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This article first appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of FOCUS, the newsletter of the 窪蹋勛圖厙Centre for Learning and Teaching. The full issue including additional articles on reconciliation and education from Dal faculty including Fred Wein and Margaret Robinson can be viewed online .
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When Naiomi Metallic joined the Schulich School of Law as a full-time faculty member in 2016, she arrived with a mantle and a mandate.
A member of the Listuguj Migmaq First Nation, located on the Gasp矇 Coast of Quebec, and a 2005 alumna of the law schools Indigenous Blacks & Mikmaq (IB&M) Initiative, Prof. Metallic had been awarded Dalhousies inaugural Chancellors Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy. Although the Chair is physically seated in the law school, it is intended to be interdisciplinary, which means Prof. Metallic collaborates not only with her Schulich School of Law colleagues, but also across other 窪蹋勛圖厙faculties and beyond.
The chair was created through the generous support of the Honourable A. Anne McLellan, who was appointed Chancellor of 窪蹋勛圖厙in May of 2015. It is intended to foster greater teaching and research on Aboriginal law and policy issues at the law school, as well as to promote interdisciplinary partnerships. I have a great deal of room to do lots of wonderful things, and Im truly excited and grateful for this opportunity, says Prof. Metallic.
At the ceremony that was held at the law school in October of 2016 to welcome Prof. Metallic, Schulich Law Dean Camille Cameron said this: The contributions that Professor Metallic is making in the classroom, in our curriculum, and in building relationships between the law school and our Aboriginal communities in this region are exciting and exactly why the Chancellors chair was established.
Shedding light on history
Prof. Metallics plans for her five-year Chancellors Chair term include implementing the , which calls upon Canadian law schools to teach the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and AboriginalCrown relations.
That first fall, Prof. Metallic organized Blanket Exercises for all first-year law students at Studley Gym, which were facilitated by the Mikmaw Native Friendship Centre. A Blanket Exercise is an experiential learning activity that teaches Canadas history of colonialism toward Indigenous peoples.
It can be a very powerful experience, said Prof. Metallic at the time. I wanted to add this to the first-year experience as a partial implementation of the TRCs Call to Action. I hope this is just the start. Ive also joined the faculty committee examining other ways Schulich Law can be implementing the TRC Calls to Action 28.
It was, indeed, just a start, and one that would lead to other important initiatives. In September of 2017, the Schulich School of Law launched Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Context (AILC), a new mandatory two-credit course. It was delivered to all 170 first-year students in two intensive components, one at the beginning of the fall term and the other at the beginning of the winter term.
AILC 1, subtitled The Aboriginal Historical and Continuing Context, was a two-and-a-half-day introduction to Indigenous culture and traditions in Nova Scotia. Students were provided with an initial set of related readings, attended a Blanket Exercise led by Prof. Metallic, and went on field trips to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia to view Indigenous art, and to historical Indigenous sites such as Partridge Island and a former residential school. Several leaders from the Aboriginal community spoke on panels about the contemporary issues and challenges facing Mikmaq peoples.
Read more: New Aboriginal and Indigenous Law course fosters "eye-opening" experiential learning (Dal News, Nov. 2017)
AILC 2, From Culture to Law, was delivered in one day and aimed to build on the cultural understandings established in AILC 1 to consider how law applies to, and is applied by, Indigenous peoples. In particular, this part of the course was designed to introduce students to the distinction between Indigenous law and Aboriginal law.
Over the summer Prof. Metallic and her faculty colleagues planned AILC for the 201819 academic year, making improvements based on the feedback they received from last years evaluations and questionnaires. Enhancements included a day at the Mikmaw Native Friendship Centre, where students will be introduced to the issues the urban community faces, a lecture by Senator Murray Sinclair, and more dedicated time for AILC 2 in the winter term so students can get the most out of it.
From first steps to next steps
The law schools TRC Committee, which Prof. Metallic has co-chaired since December of 2016, also continues to do work beyond AILC, such as developing a database of teaching materials for professors at Schulich Law who want to incorporate more Indigenous content into their classes and having a dedicated research assistant to help them prepare curriculum in this regard. This year we are also exploring options for potentially introducing some additional mandatory content in Aboriginal law in upper years, she says.
Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Context is a first step that the law school has taken to advance reconciliation, but Prof. Metallic has introduced additional classes to the curriculum since her arrival, including the Indigenous Governance course and, this year, a new survey course in Aboriginal law to complement the law schools existing major paper courses.
I feel fortunate to build on the great work of the IB&M Initiative and to push for positive change for Mikmaq and other Aboriginal peoples, says Prof. Metallic. Im most passionate about the representation of Indigenous peoples and diversity within key societal institutions like law schools, the legal profession, and the judiciary. The Chancellors Chair gives me a wonderful opportunity to move this work along with more authority and legitimacy.
Prof. Metallic says the good work that has been happening at Schulich has been a team effort and would not have been possible without a supportive Dean and numerous collaborative colleagues, who have recognized that reconciliation has to be an institutional commitment that requires time and resources (it cannot just be an add on). Reaching out to the Mikmaq community has also been essential.
Asked for advice to other departments or schools who are just beginning to take up this important work, Prof. Metallic lists three principles that she sees as essential to reconciling with their Indigenous communities: (1) making space (in scheduling, curriculum, policies, thinking); (2) giving support (with time, money, advocacy, raising awareness); and (3) following the mantra Nothing about us without us.