Indigenous Law

Question 1

legal system vs legal order

Answer 1

legal system = aboriginal and common law
- state centred legal systems in which law is managed by legal professionals in legal institutions that are separated from other social and political institutions

legal order = describe law that is embedded in social, political, economic, and spiritual institutions
- similar to TEK

separation between state and church

Question 2

3 components of finding Indigenous legal orders:

Answer 2

Canon of plant knowledge

Covenants of reciprocity

Customary landscape
- An assemblage of land governed by the laws of an assembly

Question 3

The source of Indigenous legal orders includes: (example of each)

Answer 3

Sacred - stories , songs , blankets , monumental art , ceremonies

Natural - empirical observations , incremental learning about ecosystems and species, long-standing reciprocal relationships, knowledge that is rooted in place

Customary - normative practices accepted over generations and enshrined in stories, songs, practices, protocols, taboos, ceremonial discourse, etc.

Deliberative - Not found in texts, research or stories, but are actualized within contemporary, community-based processes

Positivistic legal foundations
- Positivistic sources may be found in rules interpreted by acknowledged community experts or cultural specialists authorized to discuss the protocols and laws either based upon their specialized knowledge or by their political status (such as the head spokesperson of a Straits Salish family group).

Question 4

Indigenous law vs Aboriginal law

Answer 4

source of Indigenous law comes from more than just custom

aboriginal law is more based in customs

Question 5

Applications of TEK in Indigenous law:

Answer 5

Anishnaabeg and Hul‘qumi‘num
- 7 grandfather teachings vs ethos of snuw‘uyulh

in relation to Indigenous law: some values are highlighted more

Question 6

What is the Contribution of Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology in the Resurgence of Indigenous Legal Orders?

Answer 6

Law is about relationships.

ethnobotanists and ethnoecologists study peoples relationships to plants and ecology

Question 7

4 Categories of Legal Orders related to Plants:

Answer 7

1. Kincentricity
2. Natural Rules – incremental learning – learned, not born with
3. Social Constraints – internally by families, non-human world, big
   house, heads of families
4. Property Rights – through inheritance but also maintenance

Question 8

What are some issues to be overcome in Indigenous law?

Answer 8

inclusion of women

Indigenous vs Aboriginal law - determination of what is significant enough to be legally considered

deciding how different systems of law work together