Pii dash Shkakimi-kwe giigidid aabdeg gbizindawaamin: When the Earth speaks, we will listen. This was a guiding theme posited by elders of the Chippewas of Nawash for Osgoode’s inaugural Anishinaabe Law Camp: Anishinaabe Naakinigewin Gabeshawin.
On the weekend of September 11 to 14, approximately 40 law students and Osgoode faculty members travelled to Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker) to attend the camp, organized by Professor Andrée Boisselle in collaboration with John Borrows and his daughter Lindsay, their family and community, the Chippewas of Nawash. For those unaware, John Borrows is a world-renowned scholar in Indigenous Legal Traditions and Aboriginal Rights, and currently Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria Law School. He is also a former Osgoode professor and founding director of the Aboriginal Intensive.
The camp allowed students the opportunity to engage with Anishinaabe legal traditions and community-based learning. We were taken on the land in Neyaashiinigmiing to learn about Indigenous law through experiential learning and discussion with legal scholars, elders and other community members. We also had opportunities to develop more meaningful relationships with each other: from sleeping side-by-side on the floor of a community centre to sharing laughs over mealtimes, there were plenty of opportunities to get to know each other or to deepen already-formed friendships. Below, three students share some experiences of the first Anishinaabe Law Camp.
Serena Dykstra
The most profound thing about the law camp was how my relationships with other students deepened. I have been in law school with some of these students for two years, and yet knew very little about their personal lives. At the camp we were able to be vulnerable with each other through sharing circles, singing around the fire, and midnight strolls along the shores of Georgian Bay. I am grateful I was able to attend the camp. I learned so much about Anishinaabe law and was reminded that there are more important things than grades or job interviews. Attend the camp if you can. If nothing else you will be left with lasting friendships and memories.
Zachary D’Onofrio
As a JD/MES student, one highlight of the camp for me was the opportunity to discuss local environmental concerns with members of the Neyaashiinigmiing community. One specific discussion that stood out for me was with Paul, a member of the local Band Council. We talked about the fact that, on the surface, the waters of Georgian Bay look perfectly healthy. Paul pointed out, however, that the bay faces numerous environmental challenges, from invasive species to chemical imbalances. These issues are only visible if you take the time to get to know the water at more than just a cursory level.
This lesson reminded me of the relationship that I had with Neyaashiinigmiing before attending this camp. I had passed by Cape Croker multiple times en route from Owen Sound to Tobermory without ever becoming acquainted with the Neyaashiinigmiing; I had never taken the time to learn about the community at more than a cursory level, and therefore could not appreciate the many environmental and legal issues that it faces. Similarly, I lacked an understanding of Anishinaabe legal traditions, and the potential that they have to influence the Canadian legal landscape. Although there is still much to learn, this experience opened my eyes to important issues that had always been right in front me, but that I was unaware of until now.
Jasleen Johal
Hunting plums in the dark—The students slept in the community centre gymnasium that also served as a dining hall and congregation space for the duration of our visit to Neyaashiinigmiing. The centrality of this space allowed many of the day’s lessons and discussion to carry on seamlessly into the late hours; the community centre, true to its name, became a place of familiarity, where the pauses between moments were as poignant as the moments themselves. Following the feast on the last night of our stay, Jasmine, a young community member, asked some of us if we wanted to go out and look for plums. None of us spoke, but plates were set aside and coats were abandoned in the enthusiasm to follow her, past the scent of firewood and into the nearby wood.
I call it “hunting” because I have never known a person who has picked fruit past midnight; it is an exercise in patience, of wide eyes and open ears as a cluster of furtive bodies scrambles from tree to tree in a thicket of bush and net fences, silhouettes illuminated by cellphone flashlights amidst the rustle of leaves, waiting for the sound of contact as the first fruit begin to drop. There were giggles and whoops as we cheered Jasmine on, the twelve year-old who fearlessly clambered up countless trees and gave each one a powerful shake in an effort to dislodge the sweet reward. But as we headed back, in high spirits but with little to show for our efforts, it occurred to me how the same passion that characterized the discourse of law by daylight now possessed us in this small but earnest pursuit of something sweet but elusive, a satisfaction that hid amidst a woody thicket of ambiguous shapes and voices. We came back empty handed, but the night was hardly fruitless—in fact, the next morning, as we were packing up, a beaming Jasmine produced a handful of dewy plums for our trip back.
To Conclude
As we go forward in our careers, we will remember the teachings learned at Neyaashiinigmiing and the glimpse we received into the Anishinaabe world. Indigenous law should not be learned in a vacuum. We cannot understand Canadian law without an appreciation of the Indigenous shoulders upon which it is built.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this camp a success. Miigwetch Andrée Boisselle and to the other Osgoode professors who attended. Miigwetch to John and Lindsay Burrows and the Chippewas of Nawash. Miigwetch. Miigwetch. Miigwetch. “When the Earth speaks we will [continue to] listen.” Chi-Miigwetch.