The annual UVic Author Celebration is happening TODAY as part of Ideafest. Join us as we celebrate books written by UVic authors, including an engaging panel discussion on issues facing First Nations communities.
When: March 8, 2018 (Today)
Where: University Bookstore
Time: 3:00-4:30pm
The author panel includes: John Borrows (Law), Michele Tanaka (Education), Paul Whitinui (Education), and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams (Education). Rebecca Johnson (Indigenous Law Research Unit) will moderate.
This week, we will highlight the books written by members of the author panel.
The Right Relationship
edited by John Borrows and Michael Coyle
About the Book
In The Right Relationship, John Borrows and Michael Coyle bring together a group of renowned scholars, both indigenous and non-indigenous, to cast light on the magnitude of the challenges Canadians face in seeking a consensus on the nature of treaty partnership in the twenty-first century. The diverse perspectives offered in this volume examine how Indigenous people’s own legal and policy frameworks can be used to develop healthier attitudes between First Peoples and settler governments in Canada. While considering the existing law of Aboriginal and treaty rights, the contributors imagine what these relationships might look like if those involved pursued our highest aspirations as Canadians and Indigenous peoples. This timely and authoritative volume provides answers that will help pave the way toward good governance for all.
About the Editors
John Borrows is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria. He teaches in the area of Constitutional Law, Indigenous Law, and Environmental Law. In addition to teaching generations of students at his home base in UVic’s law school, he has served as visiting professor in the US, Australia and New Zealand. As a global leader in Indigenous law, Borrows’ ideas helped shape the recommendations of both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. He has led engagement with Indigenous legal traditions in Canada and internationally, bringing to light some of the injustices, inequalities and conditions of Indigenous people. His scholarship has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Recently, he was named the 2017 Killam Prize winner in Social Sciences by the Canada Council for the Arts. Borrows is Anishinabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Canada.
Michael Coyle is an associate professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Faculty of Law at Western University. He has over twenty-five years of experience in mediating disputes between the Crown and First Nations.
Praise for the Book
“This book presents an innovative argument on understanding and implementing treaties… Contributors are innovative in the way they conceive of alternatives that respect traditions and legal structures of Indigenous nations and government.” (E. Acevedo, Choice Magazine vol 55:04:2017)
“The Right Relationship, goes well beyond a capsule summary of the issues related to the interpretation and implementation of historical treaties. This wide-reaching collection of essays represents leading-edge scholarship on the central issue of how we, in modern Canada, can give life and voice to historical treaties in a manner that can be justified by law, philosophy, and moral reasoning. This volume is a serious contribution to the study of Indigenous–settler relations.” (Douglas Sanderson, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto)
Also by John Borrows
Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism (2016, University of Toronto Press) celebrates the emancipatory potential of Indigenous traditions, considers their value as the basis for good laws and good lives, and critiques the failure of Canadian constitutional traditions to recognize their significance.