EagleWoman named as Lakehead University’s Dean of Law

By Rick Garrick

First Nation leaders are encouraged by Lakehead University’s selection of Canada’s first female Aboriginal dean of a law school at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.

“It’s a very positive step in the right direction,” says Fort William Chief Peter Collins. “It’s a great opportunity to have our young people watch and learn and use her as a mentor and to hopefully guide some of our young people into the law society.”

Angelique EagleWoman, a law professor and legal scholar at the University of Idaho College of Law in the United States, was introduced on Jan. 12 to a packed gathering at the law school’s John N. Paterson Auditorium. She previously served as a tribal judge in four Tribal Court systems and as general counsel for her own tribe, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in Dakota.

“I look at this as another stepping stone in the right direction for Canada and the province of Ontario,” Collins says. “Our communities and our First Nations all want to be a part of society and all want to be a part of the economy, and I think as we go forward this is just another stepping stone in the right direction.”

Celina Reitberger, a Fort William citizen who was called to the bar in 1980 and is currently executive director of Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation, was moved by EagleWoman’s selection.

“I am thrilled — I was completely overcome with emotion actually at the fact that we now have the first female Aboriginal dean of a law school in Canada and it’s here in Thunder Bay,” Reitberger says. “It’s cutting edge and I can’t imagine anything but good things happening from here on in. It was an excellent decision; I knew it was in the works and I could not be more pleased.”

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Don Rusnak says it is important to have someone at the helm of the law school who understands its mandate, which focuses on Aboriginal Law and issues related to Aboriginal peoples; establishing a law practice in a small centre; and an emphasis on Natural Resources, with specialties in mining and forestry.

“I think it was an amazing announcement,” Rusnak says. “I met her today, of course, and I’m looking forward to working closely with her.” Rusnak says one of the mandates of the law school is to educate Indigenous students.

“With an Indigenous person actually leading the school, hopefully it will encourage more Indigenous students to apply,” Rusnak says. “Hopefully the operations of the school will be more friendly to students of Indigenous heritage.”

EagleWoman says her family encouraged her goal to be a lawyer and stood behind her as she followed her education path. A Youtube video about her as a law student is available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=npchS8f14NI.

“I’ve always tried to encourage others to think about a career in law,” EagleWoman says. “I hope that seeing me at the helm of the beginning of the law school will also encourage other First Nations young people and people in mid-career that might be thinking about change to consider law as a profession. Law touches every aspect of our lives and it is important that our voices be heard in forming that law and responding to that law and in making that law.”

EagleWoman follows the traditional teachings and is a jingle dress dancer.  “My family is traditional and we attend ceremony,” EagleWoman says. “That is what has led me on my journey and allowed me to be a role model and to be able to operate in two worlds.”

EagleWoman looks forward to getting involved in the community, noting she has already been invited to Fort William First Nation.

“My husband does beadwork and when I’m not so busy I do beadwork myself,” EagleWoman says. “My son just beaded his first bracelet, so we want to reach out to the community and get to know everyone in the area.”

EagleWoman officially begins her role as dean in May.

“This position is a dream come true for me because of the Faculty of Law’s commitment to produce lawyers for rural and small town legal practice, the focus on natural resources and environmental law, and the required curriculum on aspects of Aboriginal and Indigenous law,” EagleWoman says. “With my background, I feel especially suited to be at the helm of the law school as it moves from the start-up phase to taking its place among the other distinguished law schools in Ontario and nationally.”