[Full Length] Ecocentric Law — with Dr. John Borrows and Lindsay Borrows

“A tongue is healthier when connected to our hearts, and laws when written on our hearts.”

- John & Lindsay Borrows

SYNOPSIS:

The wonderful father-daughter duo of Dr. John Borrows and Lindsay Borrows explore questions such as: Is law a noun or a verb? How can we read the archive of the law that is written upon the Earth? What exactly is indigenous law, and how can it serve to revitalise colonial law?

John Borrows has transformed Canada’s understanding of how indigenous and non-indigenous law can co-exist and created the world's first dual Indigenous law program at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. His publications include Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law and Drawing Out Law. He is the 2017 Killam Prize winner in Social Sciences and the 2019 Molson Prize Winner from the Canada Council for the Arts, the 2020 Governor General’s Innovation Award. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. John is a members of the Chippewa First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

Lindsay Keegitah Borrows is mixed-rooted Anishinaabe and a citizen of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation. She is a lawyer, writer and teacher, whose work aims to support Indigenous communities to revitalize their traditional laws for application in contemporary contexts. She has worked with many legal traditions including Anishinaabe, Haíɫzaqv, Mi’kmaq, nuučaan̓uł, St’át’imc, Denezhu, Tsilhqot’in and Māori. She has worked as a lawyer at the Indigenous Law Research Unit (University of Victoria Faculty of Law), and at West Coast Environmental Law. She is a new professor at Queen's University Faculty of Law.

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GUEST BIO:

John Borrows has transformed Canada’s understanding of how indigenous and non-indigenous law can co-exist and created the world's first dual Indigenous law program at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. His publications include Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law and Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide. He is the 2017 Killam Prize winner in Social Sciences and the 2019 Molson Prize Winner from the Canada Council for the Arts, the 2020 Governor General’s Innovation Award, and the 2021 Canadian Bar Association President’s Award winner. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. John is a members of the Chippewa First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

Lindsay Keegitah Borrows is mixed-rooted Anishinaabe and a citizen of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation. She is a lawyer, writer and teacher, whose work aims to support Indigenous communities to revitalize their traditional laws for application in contemporary contexts. She has worked with many legal traditions including Anishinaabe, Haíɫzaqv, Mi’kmaq, nuučaan̓uł, St’át’imc, Denezhu, Tsilhqot’in and Māori. She has worked as a lawyer at the Indigenous Law Research Unit (University of Victoria Faculty of Law), and at West Coast Environmental Law on the Revitalizing Indigenous Laws for Land, Air and Water Project. She is a new professor at Queen's University Faculty of Law.

QUOTES:

• The archive of law is literally written on the earth, and beings like trees or plants are our professors.

• Law is a verb, it is something you do. In our own legal tradition, the teachers of the law are who we find in the natural world around us.

• We're not just trying to revitalize indigenous law, but also to bring a new lens to common law.

• It’s like a little grain of yeast that changes the whole mixture. It will have effects on other parts of the system, and just like the rising of yeast, it lifts everything up.

• A tongue is healthier when connected to our hearts, and laws when written on our hearts.

• Our traditions are not just something to hold tight to from the past. They're always going to be changing and speaking to us in new ways.

SHOW NOTES

• University Victoria Joint Degree in Indigenous Law:   

• Dark Matter Labs article 

• Otter’s Journey through Indigenous Language and Law

LINKS:

RIGHTS OF NATURE AND ECOCENTRIC LAW

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