Tara Williamson
She/Her/They/Them
Tara Williamson is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and was raised in Gaabishkigamaag (Swan Lake, Manitoba). She holds degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance and has been a professor and instructor at Fleming College, Trent University, Toronto Metropolitan University/First Nations Technical Institute and the University of Winnipeg. As an independent consultant, she has worked with and for Indigenous communities and organizations at the local, regional, provincial, and national levels. Tara is a Research Fellow with the Yellowhead Institute as well as a professional writer and musician.
Jessica Asch
Jessica Asch grew up in Treaty 6 Territory, where her parents settled in the 1970s, and has lived as an uninvited guest in unceded lək̓ʷəŋən Territory for 25 years. Jessica has worked as a lawyer, researcher, teacher, community organizer, and policy analyst in the public, non-profit and private sectors. After receiving her LL.B. from the University of Victoria, Jessica clerked at the Supreme Court of British Columbia and was called to the B.C. Bar in 2010. She practiced state law and worked as a policy analyst before joining the Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU) in 2013 as a researcher and editor. She became ILRU’s Research Director in 2015, overseeing its collaborative, community-based research and public legal education projects, and Co-Research Director alongside Tara Williamson in 2021. Jessica has led and supervised Indigenous law revitalization and implementation projects on questions relating to citizenship, gender, human rights, families, governance, dispute resolution, child welfare, lands, resources and water, and has presented and published on this work. She also facilitates workshops, teaches, and presents on Indigenous law revitalization research, methods, and practice to law students, legal professionals, and the broader public.
Brooke Edmonds
She/Her
Brooke Edmonds is of Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and mixed-European descent. She is from Aotearoa/New Zealand, and has spent the last 15 years in Kaska Dena and Tr’ondëk Hwëchin territories in the Yukon, and lək̓ʷəŋən Territory, where she graduated with honours from the University of Victoria in the field of Art History and Visual Studies. Brooke has worked within municipal government and with Indigenous communities, including the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, with whom she co-coordinated Moosehide Gathering 2018 and continues relationships with today. In 2019 she joined ILRU as the Coordinator, where she works collaboratively with the ILRU team, community partners, and the UVic community to facilitate ILRU’s vision and goals as they relate to community-based research and public legal education projects. She is ILRU’s lead on outreach, communications and publications, and also facilitates workshops and presentations as part of ILRU’s projects and in the broader community.
Tara Williamson
She/Her/They/Them
Tara Williamson is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and was raised in Gaabishkigamaag (Swan Lake, Manitoba). She holds degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance and has been a professor and instructor at Fleming College, Trent University, Toronto Metropolitan University/First Nations Technical Institute and the University of Winnipeg. As an independent consultant, she has worked with and for Indigenous communities and organizations at the local, regional, provincial, and national levels. Tara is a Research Fellow with the Yellowhead Institute as well as a professional writer and musician.
Jessica Asch
Jessica Asch grew up in Treaty 6 Territory, where her parents settled in the 1970s, and has lived as an uninvited guest in unceded lək̓ʷəŋən Territory for 25 years. Jessica has worked as a lawyer, researcher, teacher, community organizer, and policy analyst in the public, non-profit and private sectors. After receiving her LL.B. from the University of Victoria, Jessica clerked at the Supreme Court of British Columbia and was called to the B.C. Bar in 2010. She practiced state law and worked as a policy analyst before joining the Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU) in 2013 as a researcher and editor. She became ILRU’s Research Director in 2015, overseeing its collaborative, community-based research and public legal education projects, and Co-Research Director alongside Tara Williamson in 2021. Jessica has led and supervised Indigenous law revitalization and implementation projects on questions relating to citizenship, gender, human rights, families, governance, dispute resolution, child welfare, lands, resources and water, and has presented and published on this work. She also facilitates workshops, teaches, and presents on Indigenous law revitalization research, methods, and practice to law students, legal professionals, and the broader public.
