Indigenous Legal Resurgence as a Path to Reconciliation: Three Case Studies

Abstract

The court system has been instrumental lately in dramatically enhancing the opportunity for recognizing Indigenous rights. However, the court system's approach toward the Indigenous limits their autonomy and capacity to establish sovereignty on their own terms. Additionally, the Crown has consistently been reluctant to implement court decisions favourable to native communities and open nation-to-nation dialogues. One of the ways Indigenous nations in Canada are finding to reach a meaningful way to reconciliation is to take an active stand to honour historical agreements and court rulings rather than waiting for the Crown to manifest a genuine disposition to mend the wrongdoings of the past. This paper presents and discusses three recent cases in the legal history of Canada that exemplify a revitalized movement in the affirmation of Indigenous rights, considering several societal aspects that have changed through colonization and, at the same time, asserting the connection with crucial practices in their cultures.