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: (Today) March 8, 2018
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 by edited by John Borrows and Michael Coyle was released last year by University of Toronto Press.
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.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of navigating the on-going systemic challenges, hardships, and problems facing many indigenous teacher education programs today, helping to foster a commitment to developing quality indigenous teacher education programs that are sustainable, distinctive and excellent. However, despite a growing cadre of indigenous peoples working in teacher education, there is still a noticeable gap between the uptake of what is being taught in conventional teacher education programs, and how this translates to what we see student teachers doing in the classroom. The often tricky and complex nature of indigenous teacher education programming also means that there are multiple realities, approaches and pathways that require greater communication, collaboration, and cooperation. The very nature of this complexity, the book suggests, requires a strength-based and future-focused approach built on trust, integrity, courage and respect for indigeneity, as well as an understanding of what it means to be indigenous. The examples and experiences presented identify a number of promising practices that work well in current indigenous teacher education programs and beyond. By promoting a greater appreciation for the inclusion of culturally relevant practices in teacher education, the book aims to breathe new life into the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of indigenous teacher education programs moving forward.
Knowing Home attempts to describe the creative vision of Indigenous scientific knowledge and technology that is derived from an ecology of a home place. The traditional wisdom component of Indigenous Science—the values and ways of decision-making—assists humans in their relationship with each other, the land and water, and all of creation. Knowing Home weaves Indigenous perspectives, worldviews, and wisdom practices into the science curriculum. It provides a window into the scientific knowledge and technological innovations of the Indigenous peoples of Northwestern North America, providing numerous examples and cases for developing science lessons and curricula. Knowing Home shows how Indigenous perspectives have the potential to give insight and guidance as we attempt to solve the complex environmental problems of the 21st century.
Dr. Gloria Snively is Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria where she taught science methods, environmental/marine education, and culture courses. She was Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Education. For 12 years, she was involved with the Asia Pacific Network whose purpose is to strengthen links between the research community and school-based environmental education in the Asia-Pacific region. Her work with Indigenous education spans 4 decades and has always been inspired by Indigenous leaders. She enjoyed giving natural history talks and walks to students, teachers, park interpreters, First Nations and community groups for 50 years; she prefers to explore forest, ponds and seashores first-hand.
Dr. Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams OBC walking in peace is Lil’wat of the St’at’yem’c First Nation. Her life has been devoted to promoting and restoring Indigenous culture and language. She worked as an Indigenous educator and language specialist for more than 50 years in diverse settings, including Indigenous communities, public schools, and adult education settings. Dr. Williams recently retired from the University of Victoria as Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning (co-appointment with Faculty of Education and Department of Linguistics) and an associate professor, where she developed and delivered an innovative series of courses on learning and teaching in an Indigenous world.
Sanctuary City: A Suspended State traces the ancient concept of sanctuary up to the present day, revealing how the contemporary and supposedly hospitable ‘sanctuary city’ inadvertently entrenches a hostile asylum regime. This book specifically explores the UK-based sanctuary movement with a focus on Glasgow, host to the largest population of asylum seekers in the UK. Based on ethnographic research, Sanctuary City examines how sanctuary renders intractable the serious problem of protracted waiting, indefinitely deferring the rights of asylum seekers. Whilst illuminating how sanctuary functions as a technology that suspends many lives, this book also explores a myriad of subversive practices that politically challenge this waiting state. It is a timely and critical contribution to the study of hospitality and asylum.
Dr. Yekelchyk’s research interests evolved since then to include the social and political history of the Stalin period, as well as the formation of a modern Ukrainian nation from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. His Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation (Oxford University Press, 2007) was the first Western history of Ukraine to include the coverage of the Orange Revolution and was translated into five languages. His monograph on late-Stalinist political rituals appeared in 2014 and a book about the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict is coming out in 2015.
Simon Springer is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Victoria. He has been researching the political, social, and geographical exclusions that neoliberalization has engendered in post-transitional Cambodia for over a decade. He joined the Department of Geography at UVic in the summer of 2012, having previously spent time at the National University of Singapore and the University of Otago, New Zealand. Dr. Springer brings to UVic a very active, critical, and cutting-edge research program with an internationally-recognized publication record. Visit his