Brooke Edmonds
She/Her
Brooke Edmonds is of Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and mixed-European descent. She is from Aotearoa/New Zealand, and has spent the last 15 years in Kaska Dena and Tr’ondëk Hwëchin territories in the Yukon, and lək̓ʷəŋən Territory, where she graduated with honours from the University of Victoria in the field of Art History and Visual Studies. Brooke has worked within municipal government and with Indigenous communities, including the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, with whom she co-coordinated Moosehide Gathering 2018 and continues relationships with today. In 2019 she joined ILRU as the Coordinator, where she works collaboratively with the ILRU team, community partners, and the UVic community to facilitate ILRU’s vision and goals as they relate to community-based research and public legal education projects. She is ILRU’s lead on outreach, communications and publications, and also facilitates workshops and presentations as part of ILRU’s projects and in the broader community.
Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham
Cheyenne is Métis with Métis roots in St. Albert and Manitou Sahkahigan (Lac Ste. Anne), Alberta. She also has mixed European ancestry. She was born and raised in Ontario and is now an uninvited guest, living, working, and learning on the traditional territory of the Ts’uubaa-asatx, Ditidaht, and Quw’utsun peoples. Cheyenne is a law graduate from the University of Windsor with experience in both solicitor and litigation-based work within Canada’s “Aboriginal Law”. However, her passion is focused on better understanding and advancing Indigenous laws and traditional legal orders of individual and distinct communities. She was called to the Ontario Bar in June 2020, and was called to the British Columbia Bar in January 2021.
e Campbell
e Campbell is a settler with Scottish, Norse, French, English, and German ancestry living as an uninvited guest on MÁLEXEȽ and Quw’utsun territories. Ellen grew up on the shores of Zhooniya Zaagiigan (Lake Simcoe) and Chi’Nibiish (Lake Ontario), in Michi Saagiig territory, so-called Mission Creek in syilx territory, and Showe’luqun (Shawnigan Lake) in Quw’utsun and MÁLEXEȽ territories. e is an artist, researcher, and lawyer. They hold a law degree with a concentration in environmental law and sustainability, and a Master’s degree analyzing and criticizing colonialism in conservation and animal law enforcement by non-profits.
Their work at ILRU has focused on research on water laws; child and caregiver nurturance laws; curriculum development; workshop facilitation; and legal design focusing on upholding the role of art in law. They are a member and volunteer with the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable, Radical Action for Migrants in Agriculture Isla, and the National American Association for Critical Animal Studies, among others.
Shannon Snow
She/Her/They/Them
Shannon is of mixed background, belonging to Inuit families spanning from upper Lake Melville to the central coast of Labrador (St. Michael’s Bay). They are a member of the NunatuKavut community in Labrador, and was raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk). She is also of Scottish and English ancestry.
Shannon holds common law (J.D.) and civil law (B.C.L) degrees from McGill University, where they focused their studies on indigenous legal traditions and revitalization. Prior to working with ILRU, Shannon practiced state environmental and organizational law at a firm in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Shannon has also mobilized around housing and language rights in the communities in which she’s lived. They newly live as a guest in lək̓ʷəŋən territory.
Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham
She/Her
Cheyenne is Métis with Métis roots in St. Albert and Manitou Sahkahigan (Lac Ste. Anne), Alberta. She also has mixed European ancestry. She was born and raised in Ontario and is now an uninvited guest, living, working, and learning on the traditional territory of the Ts’uubaa-asatx, Ditidaht, and Quw’utsun peoples. Cheyenne is a law graduate from the University of Windsor with experience in both solicitor and litigation-based work within Canada’s “Aboriginal Law”. However, her passion is focused on better understanding and advancing Indigenous laws and traditional legal orders of individual and distinct communities. She was called to the Ontario Bar in June 2020, and was called to the British Columbia Bar in January 2021.
e Campbell
They/Them/Theirs
e Campbell is a settler with Scottish, Norse, French, English, and German ancestry living as an uninvited guest on MÁLEXEȽ and Quw’utsun territories. Ellen grew up on the shores of Zhooniya Zaagiigan (Lake Simcoe) and Chi’Nibiish (Lake Ontario), in Michi Saagiig territory, so-called Mission Creek in syilx territory, and Showe’luqun (Shawnigan Lake) in Quw’utsun and MÁLEXEȽ territories. e is an artist, researcher, and lawyer. They hold a law degree with a concentration in environmental law and sustainability, and a Master’s degree analyzing and criticizing colonialism in conservation and animal law enforcement by non-profits.
