Indigenous Legal Traditions and the Imperial Response

In this seminar we will begin by examining Indigenous legal, diplomatic, and philosophic traditions in the pre-contact era. We then turn to the early and middle encounter period to understand the ways in which Indigenous and settler people sought to understand one another’s traditions and cultures. We will examine this period through the lens of wampum diplomacy. The course then turns to consider the imperial response to existing Indigenous legal orders by looking at the debate within settler society about how and under what circumstances settler societies could exercise imperium and dominium over Indigenous peoples and lands. Finally, the course explores the various ways Canadian and the Courts of other nations have understood the nature of Crown title and the implications of these legal philosophies for Indigenous people throughout the Commonwealth.