As a part of the first-year curriculum, all 1L learners will complete the CML 1307 Law, Reconciliation & Decolonization course. In meeting the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action #’s 27 and 28, this course explores various topics related to Indigenous people and the law, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, treaties and Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal law, Indigenous law, and Indigenous-Crown relations.

Learn more about how this course was developed:

Decolonizing Legal Learning: Moving forward on Call to Action 28 at the Common Law Section (September 27, 2023)

Called to action: A new foundation in Indigenous laws and legal traditions for Common Law students (June 20, 2024)

The Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Legal Traditions Option will appeal not only to students interested in Aboriginal law, but to those who wish to understand Indigenous legal traditions and how they can be recognized alongside common law and civil law within Canada’s legally plural society. 

If you are interested, please visit the Option in Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Legal Traditions.

More opportunities for upper years:

• Every year the uOttawa Faculty of law takes part in the Kawaskimhon Indigenous Moot. Kawaskimhon a word of Cree origin roughly translated to “speaking with knowledge” – is a consensus-based, non-adversarial moot that incorporates Indigenous legal traditions alongside federal, provincial and international law. There are no winners or losers. Instead, mooters participate in roundtable negotiations on a particular topic in Indigenous law, representing their assigned party.
• Debwewin Summer Law Program. An intensive summer education program in which students are placed in Indigenous communities across the province – from Moose Cree to Akwesasne and many places in between – each summer, to work on justice issues in and with Indigenous communities.
• Internships with Senators and legal practitioners who are active advocates for Indigenous issues.