Legal literati launch journal

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A year of hard work by students at the faculty of law, University of Toronto, paid off on the evening of Nov. 25. The occasion was the launch of the Indigenous Law Journal, a student-run publication.

The dean, students, professors, and a crowd of about 100 gathered for a reception in the Rowell Room at the law school's Flavelle House. Drumming, speeches and a table of fine foods made up the celebration. Copies of the first issue of the law journal were proudly on display and a banner with the law journal's logo hung behind the speaker's podium.

Douglas Young-Sanderson, editor-in-chief 2002-2003, acted as master of ceremonies. Young-Sanderson, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba, told the audience the journal is the first and only Canadian legal journal devoted to Indigenous legal issues. The journal is peer-reviewed, and at 260 pages is a significant achievement. He noted that students wrote three of the six articles in the first issue. Judges, lawyers and academics from around the world sit on the advisory board, and the journal sends its call for submissions to hundreds of law schools.

Riel Benn, a young visual artist from Manitoba and a member of the Birdtail Sioux First Nation, designed the logo.

The event began with three songs by the Rainbow Song Drumming Group. Group members Tania Cordoba, Dawnis Kennedy and Michele MacFarlane are three young women who have been performing together for two years. Next, Bryce Edwards, the co-founder (with Justin Denis) and editor-in-chief 2001-2002, expressed thanks to everyone for their help and support. A year ago, the staff of the journal had a business plan and an idea, but no office, phone, e-mail or Web site. He thanked Dean Ron Daniels for financial support from the faculty of law.

Daniels took the stage to congratulate the students. He praised their ambition and imagination, and the quality of the journal. He remarked on the growth of an Aboriginal voice at the school, and called the Indigenous Law Journal "a milestone on a journey."

Another person who has seen dramatic changes is Prof. Darlene Johnston. She is the Aboriginal student advisor at the faculty of law. Twenty years ago, when she started her law studies, she was the only Aboriginal student in her class, and the only Aboriginal woman in the faculty of law. There are now 30 Aboriginal students. Johnston talked of how Aboriginal law students often feel a conflict between their culture and the legal training, because the law is grounded in colonialism. In her language, she said, justice is a verb.

The law journal has a bright red cover and Johnston was wearing a bright red coat. She used her red coat to explain how the meaning of the color red had changed for her people.

In colonial times, British soldiers wore red coats and French soldiers wore blue. To the Anishnabek, who were allies of the French, red meant war and bloodshed. The British wanted to be seen as allies when they made peace with the Great Lakes peoples in 1764. They used red to mean sustenance and promise.

Johnston quoted the words of the British general: "When your gaze turns toward the rising sun, you shall see that sun rising red, similar to the color of the coats."

The meaning of law can change as well as the meaning of colors. Johnston told the audience that, by "bringing our dreams, our vision, our languages, to the study of law" they could be part of that change. "Law," she said, "is a way to fulfill a promise."