Their work at ILRU has focused on research on water laws; child and caregiver nurturance laws; curriculum development; workshop facilitation; and legal design focusing on upholding the role of art in law. They are a member and volunteer with the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable, Radical Action for Migrants in Agriculture Isla, and the National American Association for Critical Animal Studies, among others.
Shannon Snow
She/Her/They/Them
Shannon is of mixed background, belonging to Inuit families spanning from upper Lake Melville to the central coast of Labrador (St. Michael’s Bay). They are a member of the NunatuKavut community in Labrador, and was raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk). She is also of Scottish and English ancestry.
Shannon holds common law (J.D.) and civil law (B.C.L) degrees from McGill University, where they focused their studies on indigenous legal traditions and revitalization. Prior to working with ILRU, Shannon practiced state environmental and organizational law at a firm in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Shannon has also mobilized around housing and language rights in the communities in which she’s lived. They newly live as a guest in lək̓ʷəŋən territory.
Heather Chestnutt
As the ILRU’s Financial and Reporting Officer, Heather Chestnutt is responsible for supporting the financial administration of our project funds. She also facilitates the development of research applications and assists with grant reporting.
Heather is a settler from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory.
[Insert Name]
[insert bio]
[Insert Name]
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Heather Chestnutt
As the ILRU’s Financial and Reporting Officer, Heather Chestnutt is responsible for supporting the financial administration of our project funds. She also facilitates the development of research applications and assists with grant reporting.
Heather is a settler from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory.
Kelly Weiling Zou
She/Her
Kelly Weiling Zou (邹玮玲) is a first-generation Chinese-Singaporean immigrant passionate about racial and environmental justice. She is living as an uninvited guest on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory while completing the joint degree program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders (JD/JID joint degree) at the University of Victoria. She graduated from Queen’s University in 2021 as an Agnes Benedickson Tricolour Scholar with a Bachelor’s in Commerce.
Kelly combines her academic and lived experiences to advocate for the safety, well-being, and joy of those impacted by gender-based violence. Her areas of study focus on the critical importance of Indigenous feminisms in nation-building, law revitalization, and land and resource governance.
To feel joy, Kelly spends her spare time reading, powerlifting, crafting, training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and spoiling her dog (Sage) and cat (Tiger).
Dr. Darcy Lindberg
[insert pronouns]
[insert bio]
Kelly Weiling Zou
Kelly Weiling Zou (邹玮玲) is a first-generation Chinese-Singaporean immigrant passionate about racial and environmental justice. She is living as an uninvited guest on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory while completing the joint degree program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders (JD/JID joint degree) at the University of Victoria. She graduated from Queen’s University in 2021 as an Agnes Benedickson Tricolour Scholar with a Bachelor’s in Commerce.
Kelly combines her academic and lived experiences to advocate for the safety, well-being, and joy of those impacted by gender-based violence. Her areas of study focus on the critical importance of Indigenous feminisms in nation-building, law revitalization, and land and resource governance.
To feel joy, Kelly spends her spare time reading, powerlifting, crafting, training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and spoiling her dog (Sage) and cat (Tiger).
Dr. Val Napoleon
She/Her
Val Napoleon is from northeast British Columbia (Treaty 8) and a member of Saulteau First Nation. She is also an adopted member of the Gitanyow (Gitksan) House of Luuxhon, Ganada (Frog) Clan. As Director and co-founder of ILRU, Val is responsible for the vision and direction of ILRU, and bridging the work of ILRU with University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law and beyond through teaching, writing and public engagement. She is also a principal investigator on ILRU’s projects.
