This summer, 14 law students headed to Winnipeg to enjoy an unprecedented educational experience with Professor Aaron Mills: a four-week field study course in Anishinaabe law, taught in partnership with the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba (TRCM).
In 2020, responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission鈥檚 call to engage with Indigenous legal systems, McGill Law introduced a new mandatory course for first-year law students entitled 鈥淚ndigenous Legal Traditions.鈥�
The Anishinaabe Law Field Study course picks up where this introductory course ends. 鈥淭his course fully engages Indigenous law on its own terms,鈥� says Mills, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Constitutionalism and Philosophy and is Anishinaabeg. 鈥淭o do that we had to get out of the law school and onto the land, interacting with Indigenous community members.鈥�
Working with knowledge-holders
With this goal in mind, Mills worked with two traditional Anishinaabe knowledge-holders as co-teachers: Elder Harry Bone and Grandmother Sherry Copenace. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been my teachers for many years, and we bring very different gifts into a circle while sharing the same commitment,鈥� says Mills, who stresses that he has been on a fifteen-year journey, guided by his grandmother, who passed away a year ago, and other elders, to understand Anishinaabe law more fully. 鈥淢y long-running relationships with them have provided the foundation of this course,鈥� he underscores.
While the differences between Anishinaabe law and the European-based civil and common law traditions are profound, 鈥渢hey perform the same social functions in a very different way,鈥� says Mills. To help students understand it as law rather than just culture, the first week of the course explored Anishinaabe constitutionalism informing its legal understanding. 鈥淭he Anishinaabe interpretation of the world is that everything is connected, that the earth is inherently good, and the relationships between things are instructive for us, because it鈥檚 all part of Creator鈥檚 vision of balance and harmony. So the fundamental question of social life isn鈥檛 鈥榯he social contract tradition鈥� where we ask 鈥榃hat is a just society, and what institutions and processes are necessary to create and to sustain it?鈥� Instead, it is 鈥楬ow do we fit in to the order which already exists?鈥欌��
Anishinaabe law is often expressed in narratives 鈥� teachings embedded in stories, songs and ceremonies 鈥� that must then be interpreted within the context of an event or conflict. 鈥淚nstead of a set law, there is only legal reasoning, because in every case, you have to reason towards your answer,鈥� Mills explains. As Mill鈥檚 co-teacher Grandmother Sherry Copenace points out, 鈥淭he law is not meant to force people to do things. Rather we want people, based on whatever teaching we provide them with, to want to comply for their own wellness and for the wellness of society. It鈥檚 up to the individual to interpret how to live their responsibility in regard to that law.鈥�
A sense of community
The teachers explored Anishinaabe law in a manner that aligned with Anishinaabe ways of learning. 鈥淭ypically, we started the day with teachings from Elders or other knowledge keepers on the concept we were discussing, and then we would go around in a circle to share what that meant for us,鈥� says Catherine Dunne, who was entering her second year of studies. At the end of each week, the students would submit written reflections on their learning. 鈥淎t the start, we wanted the students to find ways on their own to understand the ideas,鈥� Copenace says. But the first set of weekly reflections showed that students were struggling with the fundamental concepts, so the following week the teachers offered concrete examples. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how they were used to learning 鈥� but we told them, this is a gift, because it鈥檚 not how we usually teach or learn,鈥� Copenace explains.
Students engaged with Anishinaabe law not only in their Monday to Thursday learning circles, but also on Friday field trips, which included a visit to the ancient Whiteshell petroforms at Bannock Point, where an Elder explained their connection to Anishinaabe origin stories.
鈥淲e were able to go out onto the land for ceremonies, such as participating in a sweat lodge ceremony, and I felt that the wide range of experiences really helped me to have a fuller picture of Anishinaabe law,鈥� says fourth-year student Ellen Spannagel. 鈥淭he course challenged me in all the right ways. It鈥檚 been the best experience of my legal education because not only did I learn a lot about Anishinaabe law on its own terms, but I built valuable relationships with people in my cohort, with the knowledge holders, and with Professor Mills and his family. That sense of community really helped the course come alive.鈥� Indeed, a sense of community is an important feature of Anishinaabe law and, to foster this, Mills organized weekly dinners for all participants.
All participants expressed hope that the course would become a regular feature of the curriculum. 鈥淚 thought it was very courageous on McGill鈥檚 behalf, and a big step for any university, to come to Manitoba and partner with the TRCM to present this course,鈥� Copenace concluded. 鈥淲hat Professor Mills and McGill have done is say that Indigenous law has always been here 鈥� and it's important.鈥�
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The course was based at The Forks in Winnipeg, and the students stayed in a university residence. Funding from one of McGill鈥檚 Tomlinson Chairs provided a modest contribution towards expenses for every participant; additional needs-based funding was made available to cover flight and accommodation.