Honouring Ceremony for Osgoode Law School Grads
By Barb Nahwegahbow
TORONTO – Indigenous graduates of Osgoode Hall were celebrated in a first-ever honouring ceremony held by the Law School on June 19. Justice Harry LaForme, an Osgoode graduate, welcomed everyone to the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit. York University sits on land that was the traditional hunting and trapping territory of the First Nation, he said.
Five of the eight graduates, including Jacob Dockstator, Kendra d’Eon, Serena Dykstra, Laura Mayer and Joshua Tallman attended to hear words of wisdom from Justice LaForme and surprise guest Justice Murray Sinclair.
As the first Indigenous law student at Osgoode, LaForme told the graduates, he remembered an overwhelming sense of alienation, “because our history’s different, we’re different, and I’m not sure that ever leaves us.” Back then, he said, there were three Aboriginal lawyers in Canada and no courses or textbooks on Aboriginal law. Now, a law school wouldn’t be considered very good if it didn’t teach Aboriginal law, he said.
Work hard and with passion, LaForme advised the graduates. Stay close to each other as First Nations, Aboriginal people and wherever you go, surround yourself with who you are. “That’s one of the things I did early on in my career,” Laforme said, “and I found that it really gives me strength and comfort.”
For twenty-seven year old Serena Dykstra, law school was a personal as well as professional journey. Dykstra is a member of Marten Falls First Nation in Ontario and the Crees of Waskaganish First Nation in northern Quebec. My mother was adopted, she said, “and she didn’t know what it meant to be an Indigenous person. I’m 27 now and have spent a good chunk of that time searching and trying to find my way back to the culture.” Law school helped her re-connect with the culture and she’s excited about working on Aboriginal rights issues. “I realized I could interact with issues that were important to me and that I could be part of the conversation and contribute,” she said.
Laura Mayer, a citizen of Mississaugi #8 First Nation, dressed in her traditional regalia for the ceremony, said she decided to be a lawyer when she was twelve. “I wanted to make a difference and I realized that some of the injustices I was seeing on a daily basis could be addressed by working in the Canadian legal system,” Mayer said. “But I see now what’s really important is Anishinabek law,” she said, “and how do we implement our own laws?”
Mayer took time off during law school to have a baby, a son now two years old. Her goal after spending some quality time with her family is to work for the Anishinabek Nation. The most important lesson she learned in law school? “The law is what you make it,” Mayer said. “Sometimes you have to kick it and you have to fight it to change it, but it still means you have to interact with it.”
Justice Sinclair addressed the grads and said, “this is not a white man’s system. This is our system too and we just need to make it work for us as others have made it work for them.”
Osgoode’s Dean Lorne Sossin, told the gathering he hoped this would be the first of many honouring ceremonies for Indigenous students.