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Indigenous Cultural Competency Resources

The following resources were curated by the Law Society of Alberta.
If you have suggestions for other resources, please send an email to Indigenous Initiatives with your suggestion.
Direct links to materials are provided where possible. Otherwise, we encourage you to locate the resources you are interested in.
Academic Resources
Resource | Author |
The Complainant: The Canadian Human Rights Case on First Nations Child Welfare | Cindy Blackstock |
Resource | Author |
An Inside Job: Engaging with Indigenous Legal Traditions through Stories | Hadley Friedland & Val Napoleon |
Gathering The Threads: Developing A Methodology For Researching And Rebuilding Indigenous Legal Traditions | Hadley Friedland & Val Napoleon |
Reflective Frameworks: Methods for Accessing Understanding and Applying Indigenous Laws | Hadley Friedland |
Waniskā: Reimagining The Future With Indigenous Legal Traditions | Hadley Friedland |
Resource | Author |
Aboriginal Over-representation and R. v. Gladue: Where We Were, Where We Are and Where We Might Be Going | Johnathan Rudin |
The Application of Gladue to Bail: Problems, Challenges, and Potential | Jillian Anne Rogin |
Resource | Author |
Acknowledging Land and People | The Alberta Teachers’ Association |
Finding Your Personal Land Acknowledgment | University of Saskatchewan |
Resource | Author |
Calls for Justice | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls |
Consolidated Literature Review of Reports relating to Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA People | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls |
Introduction to the Final Report: “Understanding Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA People” | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls |
Master List of Report Recommendations | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls |
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls |
Resource | Author |
The Pedagogy of Trauma-Informed Lawyering | Sarah Katz & Deeya Haldar |
The Trauma-Informed Lawyer Podcast | Myrna McCallum & the Canadian Bar Association |
Resource | Author |
Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada |
Resource | Author |
Communicating Effectively with Indigenous Clients | Lorna Fadden, PhD |
Guide for Lawyers Working with Indigenous Peoples | The Advocates’ Society, Indigenous Bar Association & the Law Society Ontario |
Indigenous Peoples: Language Guidelines | The University of British Columbia |
Model Code of Professional Conduct | The Federation of Law Societies of Canada |
Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan | The Law Society of British Columbia |
Multimedia Resources
Fiction
Title | Author |
Annie Muktuk (2017) | Norma Dunning |
In Search of April Raintree (1983) | Beatrice Culleton Mosionier |
Other Authors | Louise Erdrich, Lee Maracle, Thomson Highway, Bob Joseph, Thomas King |
Graphic Novels
Title | Author |
Secret Path (2016) | Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire |
The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel (2015) | Patti Laboucan-Benson |
Memoirs
Title | Author |
From The Ashes: My Story of Being Metis, Homeless, and Finding My Way (2019) | Jesse Thistle |
Clifford (2018) | Harold R. Johnson |
Mamaskatch (2018) | Darrel J. McLeod |
The Right to be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet (2015) | Sheila Watt-Cloutier |
The Reason You Walk (2015) | Wab Kinew |
One Native Life (2008) | Richard Waganese |
Indian School Days (1988) | Basil H. Johnston |
Half Breed(1973) | Maria Campbell |
Non-Fiction
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City (2017) | Tanya Talaga |
Thunder in my Soul: A Mohawk Woman Speaks (1995) | Patricia Monture-Angus |
Journeying Forward: Dreaming First Nations’ Independence (2000) | Patricia Monture-Angus |
People of the Pines (1991) | Geoffrey York |
One Dead Indian: The Premier, the Police, and the Ipperwash Crisis (2001) | Peter Edwards |
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (2012) | Thomas King |
Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing (2019) | Suzanne Methot |
Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families, and How Canada Has Failed Indigenous Women (2015) | Emmanuelle Walter |
A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986 (1999) | John S. Milloy |
From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada (2019) | Jody Wilson-Raybould |
Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (2011) | Mark Cronlund Anderson, Carmen Robertson |
Citizens Plus: Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State (2000) | Alan Cairns |
Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice (1996) | Rupert Ross |
Dancing with a Ghost: Exploring Aboriginal Reality (1992) | Rupert Ross |
Dying to Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Contemporary Canada (2017) | Roland David Chrisjohn and Shaunessy M. McKay with Andrea O. Smith |
Documentary | Director |
Finding Dawn (2006) | Christine Welsh |
Incident at Restigouche (1984) | Alanis Obomsawin |
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) | Alanis Obomsawin |
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up (2019) | Tasha Hubbard |
Reel Injun (2009) | Neil Diamond |
Two Worlds Colliding (2005) | Tasha Hubbard |
Movie | Director |
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) | Zacharias Kunuk |
Bedevil (1993) | Tracey Moffatt |
Dance Me Outside (1994) | Bruce McDonald Based on: Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff |
Four Sheets to the Wind (2007) | Sterlin Harjo |
Indian Horse (2017) | Stephen Campanelli Based on: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese |
Meek’s Cutoff (2010) | Kelly Reichardt |
Once Were Warriors (1994) | Lee Tamahori |
Powwow Highway (1989) | Jonathan Wacks |
Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) | Jeff Barnaby |
Smoke Signals (1998) | Chris Eyre Based on: This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie |
The Grizzlies (2018) | Miranda de Pencier |
The Lesser Blessed (2012) | Anita Doron |
Podcast | Host |
The Secret Life of Canada | CBC Podcast |
The Trauma-Informed Lawyer | Myrna McCallum in partnership with the Canadian Bar Association |
Title | Author |
A Really Good Brown Girl (1996) | Marilyn Dumont |
Eskimo Pie: A Poetics of Inuit Identity (2020) | Norma Dunning |
Inconvenient Skin / Nayêhtâwan Wasakay (2019) | Shane Koyczan |
Learning to Count (2020 CBC Prize Shortlist) | Emily Riddle |
The Wound is a World (2017) | Billy-Ray Belcourt |
Indigenous Court Connected Services
View the Indigenous Court Connected Services in Alberta document for contact details of Indigenous Court Connected Services available in Treaty 8 (Northern Alberta), Treaty 6 (Central Alberta) and Treaty 7 (Southern Alberta).