We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
The study of Indigenous law is uniquely interdisciplinary. In addition to legal materials, a researcher must draw upon scholarship and research from many disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, history, political science, and from cultural and artistic works in order to effectively understand and address the legal issues. The Bora Laskin Law Library’s Indigenous Perspectives Collection provides access to books and audio-visual materials representing Indigenous perspectives across a number of disciplines. This broad collection allows scholars to work in one library with both the legal materials and the interdisciplinary scholarship that informs and interprets the legal materials.
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"The rights of indigenous peoples under international law have seen significant change in recent years, as various international bodies have attempted to address the question of how best to protect and enforce their rights.
"Self-determination is on the agenda of Indigenous peoples all over the world. This analysis by an Indigenous feminist scholar challenges the United Nations–based human rights agendas and colonial theory that until now have shaped Indigenous models of self-determination.
"This book contains an in-depth discussion of the aboriginal and treaty rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the provisions of the Indian Act regarding reserves and band councils, recent self-government regimes, the recognition of indigenous legal traditions
"The original edition of Truth and Indignation offered the first close and critical assessment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as it was unfolding.
"In the pre-reserve era, Aboriginal bands in the northern plains were relatively small multicultural communities that actively maintained fluid and inclusive membership through traditional kinship practices.
"Images can be deceiving. The San portrayed on the cover seem to be a remnant from a time when 'hunters and gatherers' still roamed vast areas of land in southern Africa. In reality they are actors paid to re-enact the way they once lived.
"Indigenous rights are generally conceptualized and advocated separately from the human rights framework.
"Over 60% of mining in Australia takes place next to land owned by Indigenous Australians. This land is situated in remote areas of Australia and the majority is held under traditional forms of ownership such as native title.
"À peu de chose près, la reconnaissance des droits fondamentaux des peuples autochtones dans les négociations actuelles avec le peuple innu s’inscrit dans le prolongement de principes semblables à ceux qui existaient au moment du contact avec les Français, en 1603, et à ceux que les Britanniques
"During the past decade, a remarkable transference of jurisdiction to Indigenous children's organisation has taken place in many parts of Australia, Canada, the USA and New Zealand.
"What, other than numbers and power, justifies Canada’s assertion of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the country’s vast territory? Why should Canada’s original inhabitants have to ask for rights to what was their land when non-Aboriginal people first arrived?
"Ask any Canadian what “Métis” means, and they will likely say “mixed race” or “part Indian, part white.” Canadians consider Métis people mixed in ways that other indigenous people -- First Nations and Inuit -- are not, and the census and the courts have premised their recognition of the Métis on
"This book analyses the legal aspects of international claims by indigenous peoples for the repatriation of their cultural property, and explores what legal norms and normative orders would be appropriate for resolving these claims.
"Although nomadic peoples are scattered worldwide and have highly heterogeneous lifestyles, they face similar threats to their mobile livelihood and survival.
"This book develops an alternative approach to conventional Aboriginal title doctrine.
"After colonization, indigenous people faced an extractive property rights regime for both their land and knowledge. This book outlines that regime, and how the symbolic function of international intellectual property continues today to assist states to enclose indigenous peoples' knowledge.
"In 2007, the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reinvigorated discussions about the participation by indigenous peoples in the decision-making processes that affect them.
"This highly original work demonstrates the fundamental role of customary law for the realization of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for sound national and international legal governance.
"This book takes up the postcolonial challenge for law and explains how the problems of legal recognition for Indigenous peoples are tied to an orthodox theory of law.
"Blockades have become a common response to Canada's failure to address and resolve the legitimate claims of First Nations. Blockades or Breakthroughs? debates the importance and effectiveness of blockades and occupations as political and diplomatic tools for Aboriginal people.