British ColumbiaA research project at the University of Victoria’s law school is underway to help five Indigenous communities rebuild their legal systems, in hopes of offering all Canadians new ways to think about complex problems. It’s starting with an initiative led by the Secwépemc Nation. UVic will help 5 Indigenous communities rebuild their legal systems, in hopes of helping all Canadians Kathryn Marlow · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Racelle Kooy, associate research director of Secwépemc Law with Next Steps, stands on the banks of the Fraser River near Churn Creek. She is involved in a project to help rebuild Indigenous laws across the country at the University of Victoria. (Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Law/Tyler McLeod)A research project is underway at the University of Victoria to help Indigenous communities rebuild their legal systems.Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Law is starting with a trio of researchers from Secwépemc Nation, including Racelle Kooy. Kooy, and her colleagues Sunny LeBourdais and Bonnie Leonard, are using oral teachings, conversations with the community, and historical records to do their research.Their research includes a book written by a linguist that was partially dedicated to Kooy’s late aunt Mary Palmantier, and featured her great aunt Lily Harry.A book featuring Racelle Kooy’s great aunt, and dedicated to her aunt, will be used to research Secwépemc law. (Submitted by Racelle Kooy)Kooy said the goal isn’t to replace existing British Columbian or Canadian laws, but to add fresh perspectives about how legal matters are considered. They’re starting with two research questions, focused on the Secwépemc laws around trade and economy and inter-societal relations — two things Kooy points out are very relevant today, “in our elbows-up era.” “Why not get a fresh perspective that’s calling upon ancestral knowledge and coming forward?” asked Kooy in an interview with CBC News. “That’s really the purpose of law. It’s to serve and challenge people — to look at how are we solving the issues of today.”The Secwépemc Nation’s laws were chosen as the first initiative to research, because of the extensive work already done by past leaders in the nation.Their 16 years of research includes looks at how the Secwépemc dealt with land and resource management, citizenry, and child and family law.UVic law professor Val Napoleon is the academic lead for Next Steps, and director of the school’s Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU) — from which the new project is taking its “next steps.” UVic law professor Val Napoleon heads the Next Steps program. (Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Law/Tyler McLeod)She said while the ILRU helps nations look at specific elements of law — for example, child and family law — Next Steps will eventually provide five examples of complete Indigenous legal orders that have been rebuilt, and which Canada can then learn from. Instead of looking at individual nations, it’s researching across broader Indigenous societies — for example, the Secwépemc Nation is made up of 17 First Nations across a section of the B.C. Interior. Napoleon said the project is not about specific types of law like the Criminal Code.Rather, it’s about broader legal questions like what’s right and what’s wrong, how people interact with each other, how we interact with the land and water, and how we manage when the law isn’t followed. “What we’re doing is making visible and cognizable Indigenous ways of Indigenous legal thought, Indigenous legal processes and ways that people hold each other accountable, and ways that we can take care of one another,” said Napoleon.She said it’s important to look at these things with big imaginations, to help solve big questions currently facing society. The Law Foundation of B.C. has invested $10 million to help support the program. ABOUT THE AUTHORKathryn Marlow is a reporter for CBC Victoria, and the host/producer of the podcast This is Vancouver Island. She covers stories in greater Victoria, and across the whole Vancouver Island region. You can reach her at kathryn.marlow@cbc.ca.
New project at University of Victoria aims to rebuild Indigenous law
