Locating Oneself in One's Research: Learning and Engaging with Law in the Coast Salish World

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increasing awareness of Indigenous legal traditions. Spurred in part by the work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics researching in this field of law and the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which speaks to the importance of recognizing, teaching, and operationalizing Indigenous legal traditions in many of their calls to action, such as Call to Action no. 27, 28, 42, and 50. As a result, Indigenous legal traditions are informing aspects of law school curricula and are being discussed and explored in professional legal training seminars. However, many questions remain as to the most appropriate manner in which to carry out this important work, lest it become yet another avenue of colonizing Indigenous peoples and their legal traditions. In this article, I hope to examine some of these issues with respect to Coast Salish laws and methodology—in particular, the legal tradition of the Hul'qumi'num Mustimuhw, the Island Hul'quminum' people of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. By exploring my own research journey, as a Hul'qumi'num Mustimuhw (“Hul'qumi'num person”), I demonstrate how methodology is the necessary starting point for any individual wishing to understand more fully how to engage in and with the Indigenous legal traditions. It provides an introduction to the worldview, legal institutions, skills and theories of Indigenous peoples, like the Island Hul'qumi'num People. Each legal tradition—Indigenous and non-Indigenous—is complex and must be learned and practised within its proper context over many life times to facilitate social order. One of the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to bring about a greater recognition of Indigenous legal traditions and engage with Indigenous laws, according to their own research methodologies; it is one of the first steps forward.