Modern Treaty Implementation & Indigenous Law: An Exploratory Workshop

Research Theme: Indigenous and Settler Legal Systems

The SSHRC-funded Modern Treaty Implementation Research: Strengthening Our Shared Future, a Partnership Grant with the Land Claims Agreement Coalition (Partnership Grant), is aimed at funding research that helps document implementation issues and guide new and better strategies for implementation.

• Is implementation research distinctive from existing research on Indigenous law?
• Is implementation research in the modern treaty context distinctive from issues relating to the relationship between state law and Indigenous law and knowledge more generally? If so, how is it different?
• And how do these differences relate to the approach taken to research, and/or the subjects of research?
• More generally, what are the different approaches and issues arising in the course of Indigenous law research that can be applied in the context of modern treaty implementation?

These questions, among others, were the impetus for a workshop at the University of Victoria, September 21-22, 2018. The workshop was held to foster discussion and support research work to be carried out under the Partnership Grant in the future. Our aim was to develop a better understanding of how Indigenous law can contribute to improvements in treaty implementation for Indigenous parties, to identify principles and guidance for this research, and to identify potential limitations of proposed research programs. The workshop also aimed to situate the intended research relative to the growing body of Indigenous law research in Canada.

To view the workshop summary report click here.