Indigenous law and legal traditions did not originate from legislatures or courtrooms, nor were they written in textbooks. Instead, they come from other sources of authority, including the land itself. In the fall term, 25 Queen’s Law students immersed themselves in experiential learning outside their usual classroom. 

These students were in Professor Lindsay Borrows’ Indigenous Law in Practice class. As a core part of the course, she took them to the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, situated on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory, 31km north of campus. There, they were able to practice the Indigenous legal method of drawing out law from nature. 

Watch what students did during their on-the-land-learning experience, and what they have to say about it. 

(Video produced by Stefan Strangman)

For further insights from Professor Borrows, as well as Dean Mark Walters and other faculty and alumni legal experts on the revitalization of Indigenous people’s ways of knowing, being, and doing to reclaim space for their laws in Canada, read 
"Indigenous law and legal traditions finding new Canadian-context."