Val is also a research chair at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law. The title of Val’s research chair is Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law at UVic in 2012, Val was cross-appointed with the faculties of Native Studies and Law at the University of Alberta. Val’s current research focuses on Indigenous legal traditions (Indigenous legal theories, pedagogies, law and precedent, legal institutions, and legal research methodologies), Indigenous feminism, citizenship, self-determination, and governance. Some of her major initiatives include the JD/JID (joint JD and Indigenous law degree) program and co-founding the Indigenous Law Research Unit. She has also taught and published on aboriginal legal issues, Indigenous law and legal theories, Indigenous feminisms, governance, critical restorative justice, oral traditions, and Indigenous legal research methodologies. I also teach property law.
See Val’s full bio.
Dr. Rebecca Johnson
She/Her
Rebecca Johnson is a settler born in Treaty 7 Territory. She spent—and continues to spend—her summers in Secwepemcúl’ecw. As Associate Director of ILRU, Dr. Rebecca Johnson is responsible for the vision and direction of ILRU, and bridging the work of ILRU with University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law and beyond through teaching, writing and public engagement. She is also a principal investigator on ILRU’s projects.
Rebecca joined the UVic Faculty of Law in 2001, after 6 years on the Faculty at the University of New Brunswick. Before that, she clerked for Madame Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada, and completed her LLM and SJD at the University of Michigan. The work there resulted in her award-winning book, Taxing Choices: the Intersection of Class, Gender, Parenthood and the Law. Her research interests are marked by interdisciplinarity, and include storied pedagogy, law-and-film, Indigenous legal methodologies, judicial dissent, the economic imaginary, and critical feminisms. (See Rebecca’s UVic Faces of Research video.) With an abiding interest in Canadian law-and-film scholarship, she has written on such topics as same-sex family formation, colonialism, dissent, mothers and babies in prison, cinematic violence, the Western, affect and emotion, and Inuit cinema. She has also worked on the development of the TRC-inspired blog #ReconciliationSyllabus. Professor Johnson has taught courses in Criminal Law, Business Associations, Law-and-Film, Legal Theory, Legal Method, Legal Process, Law Legislation & Policy, Constitutional law, Civil Liberties, and Feminist Advocacy.
See Rebecca’s full bio.
Dr. Darcy Lindberg
He/Him
Darcy Lindberg is mixed-rooted Plains Cree, with his family coming from maskwâcîs (Samson Cree Nation) in Alberta and the Battleford-area in Saskatchewan.
He holds a BA from the University of Alberta, and a JD, LLM and PhD from UVic. He has taught courses at the University of Alberta on constitutional law, Indigenous legal traditions, treaties, and Indigenous environmental legal orders. Darcy was called to the British Columbia and Yukon bars in 2014, and practiced in the Yukon Territory with Davis LLP. His research focuses on nêhiyaw law, ecological governance through Indigenous legal orders, gender and Indigenous ceremonies, comparative approaches in nêhiyaw and Canadian constitutionalism, and Indigenous treaty making.
See Darcy’s full bio.
Dr. Val Napoleon
She/Her
Val Napoleon is from northeast British Columbia (Treaty 8) and a member of Saulteau First Nation. She is also an adopted member of the Gitanyow (Gitksan) House of Luuxhon, Ganada (Frog) Clan. As Director and co-founder of ILRU, Val is responsible for the vision and direction of ILRU, and bridging the work of ILRU with University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law and beyond through teaching, writing and public engagement. She is also a principal investigator on ILRU’s projects.
Val is also a research chair at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law. The title of Val’s research chair is Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law at UVic in 2012, Val was cross-appointed with the faculties of Native Studies and Law at the University of Alberta. Val’s current research focuses on Indigenous legal traditions (Indigenous legal theories, pedagogies, law and precedent, legal institutions, and legal research methodologies), Indigenous feminism, citizenship, self-determination, and governance. Some of her major initiatives include the JD/JID (joint JD and Indigenous law degree) program and co-founding the Indigenous Law Research Unit. She has also taught and published on aboriginal legal issues, Indigenous law and legal theories, Indigenous feminisms, governance, critical restorative justice, oral traditions, and Indigenous legal research methodologies. I also teach property law.
