Law's Indigenous Ethics

"Many Canadians will agree that Indigenous law should be given more prominence within Canadian law. But the question remains: How do we implement this vision on the ground? The notion that Indigenous law should influence the development of non-Indigenous law is persuasive enough in theory, but what does it look like in practice? Law’s Indigenous Ethics offers some answers."

Karen Drake, Canadian Journal of Native Studies

"Law's Indigenous Ethics follows the John Borrows’ tradition of creative and insightful scholarship. It relies on Anishinaabe Grandmother and Grandfather teachings of love, truth, bravery, humility, wisdom, honesty, and respect as ethical relationships in Indigenous laws."

Mary Hemmings, Thompson Rivers University, Canadian Law Library Review

“Borrows wants to deploy Indigenous law teachings to replace the political violence of state law with a network of trustworthy, consensual, reciprocal relations. He has assembled a remarkably wide set of materials to point the way.” Peter d’Errico, University of Massachusetts Amherst, American Indian Culture and Research Journal

"Law’s Indigenous Ethics addresses very controversial topics in Canada, not just in Indigenous legal studies, but far beyond that. John Borrows employs story work methodology, along with thorough legal research, ensuring that his work is truly leading edge. Law’s Indigenous Ethics will further advance Indigenous studies in Canada and beyond. Borrows’s work moves beyond the binary, divisive, and linear ideologies dominating the Indigenous intellectual landscape in Canada. He provides nuance, complicates dominate narratives, and gives the reader much food for thought and, more importantly, asks the reader to think, reflect, and embrace the principles embedded in the seven grandmother and grandfather teachings as a whole."

Deborah McGregor, Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice, York University

"Law’s Indigenous Ethics is extremely novel, important, and has the potential for great influence. Demonstrating tremendous expertise and fluency with its subjects, John Borrows’s arguments are sound and thoughtful, providing a number of important insights that lead me to adjust the way I think about issues that are very familiar to me."

Bethany Berger, Wallace Stevens Professor of Law, University of Connecticut