The Indigenous Law Students Association (ILSA) has been a community for Indigenous law students at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law for many years. As Indigenous students come to the UOttawa from communities across Turtle Island, ILSA has always acted as a sort of “home away from home” for our Indigenous members. We’ve long been dedicated to fostering a community, putting on events, and gaining recognition within colonial legal spaces. As we are not sure the exact year the Indigenous Law Students Association started, we do know that our Indigenous faculty members and elders who we so deeply cherish, were once ILSA members themselves. This goes to show the deep roots of our community, and our inherent place in this institution. 

 

As the ILSA was historically regarded as a “club” under the Faculty’s Common Law Student Society, ILSA members began to envision a new future for our community. We hoped to become a recognized student government, parallel to, not under, the existing common law student body. We wanted to be recognized as a community representing our land, our traditions, and our Iaws. Roughly two years ago, we started to take the necessary steps to make ILSA’s vision come to life. Past and present ILSA members worked tirelessly to develop a motion to become a self-governing body, while generating support from allies, faculty, and community. On November 12, 2020, our motion to become an Indigenous self-governing body was unanimously passed, and the Indigenous Law Students Governance (ILSG) was born. We are touched by the support the Indigenous community and non-Indigenous allies have shown us in helping our vision come to life. As we continue to create the Indigenous self-governing body of our dreams, we have dedicated ourselves to doing this work in a good way.