See Val’s full bio.
Dr. Rebecca Johnson
She/Her
Rebecca Johnson is a settler born in Treaty 7 Territory. She spent—and continues to spend—her summers in Secwepemcúl’ecw. As Associate Director of ILRU, Dr. Rebecca Johnson is responsible for the vision and direction of ILRU, and bridging the work of ILRU with University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law and beyond through teaching, writing and public engagement. She is also a principal investigator on ILRU’s projects.
Rebecca joined the UVic Faculty of Law in 2001, after 6 years on the Faculty at the University of New Brunswick. Before that, she clerked for Madame Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada, and completed her LLM and SJD at the University of Michigan. The work there resulted in her award-winning book, Taxing Choices: the Intersection of Class, Gender, Parenthood and the Law. Her research interests are marked by interdisciplinarity, and include storied pedagogy, law-and-film, Indigenous legal methodologies, judicial dissent, the economic imaginary, and critical feminisms. (See Rebecca’s UVic Faces of Research video.) With an abiding interest in Canadian law-and-film scholarship, she has written on such topics as same-sex family formation, colonialism, dissent, mothers and babies in prison, cinematic violence, the Western, affect and emotion, and Inuit cinema. She has also worked on the development of the TRC-inspired blog #ReconciliationSyllabus. Professor Johnson has taught courses in Criminal Law, Business Associations, Law-and-Film, Legal Theory, Legal Method, Legal Process, Law Legislation & Policy, Constitutional law, Civil Liberties, and Feminist Advocacy.
See Rebecca’s full bio.
Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham
Senior Researcher
she/her
Cheyenne is Métis with family roots in St. Albert and Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, and of mixed European ancestry. She lives and works as an uninvited guest on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw peoples. She holds degrees in philosophy and law, with specialized training in Indigenous law, specific claims research and Gladue report writing. Through her training and work, she has gained experience as a lawyer, consultant, and project manager in the non-profit, public, and private sectors. At ILRU, her work has focused on human rights, citizenship, kinship, and water laws, as well as workshop design, facilitation, and community-based legal research. She regularly presents on Indigenous law in academic, professional, and community settings, and contributes to projects that support Indigenous governance and legal revitalization.
Jessica Asch
Co-Research Director
she/her
Jessica Asch is Co-Research Director at ILRU. Jessica is a settler of Jewish and Irish ancestry. Jessica grew up in Treaty 6 Territory, which is where her parents settled in the 1970s, and has lived on unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən Territory for over 25 years. Jessica holds degrees in political science and law, and has worked as a lawyer, consultant, teacher, and policy analyst in the public, non-profit and private sectors. Jessica clerked at the Supreme Court of British Columbia and was called to the B.C. Bar in 2010 before joining ILRU in 2013. Jessica became ILRU’s Research Director in 2015, overseeing its collaborative, community-based legal research and public legal education projects, and Co-Research Director in 2021 alongside Tara Williamson. Jessica has led collaborative Indigenous law revitalization and implementation projects on a range of legal questions and teaches and writes on ILRU’s work, legal research methods, ethics, and community-led research and practice. She currently completing her LLM at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law.
e Campbell
Senior Researcher & Legal Designer
they/them/theirs/iel/ellui/ellui/é·e
e Campbell is a settler with Scottish, Norse, French, English, and German ancestry living as an uninvited guest on MÁLEXEȽ and Quw’utsun territories. Ellen grew up on the shores of Zhooniya Zaagiigan (Lake Simcoe) and Chi’Nibiish (Lake Ontario), in Michi Saagiig territory, so-called Mission Creek in syilx territory, and Showe’luqun (Shawnigan Lake) in Quw’utsun and MÁLEXEȽ territories. e is an artist, researcher, and lawyer. They hold a law degree with a concentration in environmental law and sustainability, and a Master’s degree analyzing and criticizing colonialism in conservation and animal law enforcement by non-profits.
