Indigenous Legal Orders Conference 2024: Language, Culture, and Transforming Legal Institutions

Course Chairs
Leah Sisi-ya-ama George-Wilson — Miller Titerle + Co., Vancouver
Dr. Sarah Morales (Su-taxwiye) — Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria

About the Course Chairs
Leah George-Wilson (Sisi-ya-ama) is a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) in North Vancouver. She was the first woman to hold the office of Elected Chief for the TWN, for three terms. Leah worked for the TWN for 18 years and held various positions for the Nation, the last one being Director of the Treaty, Land and Resources Department.

Leah holds a BA in Anthropology from SFU and an LLB from UBC Faculty of Law. She was called to the BC bar on January 31, 2015, and is currently an associate at Miller Titerle.

Since 2004, Leah has been elected as co-chair of the First Nations Summit. She also sits on the First Nations Lands Advisory Board.

Sarah Morales, JD (UVic), LLM (University of Arizona), PhD (UVic), PostDoc (Illinois) is Coast Salish and a member of Cowichan Tribes. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, where she teaches torts, transsystemic torts, Coast Salish law and languages, legal research and writing and field schools. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Victoria, she taught at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law where she taught Aboriginal law, Indigenous legal traditions, and international human rights with a focus on Indigenous peoples.

Sarah's research centres on Indigenous legal traditions, specifically the traditions of the Coast Salish people, Aboriginal law and human rights. She has been active with Indigenous nations and NGOs across Canada in nation building, inherent rights recognition, and international human rights law.

Welcome
Elder Carleen Thomas — Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver

Tsleil-Waututh Nation Elder Carleen Thomas is the first Indigenous person to be named as the next chancellor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. As an educator, former council member, and special projects manager for the TWN Treaty, Lands, and Resources department, Carleen is serving a three-year term at ECUAD as the ceremonial head of the university, and will be sitting as a member of the board of governors and the senate, also acting as an ambassador for the university.

Featured Luncheon Speaker
The Honourable Chief Justice Leonard S. Marchand — Chief Justice of BC, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for BC, and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon

The Honourable Leonard S. Marchand is the Chief Justice of BC, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for BC, and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon. He was appointed Chief Justice on December 7, 2023.

Chief Justice Marchand was appointed to the Provincial Court of BC on September 5, 2013. As a Provincial Court judge, Chief Justice Marchand had the privilege of presiding in Cknucwentn Court in Kamloops, where, with input from Elders, healing plans are developed for Indigenous offenders. Chief Justice Marchand was appointed to the Supreme Court of BC on National Indigenous People's Day, June 21, 2017. He was appointed to the Courts of Appeal for BC and of Yukon on March 24, 2021.

Prior to becoming a judge, Chief Justice Marchand articled and practised at Fulton & Company LLP in Kamloops from 1994 to 2013. His practice focused on the liability of public authorities and he appeared before all levels of court in BC and before many administrative tribunals.

Chief Justice Marchand dedicated a substantial portion of his career as a lawyer to pursuing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, including by advancing civil claims on behalf of residential school survivors. In 2005, he helped negotiate and was a signatory to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which, at the time, was the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. He then served on the Oversight Committee for the Independent Assessment Process and the Selection Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Chief Justice Marchand is Syilx and a member of the Okanagan Indian Band. He grew up in both Kamloops and Ottawa. After completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering at UBC in 1986, he worked in the oil industry for several years. He then attended law school at the University of Victoria, graduating in 1994. He was called to the BC bar in 1995 and to the bars of the Yukon and Northwest Territories in 2006.

Chief Justice Marchand divides his time between Kamloops and Vancouver with his wife, Laurie. Together their family also includes three grown children, their children's partners, and two much-loved grandchildren.

Featured Speaker
The Honourable Grand Chief Steven L. Point, OBC (Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) — Stó:lô Nation, Abbotsford

Steven Lewis Point, OBC (Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) is a former Lieutenant Governor of BC whose term of office ended on November 1, 2012. He retired from his position as a provincial court judge in the Fraser Valley in 2018.

From 1975-99 Steven Point served as Chief of the Skowkale First Nation. From 1994-99 he served as Tribal Chair of the Stó:lō Nation. He was the Grand Chief of the Stó:lô Tribal Council. 

Steven Point attended UBC, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in May, 1985. From 1986-89 he practiced criminal law and native law as a partner in the law firm of Point and Shirley. He worked for Citizenship and Immigration Canada as an immigration adjudicator for several years, starting in about 1989, at its refugee backlog office in Vancouver. In 1999, he became a BC Provincial Court judge. On February 28, 2005, he became Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission.

His appointment as Lieutenant-Governor was announced on September 4, 2007 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He assumed his duties in a ceremony at the Legislative Assembly of BC on October 1, 2007. As The Queen's vice-regal representative in BC, he is styled His Honour while in office and The Honourable for life.

He received Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2000, the University of Victoria in 2012, and the University of Capilano in 2017. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Letters (honoris causa) from Saint Mark's College in 2013.

He received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2000.

He received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals and the Order of BC. In 2016, he received the Order of Chilliwack.

Born in Chilliwack, the Lieutenant Governor and his wife, Her Honour, Mrs. Gwendolyn Point, have four children and 13 grandchildren.

Speaker
George Harris, Sr. (Whul Qul Latza) — Stz'uminus First Nation, Ladysmith

I am George Frank Harris, Sr. My traditional name is Whul Qul Latza, passed on to me from my great-grandfather who was born in 1871. He was from Lyackson. I honour and respect the sacred inheritance that has been passed on to me which is called Snuw’uy’ulh. This is our traditional teachings which is our sacred inheritance given to us by our ancestors.

I currently work as a cultural/spiritual elder for Correctional Services Canada. I am also on the Tsow Tun Lelum Board of Directors as the Vice President, and the Nutsumaat Tribal Council on the Council of Elders.

I follow our traditional way of life. I honour and respect our traditional sacred ceremonies and I am grateful and appreciate that this is part of our lives. This is when much of our Snuw’uy’ulh is taught to us and we are to listen and watch what is being said at these sacred ceremonies. I am proud to be from Stz’uminus First Nation and part of the Coast Salish Nations.

Witnesses
The Honourable Grand Chief Steven L. Point, OBC (Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) — Stó:lô Nation, Abbotsford
Halie Kwanxwa'loga Bruce — Cedar and Sage Law Corporation, Cultus Lake
Lavatta Frank — Songhees Wellness Centre, Victoria
Aaron Wilson — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver

Faculty
Kalila George-Wilson — Language and Culture Consultant, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver
Daniella Harris-David — Stz'uminus First Nation, Ladysmith
Naiomi Metallic — Associate Professor of Law; Chancellor's Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy, Aboriginal Law Certificate Coordinator, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Robert B. Morales — Chair, First Nations Summit Chief Negotiators Forum;  Negotiator/Lawyer, Cowichan Tribes, Duncan

Click here for full faculty bios

• how Indigenous laws can transform legal institutions and processes

• my journey through the justice system and alternative justice
• identifying and defining Sto:lo law
• laying the foundation for resolution processes through perspectives of Sto:lo law
• how Indigenous laws can create new legal institutions and processes

• preservation and revitalization of languages
• how and why we need language in our legal orders
• why it is difficult to translate some concepts
• young people who are doing great work in this area
• a young person's perspective: often asked to translate
• the Elders' perspective: being mindful of using our language in a good way