tansi ninôtemik,
Welcome to the first blog post from the 2024-2025 ReconciliACTION blog team!
We are immensely excited and grateful for the opportunity to share knowledge with you all in the upcoming weeks and months. To start things off in a good way, we want to introduce ourselves and tell you a little bit about our plans for the blog!
Meet the 2024-2025 ReconciliACTION Team:
Aiyana (she/her) is a second-year law student at the University of Alberta and a member of Beaver Lake Cree Nation. She is an executive member of the Indigenous Law Students Association as the Administration and Communication Co-Chair. Aiyana completed her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education at the University of Alberta. After completing her education degree, she taught at maskêkosak kiskinomâtowikamik in Enoch Cree Nation. At maskêkosak, she taught Cultural Arts, Aboriginal Studies, and Drama. Aiyana is passionate about learning and teaching, and still occasionally substitutes at maskêkosak when she is able to. Aiyana is interested in learning more about Indigenous and Aboriginal law throughout her law school journey. She is excited to contribute to the new ReconciliACTION team!
Danny Norris-Pott is of mixed Cree, Metis, and settler descent. They started reconnecting to their Indigenous roots around the time they were 17. Danny’s great-grandmother lost her status through the Indian Act and much of their family is just getting status back now through Bill C-31 amendments. Danny recently got their status and now belongs to Ahtahkakoop First Nation.
Danny is extremely passionate about working in Indigenous law. As the Co-Chair External for the Indigenous Law Students Association, they work with other executive team members to plan culturally relevant events, run the social media accounts, and support Indigenous students. They also work as a research assistant with Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge.
In their spare time Danny is an avid beader. They love going on walks and collecting books. Their favorite thing to do with friends is to host quirky niche events that may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Jasmine Hafso is a third-year law student. She has Métis and settler heritage. Her ancestry traces back to various Métis communities, including the Red River Settlement. Her great-grandfather attended Fort Vermilion Residential School. He managed to escape the school and join the army while underage. He fought in the second world war. Recently (in 2020), the Canadian government formally recognized the post-war injustices he suffered as a Métis veteran. On her father’s side, Jasmine is of Norwegian descent.
Prior to law school, Jasmine studied history, allowing her the opportunity to learn more about Indigenous histories. With hopes of contributing to a more just society, she decided to study law. She is passionate about language revitalization, and the highlight of her time in law school has been taking Cree classes. She believes that respect for Indigenous law, at all levels of Canadian institutions, is necessary to reconciliation.
Kate Ashton is a second year law student at the University of Alberta. She is of settler heritage, and has lived in Edmonton her whole life. Being involved extensively with music and performance propelled Kate into a bachelor of Jazz and Contemporary Popular Music. There, she studied advanced music theory, film scoring, and music production. After teaching music at a studio for two years following her degree, she decided to come back to school to study law. Music remains her passion though, and she still studies, practices, and creates music in her free time.
Kate is motivated by her curiosity and her desire for new experiences. She loves to travel, try new foods, and meet new people. She will proudly let you know about her Duolingo streak (currently over 860 days). She adores animals, especially her cats. For her, getting out of the city regularly in order to see the night sky is a must.
Vibby Tandon (she/her) is a second-year law student and member of the Indigenous Law Students’ Association (ILSA). She was born in India and her family immigrated to Edmonton in 2007. As a migrant, Vibby is particularly interested in Indigenous ways of living, and how she can support and empower such practices as an inhabitant on Treaty 6 territory. She initially became interested in Aboriginal rights after writing a paper in undergrad about the effect of settler colonialism on incarcerated Indigenous women. Soon after she began volunteering at the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP) as a mentor for marginalized youth in the criminal justice system. Vibby hopes to learn more about the effect of the legal system on Indigenous peoples and is excited to participate in the ReconciliACTION blog.
This Year’s ReconciliACTION Plan
As with each year of the blog, a new team means fresh and exciting perspectives. This year, we are especially pleased to bring a wealth of knowledge from our many diverse and rich backgrounds. We each have our own unique relationship with the land we occupy; we hope that you too can see the strength and beauty in harmonizing these relationships.
You can expect to learn more from these fresh and exciting perspectives every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We hope to learn and grow with you, our dear readers, as we blog about breaking Indigenous legal news, case briefs, article reviews, interviews with local legal legends, and more! You may even catch us posting some hilarious Indigenous legal memes.
ekosi. Stay well,
The ReconciliACTION team
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