What Do You Call an Indigenous Woman with a PhD in Law? Resisting the Subjugation of Indigenous Expertise in Legal Spheres

Abstract

In this article, the author explores manifestations of ongoing anti-Indigenous racism and colonialism in the legal academy. She situates Indigenous education as a colonial project, providing a brief overview of Forced Assimilative Education regimes in Canada and the intergenerational fallout of the same. Discussions of trauma and ethno-stress experienced by Indigenous learners in post-secondary education generally flow into an analysis of the particularities of the lived experience of legal education. The author explores ongoing efforts towards the decolonization and Indigenization of education systems and the legal profession, and she proposes actions to resist the continued subjugation of Indigenous knowledge within the legal academy.