Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 37 EagleWoman, who was the first Indigenous law dean in Canada during her time at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. "You've got two different types of students — hopefully — in that classroom and you have to be able to address what they're both un- derstanding from the material and guide that understanding. That does take a high level of understanding of the material and also where Canada is at this moment." While there's an appetite to increase In- digenization generally — from law schools to lawyers working in the burgeoning area of Aboriginal law to companies looking to be more inclusive — there is a trend that trou- bles advocates to slap an Indigenous word on some letterhead or throw in an exam question that mentions Aboriginal people and call it reconciliation. Some Indigenous people view the term as window dressing when it's used by those unwilling or unprepared to do the hard work of changing the structure and pedago- gy of society — and the institutions within it, such as law schools — to be more inclusive of Indigenous culture. While it's positive there's a societal value among some people that reconciliation is im- portant, efforts among those not well versed in Indigenous issues can miss the mark — which in turn can lead to tension where peo- ple feel they're trying but are blamed for not doing it right. Wente has some sympathy for those who are at least attempting to do this work — but her sympathy is limited when it comes to ignorance. "Read some books and get some Google. There are hundreds and hundreds of works out there about Aboriginal peoples' experi- ences, hopes, dreams and aspirations," she says. "It's not that hard." Bruce McIvor, principal of First Peoples Law Corp. in Vancouver, taught the University of British Columbia's mandatory first-year course on Aboriginal and treaty rights last year and agrees it's an advantage if the per- son teaching the course is Indigenous them- selves, as they bring their personal perspec- tive and experience, which helps students connect with the subject material. Using his own experience and opinion was the approach he took to teaching the course, and while quite a few students were interested and receptive, there was a sense some of them would have preferred not to be there. But that reaction, which he predicts is common in classrooms across the country, is to be expected — and even desired. "It's a good thing if it makes them a bit uncomfortable and challenges some of their preconceptions," McIvor says. "It can be a bit challenging teaching the course because of that, but more of those types of challenges are what we all need to better educate lawyers." Increased exposure to these issues start- ing in elementary school, perseverance with the subject matter in law school and the continuing education and training of law- yers already practising who didn't have the benefit of these law school classes — it all needs to happen simultaneously right now if there's going to be meaningful change, "When Indigenous people are being used to open their eyes to anti-racist perspectives, I felt as an Indigenous student that, unfortunately, often, my culture was on display and once again our identity is vulnerable to criticism and judgment." Andre Bear, law student

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