Indigenous Peoples, Art, Law, and Canada at 150
Author | Jeffery Hewitt |
Pages | 202-217 |
IndigenousPeoples
ArtLawandCanadaat
JeeryHewi*
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
theSpecialLectureseriesand isnotquiteadirecttranscriptofthetalkthough
largelybasedonitInadditionanumberofaendeesapproachedmetoinquire
about further readings, so I have very lightly footnoted this chapter to provide
those interested with suggested additional readings.
Iam grateful forthis morningsopeni ngand theacknowledgementof
landa ndpeopleAs part ofthe protocolI havebe entaught Ialso ac
knowledgewearei ntheter ritoryofthe Mississaugasof NewCreditI
dothisbec auseasanehiyawCreemanlivi nginAnish inaabeterritory
partofthe lawsofmypeopleasIu nderstandthemrequir ethatwhen
welive insomeone elsesspacewe agreeto followtheir lawsIti sim
portant toacknowledge ourown personal relationship tola ndwhich
maychange overtimeandI amgrateful forhowthat hasbeen donea
numberoftimesatthisSpecialLectureseriesItisalsoimportantforme
totellyouwhoI amasbestas Icanandlike myrelationshiptoland
myrelationshipscontinuetoevolveovertime
Myfathera longwith his siblingswas placedin foster carewhen
theywereallveryyoungTheywerefurtherseparatedandadoptedinto
nonIndigenous families who lived in dierent cities My father was
raisedinLondonOntariowhereIwassubsequentlybor nHisadoption
AssistantProfes sorFacultyofLawUniversityofWindsor
Indigenous Peoples, Art, Law, and Canada at 150
likema nyissealed Oneof the Truthand Reconciliation Commission
of CanadasTRC Calls to Action is to allow access to these records
Itmakes itdicu ltoften painful and veryembarrassingthat whileI
knowfromgovernmentagentsthatIamCreeIstilldonotknowwhich
speciccommun ityIamfromI amnot aloneint hisThere remains a
colonial economyi n keeping some of us from knowing Nonetheless
sinceI wasmuchyoungerCreeteachershavespentt imesharing Cree
culturewith meTheyhavecaredformeItell youallofthisbecauseit
ispartofCreeprotocoltoexplainwhoIamandwhereIamfromsothat
youmaydecidehowyouwanttorelatetomeornotIamnotuentin
nehiyawinmylanguagethoughitissomethingIamworkingonLike
culturelawsfami lyandhomela nguagewasalsot akenaspart ofthe
ongoingprocessofcolonizationColonizationisnotathi ngofthepastIt
stillliveswithinmewithi nmyfamilywithinmanyfamil iesThatsaid
Iamvery gratefulformyCree Anishinaabea ndmanyotherteachers
Icontinuetobehumbledbythei rknowledgeThoughIamspeakingto
youtodayIalsoacknowledgethatIknowverylile
PartofthelawsoftheAnishi naabewhichIamgoingtotalkal ile
bitabout todayrequires people toget up earlyevery morning before
sunrise because ceremony maersCeremony is oneof the sources of
Creea ndAnish inaabelawT hereare peoplei nAnishinaabe territory
including in the city of Toronto whoconti nue toawake in da rkness
everydaymakeoeringsof thanksgiving andsing asthesu nrisesi n
theskysothattherest ofusmaygoaboutlivingt helivesthatwedoI
expressmygratitudeforthoseAnishinaabewomenandmenwhowork
sohardforusthroughceremonyeverysingledayinthi scity
Iamgoing totalk toyoual ilebitaboutaquest ionthatI askrst
yearst udentsin constitutional lawWhat islaw Clearlythe students
hadan ideaorthey wouldnothavetaken thetrouble toapplyforlaw
schoolTodayIexam ineth isquestion alongw ithtwo othersW hatis
artHowmightartinformlawIconsidertheseinquiriesforavarietyof
reasonsthoughtheoneth atIwilltalktoyouabouttodayaddressesan
underlyingcollectivecompulsionMyhopeis thatinnami ngitwecan
allworktochangeitWehaveacompulsiontocategorizeeveryth ing
I spent some time this past sum mer doingr esearch at the British
MuseuminLondonwiththeassistanceofafewverygenerouscurators
there Though my workat the museu m is not donewhile v isiting I
learned thatamong the museumsobjectiveswas a mandateto goout
andnameeverythi ngintheworlda sthoughevery thingi ntheworld
didnotalreadyhaveitsownnameinitsownlanguageuntiltheBritish
Museumarr ivedtoproclai mand nameitYetthereIam peering into
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