Gizhiiwekweg: Women Who Speak Clearly With A Strong Voice
My stint in law school brought me to a circle of minds that helps me stay the path. Survival of the sisterhood has never been more important to my well-being than it is now. Respectably labelled the “shit disturbers”, the legal world was not ready for our arrival. Through every trial and tribulation (pun intended), we are stronger together. We lift each other up, using laughter and love as medicine. We speak clearly and with a strong voice.
Never a dull moment with any of these women, it’s time you met them all. Months ago, I sent them each a list of questions. They all answered independently.
Dell Dyck
“Find your people and do everything you can to help them.”
What brought you to the field of law and justice?
I was sitting in first year university, Introduction to Criminal Justice (a class my mother had chosen for me because I needed one more and couldn’t decide). I had thought I’d be an English major or something. I had no prior interest in law or Criminal Justice. The professor told a story about a specific law that had been intended to protect children, an admirable purpose so ostensibly a good law. It made it a crime to allow a child to witness domestic violence. You can see where this is going. Its purpose was to protect children, its practical effect was to trap them in dangerous situations and criminalize victims of abuse. Victims who had been abused risked being arrested under this law if they came forward, which would surely be used against them in any child protection hearings. Victims would be faced with a choice between leaving and risking arrest and the loss of your kids, or staying and enduring the abuse. It’s already difficult and dangerous for victims to leave abusive relationships. Women are most likely to be killed by their partners in the period immediately following their departure. Now under the guise of protecting children, the state put everyone in even more danger. It was fascinating to me that the practical effect could be so drastically different from what was intended. I was hooked.
What lesson can you share about the experience of law school?
Find your people and do everything you can to help them. Law school can be a hellish and soul crushing experience. It feels that way for everyone. It’s worse for people who aren’t white, or straight, or cishet. Nothing was more comforting to me when I felt broken than my law school friends. Nothing made me feel better than being able to do something for them when they needed help. The people you make it through law school with will be with you for the rest of your life. No one gets that hell except others who have been there themselves. And start by being nice to everyone. You’re in a building with these people for the next three years, and if you stay in Manitoba the bar is small, but also don’t be afraid to call out bullshit. Racist, homophonic and misogynistic people go to law school. Sometimes they teach at law school. Call them out every time. It doesn’t count if the reason someone thinks you’re not nice is because they were being racist and you told them to stop.
What areas of practice are you passionate about? Why?
Aboriginal law. The first time I attended the Indigenous Bar Association Conference Perry Bellagarde was there. He spoke during the lunch and talked about how important it is that we occupy the field (Dmo took the mic afterwards and basically was like, “See how many students are here Perry? We are occupying the field.” It was so badass.). We need to occupy every aspect of the field because representation is important, but personally I feel it is especially important to have Indigenous people practicing in Aboriginal law. Aboriginal law is defined as Euro-Canadian law about Indigenous peoples. It’s law made by Canadian courts and Canadian governments about Indigenous peoples. It’s been said time and time again, nothing about us, without us. We have to be involved, not just as the clients, but as the lawyers as well.
Wills and Estates. My uncle got really sick while I was articling. He didn’t have a will yet and he asked my dad for his help filling out a home will kit. My dad asked me. One of the lawyers I was articling to happened to practice in the area and agreed to help me draft it, so I drafted my uncle’s will (I was not a beneficiary, it’s legit). My uncle was very grateful, and my dad was very grateful. It was the first time in my life I had ever felt useful in the face of losing a loved one, and it made me want to keep helping people as they plan for the inevitable.
Civil litigation. There’s nothing profound about my interest in civil litigation. I was chatting with a litigator in my firm during my second summer there and she was like, I literally have to learn about the mating patterns of bees for this case. I’m terrified of bees but I like the idea of a job that has you constantly learning not just about the law but about the world around us too.
Privacy. Again nothing profound here, it just fascinates me. I caught wind of a case where a woman successfully sued because she had been filmed running in a public park and that footage was used in a commercial without her consent. After that I was kind of just hooked. I’m a pretty private person, the girls have to push me just to be in a photo. But more and more our global culture is driven by presenting our lives to the world, and markets are driven by the collection of data trails we leave online. We understand so little of what information about us is collected, stored and used.
Indigenous law. This isn’t an area I “practice” the way I do the others, but is obviously very close to my heart as a Michif woman, and will spend my life living and learning about.
What dream feature should our future law firm office have?
Dogs, obviously.
You are entering into the Supreme Court of Canada. What song is playing?
Taking Care of Business by Bachman Turner Overdrive. When I got the email with my LSAT scores I made this joke that I was ready for my theme song to be Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2 by Pink Floyd (think: we don’t need no education), but then I opened the email and said “Sorry Floyd looks like I got myself a new theme song because I TOOK CARE OF SOME BUSINESS!” I thought it was hilarious. AND THEN, the day I applied to law school, I got in my car right after, turned on the radio, and Taking Care of Business was playing.
Assemble your most badass legal team made up of four members-dead or alive, fictional or non-fictional. Name your team.
Us four. Obviously.
Alyssa Bird
“Being close with Indigenous law helps keep me grounded, and I feel that I have a responsibility to continually learn and practice so that I can share that knowledge in the future.”
What brought you to the field of law and justice?
I was drawn to it though the wind, heard it through the birds, also my family was like hurry up and figure out what you want to do with university already, hahah just kidding!
I was going through university undergrad during a time when Elsipogtog, Idle No More, MMIWG were all over in Indigenous social media news feeds. I was driven through the want to help in a meaningful way in terms of my applying my university education, but I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go towards. Since I had some awesome professors, what ended up happening was often when I would read a book, article or hear a presentation I would get crazy inspired. In particular learning about Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and systemic injustices towards Indigenous peoples. I would think, “Holy shit I want to be able to talk/write/inspire people like that”. And more often than not, those people I found myself most inspired by where Indigenous people who had a background in law.
That took me to the oh-so-logical conclusion, let’s throw everything I got into applying to law school! Let’s see where it takes me.
What lesson can you share about the experience of law school?
There can be so many reminders and triggers for an Indigenous person which can make you feel extremely alienated from the legal institutions you worked hard to get into, where you question why you made the decision to go there to begin with. Indigenous people’s relationship with legal institutions have never been a fair one, so that feeling of inequality and oppression is amplified and echoed within the walls of a law school. Having gone through law school and now into practice, these institutions still have a long way to go to dull that scream of “You shouldn’t be here!”
So now all that downer information is there, the lesson I can share is find ways to keep yourself grounded and be kind to yourself. It really can feel like you’re just trying to survive the next class, the next exam period, or networking event, so it’s important to find the people and passions that fill your heart and recharges your spirit. Be it time with your family, friends, spending time in your community, volunteer work on issues you’re passionate about. Whatever can help build that flame in to that pushes you forward and do awesome things, do that shit. Also, be kind to yourself. I understand that there may be all sorts of pressure to have to be perfect. But mistakes, struggling, and taking your time are okay. Sincerely they are. Check in with yourself and your feelings. At the end of the day, are you being a good and kind person to yourself and others? Then you’re golden!
What areas of practice are you passionate about? Why?
The two areas that I am focusing on is my practice of family law and the continually learning more about Indigenous law.
I did not want to touch family law with a 10-foot pole when I was entering into law school. Having my parents go through a custody battle for me when I was younger really skewed my view on what I thought family law was. I felt that it was damaging for my parents, my family, and for me as a child to go through litigation that put me in the middle between my parents and go through the Court system.
It wasn’t until I took a clinical family law course, a course who was being taught by practicing lawyers in the firm that work in, did I see another side of family law. We got an introduction to collaborative practice and interest-based negotiations in a family law context. It opened my eyes to the reality that there are lawyers out there who are interested in helping families transition from separation into a co-parenting relationship in a way that keeps children at the centre of conversations. It warmed me up to the area of practicing family law and how I can use my experience and skills to help families in a way that I wished could have happened when I was a kid.
The other is Indigenous law. I won’t spend time talking about what the differences are between Aboriginal law and Indigenous law, but I will mention my own understanding of what Indigenous law means to me. Indigenous law is my relationship to my relatives and understanding what roles and responsibilities I have within those relationships. My relatives are not only my immediate family, but it includes my other extended relatives. The numerous people who I consider my grandparents, my aunties, my uncles, my cousins, my nieces, and nephews. My relatives include who I am connected to in ceremony and in the lodge. They include my relatives in the natural world, animals, insects, plants and water. I learn Indigenous law by being with my relatives, listening to their teachings and doing my best to live by those teachings. This stuff is important because it is what our people used to live amongst each other and with the natural world for thousands of years. Being close with Indigenous law helps keep me grounded, and I feel that I have a responsibility to continually learn and practice so that I can share that knowledge in the future.
What dream feature should our future law firm office have?
Circle room where you can smudge and outdoor space that’s full of green!
You are entering into the Supreme Court of Canada. What song is playing?
The Rocky theme song, complete with smoke machine and spotlights, and a training montage beforehand. My alternate would be anything by Rage Against the Machine! With an equally as theatric walk in.
Assemble your most badass legal team made up of four members - dead or alive, fictional or non-fictional. Name your team.
God damn it this one is hard too! I wrote the answers to these questions in different sittings, where I started off all stoic and serious but now just want to mess around. Beside the ooobvious four other wonderful ladies who are also featured in this post, serious answer would be Marion Meadmore, Harold Cardinal, Murray Sinclair, and my Kookum! Joke answer would be Yoda, Jim Carry from Liar Liar, a rez version of Vinny of the movie My Cousin Vinny, aaaaand my cat!
Raven-Dominique Gobeil
“The most important lesson I can share about law school is this: Law school was not designed for anyone who is outside of the status quo and normal to succeed.”
What brought you to the field of law and justice?
I came into the field of law and justice because I want to prove all the people who doubt me wrong. I came into the field of law and justice because I wanted to be the role model I never had, I wanted to prove that the poor kid, who grew up on welfare with intergenerational trauma could become a hard working legal badass while still giving back and helping her people.
What lesson can you share about the experience of law school?
The most important lesson I can share about law school is this: Law school was not designed for anyone who is outside of the status quo and normal to succeed. That is to say for each reason you’re outside of the status quo, law school is that much harder. I won’t say that being a visibly Indigenous person made law school that much harder because I had already learned to call out most racism, but it definitely does not make it ANY easier.
When I sought help in law school from the student advisor, I was questioned about things that put me outside of the status quo – I’m an orphan, I was band funded and I was raising my younger siblings – and the only “solutions” they had cost money. When I offered creative solutions, the student advisor ignored me because they did not know how to deal with someone so outside of their definition of normal. It was insulting and as a result I failed – just like I had predicted with the advisor.
What areas of practice are you passionate about? Why?
I am passionate about the area of child protection because I believe the worst thing you can do to a community is to take the child away.
What dream feature should our future law firm office have?
A fro-yo machine that always has sugar free vanilla on tap. . . just kidding – unless it is in the budget. Can Kenny (Dell) get back to me on this idea already? She’s our financial advisor.
But for real, I think our firm should have a child minding area. Dealing with lawyers can be stressful and a lawyer’s office is not the place for a child. It’s inappropriate to talk about legal issues in front of children, especially if it relates to custody, divorce, guardianships or litigation in the family. This means that lack of child care could be a potential access to justice issue that can be easily solved. Meeting with a lawyer is likely during regular business hours for a short period of time – not the ideal time to find a baby sitter. Having a child minding area takes away the client’s stress of needing to find child care and having one less thing to worry about makes for a happier client.
You are entering into the Supreme Court of Canada. What song is playing?
I S T R U G G L E D with this question! Part of me wants to say a hype song, part of me wants to say my favorite song and another part of me wants to go with a Traditional song in my language, but I have decided:
When I am entering the Supreme Court of Canada I will be listening to 99 Problems by Jay Z.
Assemble your most badass legal team made up of four members - dead or alive, fictional or non-fictional. Name your team.
The law is a living tree and it is growing and evolving all the time. My team needs to be current, stay fresh, know the struggle and know how to win. For that reason, my team is: Danielle H. Morrison, Kendall N. Dyck, Alyssa A. Bird and myself, Raven-Dominique Gobeil.
To take it one step further here is how I would divide up the team:
Opening remarks: Alyssa A. Bird - Alyssa would come in dropping knowledge bombs left, right and centre. She would force you to focus on her soft voice with BIG truths all while you realize you might be in for more than you bargained for.
Direct Examination: Danielle H. Morrison - DMo follows Alyssa with the same passion, but amplified as she explodes from painting the most riveting story with her flawless examination that leaves everyone in the courtroom with their mouths hanging open from the greatness they have just witnessed.
Cross Examination: Raven-Dominique Gobeil (me)- I roll in after DMo and all bets are off. My only goal is to take the Legally Blonde courtroom scene, Indigenize it and flip it back in your face – drawing so much attention to every flaw and hole in your story that you want to go far far away.
Closing Arguments: Kendall N. Dyck - Kenny comes in last, not to clean up the mess I have just made with your case, but to beautifully explain why you’re wrong, elegantly pointing out case law and putting the nails in your coffin. She leaves you confused but happy that you’ve just lost, and does so in such a way that you are okay with it.
EAGLES CAWS IN THE BACKGROUND
Danielle H. Morrison
“Law school is not one of those feats you commit alone. It took a village to raise my child, and it took a village to get me through law school.”
What brought you to the field of law and justice?
I’ve already shared much on this: my life took a significant change in direction after working with Survivors of the Indian Residential School System. But the moment I was truly struck was after a frank conversation with friends at our friend Musky’s show, Biipiigwan. I have vivid memories of this, not only because Musky’s band is just so damn cool (Indigenous screamo? I mean, c’mon), but because it was like one of those scenes from a movie where the friends are all sitting around a table and just shooting the shit, and the protagonist has this epiphany and moment of self-realization and then cue the motivational music and the time lapse of endless nights of studying, practice test writing and then the soundtrack crescendos at the culminating scene where I’m opening my letter of acceptance to law school….you get the idea.
So there I was, sitting with Lisa, Wab, and Leonard in the back of Handsome Daughter, a break from the show to chat. I had already shared with Lisa about my pipe dream of applying for law school. She was my biggest hype woman - having gone through medical school to become a physician, she knew it would be hard but she believed in my abilities. She brought up with the crew that I was hemming and hawing over law school. I explained that I was worried about committing to law school being too much of a sacrifice for my small family. Evie was just a year old, I wanted to have more children, I couldn’t imagine juggling the demands of breastfeeding, being pregnant, raising kids, yadda yadda yadda, the list went on and I was making up every excuse in the book. Wab, a fellow Treaty 3 member who similarly came from a large, blended family reminded me that I could always have more kids after law school. That Anishinaabe family values paid no attention to even the biggest age gaps between children - they would still be loving and caring siblings to one another. Finally, Leonard, in delivering the final Uncle teaching in his gruff, pointed manner, goes, “Just go for it!” He was almost annoyed with me. But I realize now, that they all saw so clearly within me what I did not. That I was more than capable and would be, in fact, great at it.
I am forever grateful for the circle of friends, family, and community that cured me of my self-doubt.
What lesson can you share about the experience of law school?
This is a recurring theme among all of us and really cannot be understated: surround yourself with people who believe in you and I promise, magic will happen. Aside from the oppressive nature that the institution is, your biggest saboteur is yourself. Imposter syndrome is real. You will question your worth and whether you are in the right place. I pride myself in being one of those fiercely independent individuals - an over-achiever, “I do it myself” was one of the first phrases I learned as a child according to my Mum. Law school is not one of those feats you commit alone. It took a village to raise my child, and it took a village to get me through law school. Don’t ever be afraid to call on your community for support - in whatever form that may be. A tearful phone call, a night out, a meal with friends, some snuggles from my nearest and dearest. Those are the moments that grounded me. Never underestimate the power of sleep, food and water. And when the pressure feels too great, be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to rest.
A favourite saying that I often recite in my head is my Mum’s words: “I did my best, and that’s good enough for now.”
Another favourite saying for when I’m feeling too lax is from Evie’s dad, Adam, the hardest working (and most unreasonable) man I know: “Remember the 6 P’s: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.”
What areas of practice are you passionate about? Why?
I’m passionate about the law that impacts our People. Which is basically just about every facet out there. But in particular, Indigenous Law. Our ways of knowing and being have survived millenia and they are driving the way forward when it comes to caring for our land, water, and families.
For a long time, I pictured myself in Criminal Law, because for whatever reason, this area of law comes naturally and I excelled at it in law school (I’m sure growing up in Kenora and seeing the way the criminal justice system disproportionately affected my people had something to do with it). I know I would make great contributions as a crim lawyer, but am frustrated by the lack of progress the system has made in its treatment of Gladue and in general, towards racialized offenders and victims. Until we dismantle and re-frame how we treat those who have fallen on the path in a way that supports and rehabilitates the individual through a holistic approach, I am not sure how helpful my participation would be. As passionate as I am about Criminal Law, I am equally as critical.
What dream feature should our future law firm office have?
A nap room. With spa music. And clapper sound-activated lighting. Also a great area for crying. We should probably make it sound proof to not alarm any guests. It’s just DMO having her mid-week breakdown. Crying is medicine y’all!
You are entering into the Supreme Court of Canada. What song is playing?
I constantly play out my own movies to soundtrack-esque theme songs - more than I’m willing to admit. There are so many classics - Enter Sandman, Welcome to the Jungle. Typical, but not the right ones. I thought too long about this one and then just decided on a go-to hype song that I regularly play to get amped: Bring Da Ruckus by Wu Tang Clan. An old school crowd pleaser for the hip hop heads. Second to that, Battle Without Honor or Humility by Tomoyasu Hotei. Think O’Ren Ishii walking with her Crazy 88s, except it’s ya girl in court robes, a pair of red bottoms and an eagle feather. Boom. Explosions in the background.
Assemble your most badass legal team made up of four members - dead or alive, fictional or non-fictional. Name your team.
I really love how we all answered each other for this question, a true testament to the sisterhood. It would be my absolute honour to work alongside Raven-Dominique Gobeil, Dell Dyck, and Alyssa Bird.
Gizhiiwekweg: Women Who Speak Clearly With A Strong Voice – A Podcast in the Making
If there’s one lesson to take from the battle thus far, it’s that we must never small ourselves in the face of adversity. We have come into our own. You never know who’s watching and thinking, “if they can do it, why not me?” And then it follows, but how? We’ve been asked to get this up and running for some time now, and although pandemic times have delayed progress, we answer the call. Only time (and the limits of our recording and production skills) will tell if we were meant to overshare.
Our recordings capture a spectrum of conversations that drive our practice and speak to our unique experiences in the field. Sometimes hard, sometimes pure relief. Launching in November 2020, Gizhiiwekweg: Women Who Speak Clearly With A Strong Voice will soon be available for listening.
To stay up-to-date on the launch, follow our official account @gizhiiwekweg.