Their work at ILRU has focused on research on water laws; child and caregiver nurturance laws; curriculum development; workshop facilitation; and legal design focusing on upholding the role of art in law. They are a member and volunteer with the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable, Radical Action for Migrants in Agriculture Isla, and the National American Association for Critical Animal Studies, among others.
Heather Chestnutt
Financial and Reporting Officer
she/her
As the ILRU’s Financial and Reporting Officer, Heather Chestnutt is responsible for supporting the financial administration of our project funds. She also facilitates the development of research applications and assists with grant reporting.
Heather is a settler from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory.
Brooke Edmonds
Coordinator
she/her
Brooke Edmonds is of Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and mixed-European descent. She is from Aotearoa/New Zealand, and has spent the last 15 years in Kaska Dena and Tr’ondëk Hwëchin territories in the Yukon, and lək̓ʷəŋən Territory, where she graduated with honours from the University of Victoria in the field of Art History and Visual Studies. Brooke has worked within municipal government and with Indigenous communities, including the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, with whom she co-coordinated Moosehide Gathering 2018 and continues relationships with today. In 2019 she joined ILRU as the Coordinator, where she works collaboratively with the ILRU team, community partners, and the UVic community to facilitate ILRU’s vision and goals as they relate to community-based research and public legal education projects. She is ILRU’s lead on outreach, communications and publications, and also facilitates workshops and presentations as part of ILRU’s projects and in the broader community.
Dr. Rebecca Johnson
Associate Director
she/her
I grew up in a family of storytellers, and story is central to my work in law. A lifelong love of music and movies has left me curious about the narrative and the performative parts of social and legal storytelling, including the visual and auditory aspects, and the place of the body.
I am drawn to collaborative processes in my writing, my research and my pedagogy. I value the many opportunities I have had to learn from community partners about what collaborative practices could look like in contemporary times. In my role as Associate Director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit (ilru.ca), who partners with Indigenous communities who work to re-articulate their laws to address the challenges they face today, I am constantly reminded of the crucial importance of stories and storytelling in shaping our world.
I spend my summers playing with clay, trying to ground my more theoretical interests in a world of physical practice and visual representation. This gives me an opportunity to actively work at the intersection of theory and practice, attentive to the place of temporality and material culture in the worlds we co-construct.
See Rebecca’s full bio.
Dr. Darcy Lindberg
Associate Director
he/him
Darcy Lindberg is mixed-rooted nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Wetaskiwin, with his family relations coming from maskwâcîs in Alberta and the Battleford-area in Saskatchewan. He teaches primarily within the JD/JID Program. He previously taught at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law. He has taught or teaches courses on nêhiyaw constitutionalism and constitutional traditions, ecological governance and Indigenous laws, nêhiyaw treaties and treaty making, the foundations of Indigenous legal orders, and Canadian constitutional law. His research focuses very much on these same topics: it centers nêhiyaw law, ecological governance through Indigenous legal orders, gender and Indigenous ceremonies, comparative approaches in nêhiyaw and Canadian constitutionalism, and Indigenous treaty making generally.
See Darcy’s full bio.
Dr. Val Napoleon
Director
she/her
Val Napoleon (Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel, LLB, PhD) is a Professor for the UVIC Faculty of Law and the Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance, and the former Acting Dean of Law. She is the co-founder of JD/JID (Juris Doctor and Juris Indigenarum Doctor) dual law degree program in Indigenous legal orders and Canadian common law, and the founding director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit. She is Cree from Saulteau First Nation (BC Treaty 8) and an adopted member of the Gitanyow (northern Gitxsan). Her areas of teaching are Indigenous legal traditions and methodologies (e.g., land, water, governance and democracy, gender and human rights, and families), Indigenous legal theories, Indigenous feminisms, legal pluralism, Indigenous democracies, and Indigenous intellectual property. In the JD/JID, she teaches common law property combined with Gitxsan land and property.
See Val’s full bio.
