Postdoctoral fellow pursues collaborative research on Indigenous legal principles for land and natural resource management

For Rebeca Macias Gimenez, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, it is critical that her research gives back to the community she is working with.

Her postdoctoral studies examine the experiences of a Dunne-zaa and Cree community on Treaty 8 territory in northern British Columbia and how they affirm jurisdiction over their territory and make decisions about natural resources.

Macias Gimenez’s doctoral research, completed at the University of Victoria, was how she first connected with that community.

Her PhD used a comparative study of decision-making processes for infrastructure projects that affect Indigenous territories in British Columbia and Brazil.

“I interviewed members of different Indigenous communities on Treaty 8 territory in BC (for my PhD), and one community was especially welcoming to me,” she said. “We have been developing a reciprocal relationship since then.”

“Now, they are interested in revitalizing their Indigenous legal system and decided that my postdoc work could be part of their larger community project. It is important to me that they take the lead on establishing their priorities as a community and that my work fits in to contribute to their larger goals.”

Macias Gimenez is conducting her fellowship under the supervision of Associate Professor Hadley Friedland of the U of A Faculty of Law and Assistant Professor Joshua Nichols of McGill Faculty of Law.

“I first encountered Professor Friedland’s research through the Indigenous Law Research Unit at UVic,” she said. “Her methodology to engage with Indigenous legal orders is an essential component of my work today.”

“I knew that UAlberta would be the right fit for my research because of the faculty’s experience in this field and its well-known leadership in advancing legal research in Canada,” said Macias Gimenez, whose studies are supported by a Grant Notley Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Research Plans

Macias Gimenez plans to use Friedland’s work on the narrative analysis method, which relies on Indigenous stories to draw out legal principles, to conduct her research.

She will first analyze Dunne-za and Cree stories to create a preliminary report, which will be reviewed by the community. The community will then be invited to provide feedback through interviews and workshops. The last stage of the project will be returning a consolidated report to the community to be used as part of their governance system.

“This kind of project usually takes a few years to complete, and I hope that the postdoc timeline allows me to complete the two stages,” said Macias Gimenez. “Having said that, though, I intend to take this research beyond the postdoc fellowship and through my academic career.”

For Macias Gimenez, the project is both timely and urgent due to how Indigenous communities have been impacted by industrial development.

“I believe Indigenous law is essential to create more legitimate and sustainable processes of environmental decision-making,” she said.

“In terms of the Indigenous-Crown relationship, this is an opportunity for law and policy reforms, as the governments of BC and Canada have committed to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is critical that Indigenous law leads those legal reforms.”

Macias Gimenez earned her LLM at the University of Calgary and holds a bachelor of law from the University Federal of Minas Gerais in Brazil.