CHIEF CAROLYN BUFFALO will present "Jordan's Principle: Recognizing and Implementing the Rights of Handicapped Children on Reserve" on Monday, March 7 at noon in Room 231/237 of the Law Centre.
Ms. Buffalo, who is of Cree ancestry, is Chief of the Montana First Nation, which is located approximately 90 kilometres south of Edmonton. It is the smallest First Nation that makes up the Four Nations of Hobbema, Alberta.
After receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta she was called to the Alberta Bar in 1996. Ms. Buffalo, who is of Cree descent, has served her community in a variety of capacities, including teaching business law at Maskwacis Cultural College and serving as Education Coordinator for the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations. She was the first aboriginal person to be appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools Division in 2007.
Ms. Buffalo is the President of the Maskwacis Justice Society and received an Alberta Centennial medallion and Aboriginal Role Model Award.
LEN MARCHAND will present "Understanding the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement" on Tuesday, March 8 at noon in Room 231/237 of the Law Centre.
Mr. Marchand, who is of Okanagan First Nations ancestry, is a partner with Fulton & Company LLP in Kamloops, British Columbia.
He has successfully represented numerous victims of physical and sexual abuse in institutional setting; participated in negotiations and signatory to historic national settlement for Residential School claims; successfully defended local governments in a variety of litigation matters including building inspection, negligence claims, nuisance/flooding claims, trespass claims and abuse of public office claims; successfully defended a Crown corporation in complex commercial litigations, and; provided advice to local governments pertaining to by-law prosecution, building regulation and land use issues, by-law drafting, business licensing.
WILLIE LITTLECHILD will present "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada" on Wednesday, March 9 at noon in Room 231/237 of the Law Centre.
In 1976, Chief Wilton Littlechild had the distinction of being the first Treaty First Nation person to acquire his law degree from the University of Alberta. He is a respected lawyer and operates the law firm of J. Wilton Littlechild, Barrister and Solicitor, which is situated in the Ermineskin Reserve. He
Chief Littlechild, who was a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin from 1988 to 1993, is a strong advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and promoter of implementation of the treaties between the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Crown, now represented by the federal government.
In 2007 the University of Alberta bestowed the Doctor of Laws Degree on Chief Littlechild for his outstanding achievements. He has also been honoured by being appointed the Honourary Chief for the Maskwacis Crees and also honoured by the Chiefs of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations as the International Chief for Treaty No. 6 Confederacy.
Chief Littlechild founded the International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development, a United Nations non-governmental organization, and he is currently a Commissioner for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada which actively addresses Indian Residential School issues from the past that affect people today.
PAUL MICHEL will present "Aboriginal Men as Protectors" and MAVIS ERICKSON will present "Aboriginal Women as Protectors" on Thursday, March 10 at noon in Room 231/237 of the Law Centre.
Mr. Michel is the First Nations Director at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and a First Nation Studies adjunct professor. His father was the first Aboriginal person in Western Canada to graduate with a grade 12 from a Residential School.
Mr. Michel has a diverse background in First Nations education and has previously served as principal of a First Nations Elementary school in Fort St. James; an instructor for the College of New Caledonia, and; a teacher for the Prince George Native Friendship Centre.
Ms. Erickson, who received her Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, is a Barrister and Solicitor with the law firm of Wagstaffe, Gosh and Co. in Prince George, British Columbia where she also teaches in the First Nations Studies Department at the University of Northern British Columbia.
From 1997 to 2003 Ms. Erickon served as the Elected Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and she is currently the Head Coordinator for the Highway of Tears initiative, which addresses the issue surrounding the missing women along Highway 16 in British Columbia.
JEAN TEILLET will present "The Metis of the Northwest: One of the Invisible Aboriginal Peoples of Canada" on Friday, March 11 at noon in Room 231/237 of the Law Centre.
Ms. Teillet, who is the great-grand niece of Louis Riel, is a partner in the Pape Salter Teillet law firm-which has offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Behchokö, Northwest Territories. She specializes in Aboriginal rights litigation and negotiations, with a particular emphasis on Métis rights.
For 18 years she has been a tutor and mentor to Aboriginal students at the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta, and Osgoode Hall Law School. In 2002, Ms. Teillet became the first recipient of the Law Society of Upper Canada's Lincoln Alexander Award for her work "as a mentor and teacher and her commitment to advancing Aboriginal issues".