Canadian Lawyer

38 www.canadianlawyermag.com FEATURE INDIGENOUS EDUCATION dents as many who attend law school are not underprivileged or disadvantaged in the same way as an Indigenous student or other mi- nority might be. "Unfortunately, law schools attract some very stubborn people when it comes to being open to other races — it can be a difficult space to train people to be cul- turally sensitive." Bear brought his concerns forward to the University of Saskatchewan and has been placed on a committee to help shape the course for next year. His recommendation is to split the subject matter, with the initial course broaching the subject of anti-racism education generally and retaining the Indig- enous-based learning principles portion for a later time. "First of all, they need to learn — or relearn — what racism is and learn tools for how to deal with these things in law before Indige- says EagleWoman. "That's why I talk about taking a seven-gen- eration view on this — everyone has to do their part all along the way," she says. "These law students are at the beginning of this effort; this won't always be the reaction in the classroom. This is a necessary transition period." Although Bear acknowledges his school's "great efforts" to honour the call to action and understands it's difficult for law schools to predict these outcomes, having actually been through the course, he developed "extreme concerns" about whether that work is being done in an effective way and what his expe- rience means in the larger context of similar courses being taught across Canada. "I felt like it built up a lot more frustration and contention between Indigenous students and their view on Indigenous people," he says, noting there is often a disparity among stu- nous peoples are used to teach them, because it's unfortunately not a good experience," he says. "It's difficult to try and teach students to be anti-racist when they already have so many built-in prejudices against Indigenous peoples from when they're young. So, when Indigenous people are being used to open their eyes to anti-racist perspectives, I felt as an Indigenous student that, unfortunate- ly, often, my culture was on display and once again our identity is vulnerable to criticism and judgment." To the point of how needed these courses are, many lawyers leave law school believing Canadian law is traceable back to the 1867 Canadian Constitution, when, in fact, Indig- enous people have their own legal orders that predate the Constitution, predate coloniza- tion and continue to exist today. Without law students, lawyers and judges understanding, appreciating and making room for the fact that Canada consists of three legal traditions, there will continue to be disrespect for and re- sistance to these matters, say advocates. Giv- ing law students exposure to the perspectives of different cultures and an increased ability to recognize the limitations in the law when it comes to race, class, sex and gender and access to justice — that would be doing the next gen- eration of lawyers and the Canadians who will work with them a great favour. "Education is an important component of reconciliation — as lawyers there's a respon- sibility to understand these fundamental, historical and legal principles," says McIvor. "Particularly when you're teaching Aboriginal "Education is an important component of reconciliation — as lawyers there's a responsibility to understand these fundamental, historical and legal principles." Bruce McIvor, First Peoples Law Corp.

• Cover