Holly Reynolds
Researcher
she/her
Holly Reynolds (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a Researcher at ILRU. She is from Aotearoa New Zealand and lives as an uninvited guest in lək̓ʷəŋən Territory. Holly holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from UCLA specializing in Native Nations Law and Indigenous Women’s Rights, and a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology and Politics) from the University of Auckland. Holly has experience working with Māori, Alaska Native, and American Indian communities. She has worked in free trade agreements and reproductive health as they relate to Indigenous rights, interests, duties, and responsibilities. Additionally, Holly has also worked in tribal law, and has done research and writing on constitutional law, family law, comparative law, health law, Indigenous law, and Indigenous rights. Holly’s specific passion is in reproductive and maternal justice for Indigenous Peoples. She has written law journal articles on reproductive rights for wāhine Māori, and Indigenous child removal in Aotearoa and the Lower 48 States (U.S.).
Shannon Snow
Researcher
she/her/they/them
Shannon is of mixed background, belonging to Inuit families spanning from upper Lake Melville to the central coast of Labrador (St. Michael’s Bay). They are a member of the NunatuKavut community in Labrador, and was raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk). She is also of Scottish and English ancestry.
Shannon holds common law (J.D.) and civil law (B.C.L) degrees from McGill University, where they focused their studies on indigenous legal traditions and revitalization. Prior to working with ILRU, Shannon practiced state environmental and organizational law at a firm in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Shannon has also mobilized around housing and language rights in the communities in which she’s lived. They newly live as a guest in lək̓ʷəŋən territory.
Tara Williamson
Co-Research Director
she/her/they/them
Tara Williamson is Co-Research Director at ILRU. Tara is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and was raised in Gaabishkigamaag (Swan Lake, Manitoba). Tara also has close family ties to Beardy’s-Okemasis in Saskatchewan and is an adopted member of the House of Dhadhiyasila of the Haíɫzaqv Nation, where they carry the name k̓vák̓vṃt̓a. She holds degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance and has been a professor and/or instructor at Fleming College, Trent University, Toronto Metropolitan University/First Nations Technical Institute, the University of Winnipeg, and the University of Victoria. As an independent consultant, she has worked with and for Indigenous communities and organizations at the local, regional, provincial, and national level. Tara is also a Research Fellow with the Yellowhead Institute as well as a professional writer and musician.
Kelly Weiling Zou (邹玮玲)
Legal Projects and Operations Assistant
she/her
Kelly Weiling Zou (邹玮玲) is a first-generation Chinese-Singaporean immigrant passionate about racial and environmental justice. She is living as an uninvited guest on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory while completing the joint degree program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders (JD/JID joint degree) at the University of Victoria. She graduated from Queen’s University in 2021 as an Agnes Benedickson Tricolour Scholar with a Bachelor’s in Commerce.
Kelly combines her academic and lived experiences to advocate for the safety, well-being, and joy of those impacted by gender-based violence. Her areas of study focus on the critical importance of Indigenous feminisms in nation-building, law revitalization, and land and resource governance.
To feel joy, Kelly spends her spare time reading, powerlifting, crafting, training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and spoiling her dog (Sage) and cat (Tiger).
location
Center for Indigenous Laws, Faculty of Law, UVic
Call Us
1-250-721-8914
@IndigenousLawResearchUnit
@ILRUUVic
YOUTUBE
UVic Indigenous Law Research Unit
Dr. Darcy Lindberg
He/Him
Darcy Lindberg is mixed-rooted Plains Cree, with his family coming from maskwâcîs (Samson Cree Nation) in Alberta and the Battleford-area in Saskatchewan.
He holds a BA from the University of Alberta, and a JD, LLM and PhD from UVic. He has taught courses at the University of Alberta on constitutional law, Indigenous legal traditions, treaties, and Indigenous environmental legal orders. Darcy was called to the British Columbia and Yukon bars in 2014, and practiced in the Yukon Territory with Davis LLP. His research focuses on nêhiyaw law, ecological governance through Indigenous legal orders, gender and Indigenous ceremonies, comparative approaches in nêhiyaw and Canadian constitutionalism, and Indigenous treaty making.
See Darcy’s full bio.