LAW589

The ᐘᐦᑯᐦᑐᐏᐣ wahkohtowin Intensive: ᒥᔪ ᐑᒉᐦᑐᐏᐣ miyo-wîcêhtowin Principles and Practice APPLICATION 

(Friedland & Lightning-Earle)

Prerequisite courses: First year courses complete

Prerequisite for:

Instructor(s): Professor Hadley Friedland, Koren Lightning-Earle and a community-based instructional team from Aseniwuche Winewak Nation

Course credit: 3

Term: Summer

Maximum enrollment: 10

Method of presentation: Other

2024 APPLICATIONS DUE FRIDAY, APRIl 19, 2024 to law.facultyservices@ualberta.ca.

Course poster

METHOD OF EVALUATION

Seminar and In-camp Activities - 40%

Learning Journal – 20%

Integration Paper - 40% 

Course is CR/NC (credit/no credit) graded. Students do not receive letter grades.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This unique intensive course introduces students to sources and resources for engaging with Indigenous – particularly Cree – legal concepts from a language and land-based perspective. The Cree concept of Wahkohtowin (roughly: relationality and interdependence) has been a central tenet of Cree law, philosophy, spirituality and politics for centuries. Miyo-wîcêhtowin is a closely related concept about building and maintaining good relations. Students will actively engage or re-engage with these core precepts of Cree legal thought through a variety of pedagogical methods, guided by professors, elders, and knowledge-keepers within a classroom and a community setting. These may include lectures, stories, language, land-based or nature based teachings, experiential learning, reading, writing, and ceremonial experiences. The central pedagogy the class will be structured around is the traditional tanning of a moose hide and related activities.

Please ensure you read the following before completing or submitting this application:

This course includes an on-the-land camp that will take place over four days in Aseniwuche Winewak Nation territory. You must be able to attend the following course dates:

Pre-course seminars: June 24-25, 2024

Travel: June 28 and July 2, 2024

Land-based Camp: June 28 – July 1, 2024

This course is largely experiential so participation and active involvement is necessary. Of note:

● This course requires spending four overnights in a camp five hours northwest of

Edmonton in the Rocky Mountains. You may be required to provide your own bedding

and appropriate clothing. You will receive a list of recommendations.

● There are no extra fees for this course this year, as accommodations and course material

costs are provided through an Alberta Law Foundation grant and transportation costs are

covered under a Faculty of Law Experiential Learning grant.

● Many camp activities will be outdoors and are of a physical nature. Students should be

prepared for mild to moderate physical exertion, some walking on uneven ground, as

well as all sorts of weather.

● A major activity the camp is centered around is the making of a traditional brain-tanned

moose hide with Elders and other knowledge-holders. This activity involves physical

exertion and touching raw moose hide.

● If you have mobility or other challenges, and are unsure of your ability to participate in

the camp setting as a result, you are encouraged to talk to the instructors beforehand.

We will strive to make necessary accommodations and may be able to adapt activities on

a personalized level to ensure this experience is as inclusive as possible for all.

● No alcohol or drug use is permitted during the camp.

● Please note that enhanced Covid-safety protocols beyond current university or provincial

standards may apply.

● QUESTIONS - Contact Professor Friedland or WLGL Legal Director Koren Lightning to

learn more about the course.

HOW TO APPLY

Students interested in this course must submit a separate application. Information on the application process can be found on the Faculty of Law Experiential Courses and Application page. 

REQUIRED TEXTS (IF ANY)

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Finding Dahshaa: Self-Government, Social Suffering and Aboriginal Policy in Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2009).  

All other course readings and materials will be provided to students through TWEN for the preparatory seminars.