Dr. Leo Baskatawang

Dr. Leo Baskatawang is an Anishinaabe scholar from Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation in Treaty #3 territory. In 2021, Leo graduated with a PhD in Native Studies from the University of Manitoba. His SSHRC funded doctoral dissertation “Kinamaadiwin Inaakonigewin: A Path to Reconciliation and Anishinaabe Cultural Resurgence” reflects on the development of the Treaty #3 Anishinaabe education law as it is known in the oral tradition, into a written form of law. This work will be published as a book by the University of Manitoba Press, under the title Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law. The book is scheduled for release in Spring 2023.

Prior to joining the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law at Robson Hall, Dr. Baskatawang held an appointment in the Law and Society Program at York University, where he taught the courses “Indigenous Peoples and Law” and “Social Justice and Law”. Previous to that, Dr. Baskatawang has also taught online courses for the Department of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Beginning in Fall 2022, Dr. Baskatawang will be teaching “Indigenous Methodologies and Perspectives” with Marc Kruse and Daniel Diamond, as well as “Introduction to Law and Society”. In the Winter Term, Dr. Baskatawang will be teaching “Oral History, Indigenous Peoples and the Law”.

Dr. Baskatawang’s primary research interests include topics such as: the processes of colonization, reconciliation, and decolonization; social justice; the history of Indigenous peoples (with particular attention to the Anishinaabe); Indigenous law and Canadian policy; treaty interpretation and implementation; Indigenous education; Indigenous resistance and activism; as well as Indigenous literature, art, and representation.