Bearing Witness: Creating the Conditions of Justice for First Nations Children

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société
• Main Author: Ariss, Rachel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2021
• Subjects: Law; Sociology and Political Science; First Nations
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cls.2020.38; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0829320120000381

Abstract In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that Canada’s management of child welfare discriminates against First Nations children. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, one of the complainants, maintains a web-based campaign called “I Am A Witness,” providing details on the hearings and legal materials and asking visitors to act towards ending discrimination against First Nations children. What does it mean to bear witness to such discrimination? The concept of “witnessing” circulates through Indigenous oral traditions, communication and media theories, and the common law. This article explores the I Am A Witness campaign, arguing that as it evokes various theories of witnessing and builds public awareness of legal processes, it shifts spaces of and perspectives on legality beyond Western categories, creating a public that is enabled to bear witness to, and respond to, ongoing injustices against Indigenous peoples.