In Photos: Indigenous Relationship Building Day
Sarah Kent - 3 October 2023
First-year law students at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law were immersed in Indigenous legal traditions and history as part of a powerful learning experience hosted by Enoch Cree Nation and organized by the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge.
The Indigenous Relationship Building Day is a component of first-year law students’ Foundations to Law course, a two-week intensive course that introduces students to the Canadian legal system. The day is part of the Faculty of Law’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action #28.
Students participated in a law-adapted version of the KAIROS blanket exercise, which emphasizes Indigenous legal history and was adapted by Associate Professor Hadley Friedland, academic director of the lodge. It walks students through hundreds of years of Canadian and Indigenous legal history in order to understand the impact of law, legislation and policy on Indigenous peoples.
The day began in a good way with a traditional Cree Pipe Ceremony led by Mosom Rick Lightning and escapio Clarence Soosay. Tyler Ermineskin, a second-year law student of Nehiyaw/Cree descent, served as the emcee.
In addition to the exercise, students experienced a powwow dancer demonstration.