I have been interested in the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace for many years, having heard stories of the Peacemaker since my youth. Reading academic treatments of the Great Law during my undergraduate studies I came to realize that most sources analyze Haudenosaunee law through an ethnographic lens, and so entering the JD program at Queen’s I was intent on learning legal theory so that I could understand and comment on Haudenosaunee law as law, rather than as a cultural or historical artefact. I plan on continuing this work in the LLM program by analyzing Haudenosaunee constitutional narratives as a form of jurisprudence. My research builds on the work of John Mohawk, Mark Walters, Paul Williams, and other contemporary scholars and jurists that conceptualize the Great Law of Peace as a functioning legal system with normative implications for Haudenosaunee people today. In addition to the LLM program at Queen’s Law, I am entering the second year of the Certificate in Mohawk Language and Culture program offered jointly by Queen’s and Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na.
Supervisor: Danielle Lussier and Mark Walters
Focus: Haudenosaunee law; Indigenous law; constitutional law
Provisional Title of thesis: ‘Understanding First Principles of Haudenosaunee Law Through Constitutional Narratives’