About the Kawaskimhon Moot
The Kawaskimhon Moot was first held as the University of Toronto in 1994 and welcomes students from nearly every law faculty across Canada each year. Kawaskimhon a word of Cree origin roughly translated to “speaking with knowledge” – is a consensus-based, non-adversarial moot that incorporates Indigenous legal traditions alongside federal, provincial and international law. There are no winners or losers. Instead, mooters participate in roundtable negotiations on a particular topic in Indigenous law, representing their assigned party.
There are no competitive awards, but the moot is invaluable in giving Indigenous students and students interested in Aboriginal Law an opportunity to forge bonds with each other and deepen their understanding of Indigenous legal issues and Aboriginal law.
The moot takes place over two days. It is hosted by a different law school each year. Teams may represent a variety of parties including (depending on the nature of the problem) specific First Nations, Band Councils, “traditional” chiefs’ organizations, the Assembly of First Nations, federal government agencies, provincial government agencies, labour unions, human rights groups, and non-Aboriginal business or community groups.
- The moot is hosted by a different law school annually, and held at the host law school in March.
- This year the moot is being hosted by Thompson Rivers, and will be held in Kamloops, BC.
- The uOttawa Common Law team is usually comprised up of four negotiators who are then placed into two teams of two, consisting of an English team and a Bilingual team.
- The moot will count as your January term course, and as such team members are required to be available for regular team meetings at a day and time that will be determined by the coach.
PLEASE SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:
- Your current CV
- Cover Letter outlining why you would link to participate in this moot and what makes you a strong candidate. State which team for which you would like to be considered (Bilingual or English).
- Unofficial transcripts
- Write a Statement of Reconciliation
Send your applications to Tasha Simon tsimon@uottawa.ca before Sunday, October 29, 2023 before 4pm.