This training will equip law students, lawyers and anyone interested with insights and challenges for shifting from a passive form of reconciliation to a more active one.
About this event
Despite representing about 8% of the Canadian youth population in 2018/2019, Indigenous youth made up almost half of youth admissions to custody (Statistics Canada). While the reasons for barriers to justice for Indigenous communities are complex, the lack of culturally appropriate educational programming and supports, coupled with the effects of racism and colonialism are widely recognized as significant issues.
We believe that in order to combat discrimination and create an equitable justice system, we must invest in the capacity to elevate empathy, increase inter-cultural awareness and embrace humility in the justice sector. This event provides law students and lawyers with specialized training to increase their knowledge on the histories and lived realities of Indigenous communities while also providing them with tools to be allies to Indigenous peoples.
This event will provide participants with a deeper understanding of:
The inequities of our justice system and the effect it has on Indigenous peoples;
Efforts to recognize Indigenous legal systems and work to decolonize the justice system;
How to approach your work with Indigenous communities from a place of allyship.
We will be joined by Knowledge Keeper and Grandmother Kim Wheatley who will share traditional knowledge on Indigenous legal systems as well as speak to the effects our current system has on Indigenous communities. Law Professor Frankie Young will present some research she has been leading on two-eyed seeing in the context of our justice system to showcase how Indigenous legal systems can be better recognized. Finally, Samantha Matters, an Indigenous researcher and academic, will lead an interactive Anti-Indigenous Racism Workshop with participants.
Thank you to our generous event sponsors: