnameeverythi ngintheworlda sthoughevery thingi ntheworld

didnotalreadyhaveitsownnameinitsownlanguageuntiltheBritish

Museumarr ivedtoproclai mand nameitYetthereIam peering into