Aimée Craft
Aimée Craft, B.A. (L.-Ph.) (University of Manitoba), LL.B. (University of Ottawa), LL.M. (University of Victoria), is an Indigenous lawyer from Manitoba. She recently completed an interdisciplinary Masters in Law and Society at the University of Victoria. Her thesis is entitled Breathing Life Into the Stone Fort Treaty and focuses on understanding and interpreting treaties from an Anishinabe inaakonigewin (legal) perspective.
In her legal practice at the Public Interest Law Centre, she has worked with many Indigenous peoples on land, resources, consultation, human rights, and governance issues. She is chair of the Aboriginal Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and was appointed to the Speaker’s Bureau of the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Indigenous Peoples and Governance Graduate Research Scholarship.
Her pro bono work includes participation in the development of Federal Court Practice Guidelines for Aboriginal Law Matters, including Oral History and Elders Evidence. She is a sessional lecturer and research affiliate at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, and has lectured at other universities and presented at conferences in the areas of consultation and accommodation, treaties, Indigenous laws, language rights, and Aboriginal and treaty rights. In 2009, she successfully argued on behalf of language rights advocates in the first entirely French hearing at the Manitoba Court of Appeal.
Aimée is proud of her ancestors, their legacy, and the teachings they have gifted to her and others. She is especially thankful for her family — immediate and extended — and for the land she belongs to.
Books (1)
Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty: An Anishnabe Understanding of Treaty One
$29.95
Format:
Paperback
Text Content Territories:
Indigenous Canadian; First Nations; Anishinaabeg;
ISBN / Barcode: 9781895830644
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
In order to interpret and implement a treaty between the Crown and Canada’s First Nations, we must look to its spirit and intent, and consider what was contemplated by the parties at the time the treaty was negotiated, argues author Aimée Craft. Using a detailed analysis of Treaty One – covering what is today southern Manitoba – she illustrates how Anishinabe laws (inaakonigewin) defined Treaty One negotiations and opened the door to a “gathering of spirit.” Those laws included the obligations and responsibilities that derive from the relationship to the land, the need to wait for all participants before negotiations began in order to respect their jurisdiction and decision making authority, and the rooting of the treaty relationship in kinship, including references to the Queen as a mother. These legal concepts and many more are examined in this book with the author illustrating how the terms of Treaty One were defined by such principles. Anishinabe laws (inaakonigewin) defined the settler-Anishinabe relationship well before the Treaty One negotiations in 1871 – for example the Selkirk Treaty of 1817 which in part laid the groundwork for Treaty One. While the focus of this book is on Treaty One, the principles of interpretation apply equally to all treaties with First Nations.
Kids Books (2)
Mishomis raconte les traités: Tant que les rivières couleront (1 in stock, Out of Print)
$17.95
Format:
Paperback
Text Content Territories:
Indigenous Canadian; First Nations; Anishinaabeg;
ISBN / Barcode: 9782896118694
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
Les relations constituent le fondement de tous les traités.Mishomis apprend à sa petite-fille à être attentive à la fois aux sons et aux silences autour d’elle pour mieux prendre conscience de sa place dans la création. Surtout, il lui apprend ce que sont les traités : des liens durables de réciprocité et de renouveau.L’auteure d’ascendance anishinaabe-métisse Aimée Craft souligne l’importance des traités dans cet album magnifiquement illustré par l’artiste visuel Luke Swinson. Un livre essentiel pour tous les lecteurs et toutes les lectrices.
Educator Information
This book is available in English: Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow
Additional Information
60 Pages
Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow
$16.95
Format:
Hardcover
Text Content Territories:
Indigenous Canadian; First Nations; Anishinaabeg;
ISBN / Barcode: 9781773214962
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty.
On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis’s home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen—to hear both the sounds and the silences, and so to learn her place in Creation. Most importantly, he teaches her about treaties—the bonds of reciprocity and renewal that endure for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.
Accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Luke Swinson and an author’s note at the end, Aimée Craft affirms the importance of understanding an Indigenous perspective on treaties in this evocative book that is essential for readers of all ages.
Awards
- 2022 Indigenous Voices Award in the graphic novels, comics, and illustrated books category
Educator Information
Recommended for ages 10+
Target Grade: Grade 5
Reading Level: Lexile 920L
CCSS.ELA-Literacy Strand-Reading literature:
SL.3.1,1a,1b,1c,1d,2
W.3.1,1a.1b,1c,1d,1e
L.3.1,1a,1b,1c,1d.1e
RL.3.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9
This book is available in French: Mishomis raconte les traités: Tant que les rivières couleront
Additional Information
60 pages | 4.00" x 6.00"
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