Reflecting on the Building Indigenous Legal Lodges Gathering

By Megan Reti

Kananaskis Mountain Village - photo by Megan Reti

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a four day gathering in the beautiful Blackfoot territory of Kananaskis, on “Building Indigenous Legal Lodges” co-hosted and facilitated by Wahkohtowin Law & Governance Lodge and Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Legal Orders. The gathering, supported by the Indigenous Bar Association, brought together women and gender diverse people from Indigenous Nations across Alberta, including Blackfoot, Cree, Dene, and Metis, to discuss tools for using Indigenous laws to address gender-based violence intersocietally. 

In recognition of the hard work that many of the participants were doing for their communities,  self-care became an interwoven goal of the gathering.  The beautiful mountain location allowed an opportunity for participants to recharge and the gathering programme  was intentional in putting self care into practice by allowing for a relaxed schedule with time for reflection and processing as well as opportunities to connect with the land, one another, or pure relaxation.  While self-care in these spaces is often espoused as necessary, it was particularly powerful to see the intentional practice of it and the ways it impacted not only my own ability to show up in the work but also the collective. 

Throughout the gathering, the facilitation team, led by Dr. Val Napoleon and Dr. Hadley Friedland, guided participants through discussions around Indigenous laws and law making in relation to addressing gender-based violence. This work included engaging with Cree, Blackfoot and Dene traditional stories through Dr. Friedland’s and Dr. Napoleon’s Narrative Analysis method. The stories spoke to deep-rooted lessons on how to support people facing gender-based violence, and the consequences where this support is not offered or available. This rigorous and respectful engagement with the stories led to meaningful and deliberate discussions around the very real issues in our communities. 

To end our time together, participants utilized a wisdom gathering method, to discuss the question of “How should we critically assess or evaluate Indigenous law in the lives of women and gender diverse people?” Or in other words - how would we know that Indigenous law was working (or was not working) for women and gender diverse peoples? It is and was a complex question, yet the group was able to come together, assembling the wisdom of every participant. At the end of the exercise, the group characterized the collective wisdom with the phrase “Law is Water.” This simple phase captured so much of the collective wisdom shared throughout our week together. Like water, law is able to shift and adapt as needed. Law is fluid, changing and responding to the needs of a community or a Nation. Like water, law is necessary for life. And, like a river, law can be strong and have the ability to wear down obstacles.

So much of this gathering required us to enter the space of the “legal imaginary” as Dr. Val Napoleon says. To look at what could be and to live in a space of hope for law. Not in a romanticized way, but in the space where recognition that Indigenous law has always been a tool for addressing issues, understanding the ways this is being done today, and envisioning how it can be done in the future. For me, it was clear, having had the opportunity  to make connections and build relationships with all of the brilliant, strong, inspiring participants, that this work is strongest when done collectively. It is our shared wisdom, our lived experiences, and the ways we move through the world that expand our legal imaginary and ground it in our lives.I will take these connections forward with me and I cannot wait until my path crosses again with the amazing people I met at the gathering.

Until next time, 

ReconciliACTION YEG