Aboriginal Law & Indigenous Laws

The following Summary of Cree Legal Principles was prepared based on Kris Statnyk’s
and Aaron Mills’ research and analysis of the resources within Cree legal traditions to
address harms and conflicts between people. The students relied on publically available
resources and interviews within the community of Aseniwuche Winewak in the summer
of 2012 for their analysis. Given the short time period and other practical limitations of this research project, we knew anything we could produce would barely scratch the surface of such a rich, complex, living legal tradition. Keeping this reality in mind, this report provides a simple framework that all the students used to organize the outcomes of their analysis, which can continue to be built on as communities see fit. It is not a comprehensive or complete statement of legal principles and is not intended to be. Rather, it gives some examples of the legal principles that stood out in each category of the framework. This is best viewed as one starting point for the ongoing work needed within communities.

This book explores the concept of justice through the eyes of six Omushkegowuk (Swampy Cree) Elders indigenous to northern Manitoba. The author presents a model of restorative justice based on the educational ideas, principles and practices of his people. The knowledge, philosophy, values and experience of the Omushkegowuk is succinctly drawn out, and espoused, by use of the Medicine Wheel, the character Wasekechak, narrative, and with reference to a holistic interpretation of life based upon interconnectedness and healing.

Drawing on the insights of Indigenous feminist legal theory, Emily Snyder examines representations of Cree law and gender in books, videos, graphic novels, educational websites, online lectures, and a video game. Although these resources promote the revitalization of Cree law and the principle of miyo-wîcêhtowin (good relations), Snyder argues that they do not capture the complexities of gendered power relations. The majority of these resources either erase women’s legal authority by not mentioning them, or they diminish their agency by portraying Cree laws and gender roles in inflexible, aesthetically pleasing ways that overlook power imbalances and other forms of oppression.

This graphic novel, a composite of true situations, is the tale of the trial of a Cree man by a 19th-century Alberta court after carrying out an execution ordered by his Cree community. A contingent of 21st-century Indigenous lawyers travels back in time to intervene and apply aspects of Indigenous law not originally presented. There is also an accompanying Mikomosis and the Wetiko video.

Traditionally, nêhiyaw (Cree) laws are shared and passed down through oral customs — stories, songs, ceremonies — using lands, waters, animals, land markings and other sacred rites. However, the loss of the languages, customs, and traditions of Indigenous peoples as a direct result of colonization has necessitated this departure from the oral tradition to record the physical laws of the nêhiyaw. McAdam, a co-founder of the international movement Idle No More, shares nêhiyaw laws so that future generations, both nêhiyaw and non-Indigenous people, may understand and live by them to revitalize Indigenous nationhood.

While Dr. Hansen provides a narrative and comparative understanding of Indigenous justice based upon the Omushkegowuk experience, its message will resonate with other Indigenous groups as they deal with Western justice systems based upon retribution and punishment as such adversarial systems tends to be divisive for the community, ostracizing for the offender, and ignoring of victim needs.

In Algonquian folklore, the wetiko is a cannibal monster or spirit that possesses a person, rendering them monstrous. In The Wetiko Legal Principles, Hadley Friedland explores how the concept of a wetiko can be used to address the unspeakable happenings that endanger the lives of many Indigenous children. Friedland critically analyses Cree and Anishinabek stories and oral histories alongside current academic and legal literature to find solutions to the frightening rates of intimate violence and child victimization in Indigenous communities. She applies common-law legal analysis to these Indigenous stories and creates a framework for analysing stories in terms of the legal principles that they contain.