Indigenous Legal Orders Conference 2025
Course Date: June 13, 2025
Total: 5h 49min
Total Ethics: 2h 58min
Indigenous Legal Orders Conference 2025
Course Date: June 13, 2025
Total: 5h 49min
Total Ethics: 2h 58min
Welcome and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:15)
Teresa Sheward — Program Lawyer, CLEBC, Vancouver
Elder Carleen Thomas — Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver
Leah Sisi-ya-ama George-Wilson — Miller Titerle + Co., Vancouver
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
Elder Carleen Thomas — Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver
Leah Sisi-ya-ama George-Wilson — Miller Titerle + Co., Vancouver
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
Coast Salish Legal Protocol: Witnessing Ceremony (9:15 – 9:45)
Speaker Elder Xwechtaal Dennis Joseph — Squamish Nation, Squamish
Kalila George-Wilson — Language and Culture Consultant, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver
Witnesses
Halie Kwanxwa'loga Bruce — Cedar and Sage Law Corporation, Chilliwack
Christina J. Cook, KC — Senior Policy Lawyer, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Steven Teed — CEO, Adams Lake Indian Band, Chase
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Halie Kwanxwa'loga Bruce — Cedar and Sage Law Corporation, Chilliwack
Christina J. Cook, KC — Senior Policy Lawyer, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Steven Teed — CEO, Adams Lake Indian Band, Chase
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Advancing Reconciliation and Indigenous Legal Orders in the Courts: The Supreme Court of BC and the Court of Appeal of BC and Yukon (9:45 – 10:45)
Grand Chief Steven L. Point, OBC (Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) — Stó:lō Nation, Abbotsford
Chief Justice Leonard S. Marchand — Chief Justice of BC, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for BC, and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon, VancouverChief Justice Ron A. Skolrood — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
BREAK (10:45 – 11:00)
Advancing Reconciliation and Indigenous Legal Orders in the Courts: The Provincial Court of BC (11:00 – 12:00)
Chief Judge Melissa A. Gillespie — Provincial Court of BC, Vancouver
Associate Chief Judge Sue Wishart — Provincial Court of BC, Victoria
Judge Raymond D. Phillips — Provincial Court of BC, Kamloops (virtual presentation)
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
Associate Chief Judge Sue Wishart — Provincial Court of BC, Victoria
Judge Raymond D. Phillips — Provincial Court of BC, Kamloops (virtual presentation)
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
LUNCH (12:00 – 1:00)
Keynote Presentation: Where Do We Go from Here? (1:00 – 2:30)
Justice Ardith Walpetko We'dalx Walkem — Supreme Court of BC, Chilliwack
BREAK (2:30 – 2:45)
Indigenous Legal Orders in Community (2:45 – 3:50)
Revitalizing Leey'qsun Law (2:45 – 3:00)
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- community-driven
- engagement/participation
- learning/teaching/sharing/understanding
- successes
Chief Laxele’wuts’aat Shana Thomas — Lyackson First Nation, Chemainus (virtual presentation)
Tsawwassen First Nation: Our Coast Salish Legal Project (3:00 – 3:35)
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- two-eyed seeing and the Treaty-making process
- Tsawwassen cultural protocols and law-making under the Treaty
- the vision: law as culture and culture as law
- forming a plan: starting small and dreaming big
- resources: funding, people, and stories
- engaging leaders, Elders, staff, and legislators
- sharing ideas with our relations
- looking to the future: weaving together our living traditions and our growing aspirations
Mary N. Childs, KC — Counsel, Tsawwassen First Nation, Tsawwassen
Councillor Chemkwaat Valerie Cross — Executive Councillor/Legislator, Tsawwassen First Nation, Tsawwassen
Councillor Chemkwaat Valerie Cross — Executive Councillor/Legislator, Tsawwassen First Nation, Tsawwassen
Questions and Discussion (3:35 – 3:50)
BC First Nations Justice Council: Restoring Indigenous Laws (3:50 – 4:00)
Professor Andrea Hilland, KC — Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC, Vancouver
The Way Forward: Coast Salish Protocol Reflections from Witnesses (4:00 – 4:30)
Halie Kwanxwa'loga Bruce — Cedar and Sage Law Corporation, Chilliwack
Christina J. Cook, KC — Senior Policy Lawyer, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Steven Teed — CEO, Adams Lake Indian Band, Chase
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Christina J. Cook, KC — Senior Policy Lawyer, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Steven Teed — CEO, Adams Lake Indian Band, Chase
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
Closing Comments (4:30 – 4:35)
Leah Sisi-ya-ama George-Wilson — Miller Titerle + Co., Vancouver
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria
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Slides: BC Court of Appeal Reconciliation Framework & Action Plan: A Commitment to Advancing Truth and Reconciliation
Handout: Advancing Reconciliation in the Courts: Speaking Notes
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Paper: The Place Inside the Heart where the Blood Mixes: What Might the Recognition and Inclusion of Indigenous Laws and Legal Approaches Look Like?
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