Indigenous Law / Indigenous Legal Traditions

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established  by Schedule N of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. 

The Settlement Agreement and schedules are available at:

• http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/settlement.html.

The TRC website is available at http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NTRC) at the University of Manitoba,  was established to be the   "the permanent home for all statements, documents, and other materials gathered by the TRC".  Search this site for records "created or co-created or collected" by the TRC including some federal government archival records collected from Library and Archives Canada.

• http://nctr.ca/map.php

Print Copies

E-books published by McGill Queens University Press

Electronic copies from Publications Canada

Published by the NCTR

The Witness Blanket is an installation art piece created by artist Carey Newman.  It is a commemoration project, funded as part of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

Justice 

Call 27

We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown relations.  This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Call 28

We call upon law schools in Canada to require all law students to take a course in Aboriginal people and the law, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations.This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Equity for Aboriginal People in the Legal System

Call 42

We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to the recognition ad implementation of Aboriginal justice system in a manner consistent with the Treaty and Aboriginal rights of Aboriginal peoples, the Constitution Act 1982, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, endorsed by Canada in November 2012.

Call 50

In keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we call upon the
federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal organizations, to fund the establishment of Indigenous
law institutes for the development, use, and understanding of Indigenous laws and access to justice
in accordance with the unique cultures of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

This guide has extensive sections on Truth and Reconciliation resources and Residential School resources.