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abstract: Connecting the three pieces of this dissertation is the foundation of our land or Mother Earth. Our relationship with our Mother is key to our indigenous legal tradition, as it both defines and is shaped by indigenous laws. These laws set forth the values and rules for relationships between humans, and between humans and the environment, including non-human beings. How we live in this environment, how we nurture our relationship with our Mother, and how we emulate our original instructions in treatment of one another are integral to our indigenous legal traditions. With this connection in mind, the three parts of this dissertation address the status of Pueblo women in colonial New Mexico, a study of attitudes toward preservation of traditional structures, and the ways in which we seek to protect our sacred places. The journal article will focus on the impact of Spanish colonial laws on pueblo people in New Mexico, and pueblo women in particular. I propose the usefulness of comparing the Pueblo chthonic legal tradition with that of the colonial Spanish civil legal tradition as an approach to a fuller understanding of the impact of Spanish colonial laws on Pueblo peoples. As pueblo peoples move into the future with a focus on core values, this comparison can assist in determining what traces of the Spanish colonial, often patriarchal, systems might continue to exist among our Pueblos, to our detriment. The book chapter looks at a survey on attitudes toward preservation of traditional Laguna housing in Paguate Village, at Laguna Pueblo, and its possible uses for community planning. This is done within the context of a community whose traditional housing has been interrupted by 30 years of uranium mining and decades of government (HUD) housing, both of which worked against Pueblo indigenous paradigms for how to live in the environment and how to live together. The policy briefing paper makes a case for using international human rights instruments and fora to protect sacred places where United States law and policy cannot provide the degree of protection that indigenous peoples seek. In all three pieces is a question of how we essentially reclaim the gift of our original relationship with Mother Earth. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2015

Ecological law is a legal paradigm that is emerging in response to the current ecological crisis. This thesis explores the main challenges and opportunities in existing laws, particularly in the context of mining, for a shift to this new paradigm. A synthesis of the main critiques, scientific and economic concepts, legal scholarship and proposals that contribute to the theory of ecological law is presented, along with a discussion of the relationship and potential synergies of ecological law with Indigenous legal traditions and with Green Legal Theory. An analytical tool to help improve the understanding of what a shift to ecological law would entail–a lens of ecological law–is proposed, building on ecological law scholarship. The lens of ecological law consists of three principles of ecological law: ecocentrism, ecological primacy and ecological justice. This lens is applied to three different legal approaches to mining in order to reflect on the implications for a shift to ecological law in this sector: El Salvador’s ban on metal mining; mineral extraction proposed in Ontario’s Ring of Fire; and mining in the context of the rights of Mother Earth and vivir bien recognized in Bolivian law. Conclusions on the obstacles and opportunities for a shift to ecological law in mining, and recommendations on the ecological law re-formation of mining and on further research are offered in closing. Ecological law promises to be an important part of building an ecologically just society.

En regard aux conclusions de différentes commissions d’enquête (Enquête nationale sur les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues et assassinées en 2014, Commission de vérité et réconciliation en 2015, Commission Viens en 2019), les blessures perpétrées par le régime colonial canadien aux Autochtones apparaissent impossibles à nier. En territoire anicinabe d’Abitibi, une réelle affirmation culturelle autochtone témoigne alors d’une prise de parole dans l’espace urbain. En lien avec l’histoire de la colonisation du territoire qui les a vus naître, ce mémoire analyse quatre réalisations environnementales publiques : Des pierres qui prient (Pésémapéo-Bordeleau 1997, Amos), Poésie en marche pour Sindy (Pésémapéo-Bordeleau 2017, Val-d’Or), Otipi (Papatè 2017, Val-d’Or) et Orignal (Boulanger, Binette, Happyjack et Kakekayash 2019, Val-d’Or). À travers les propos des artistes (Pascale-Josée Binette, Kigos Papatè et Virginia Pésémapéo-Bordeleau), de travailleuses culturelles impliquées dans les projets rencontré.e.s (Geneviève Béland, Carmelle Adam et Marianne Trudel), puis de penseur.e.s majoritairement autochtones, ces différentes œuvres sont réfléchies comme participant au mouvement autochtone de guérison entamé en Abitibi depuis plusieurs années, et s’opposant aux effets du colonialisme encore perceptibles dans les villes. Ces différentes manifestations culturelles proposent une façon d’être en relation à la nature dans l’espace urbain, plus près d’un rapport animiste qu'anthropocentriste. Pensant leur pratique artistique à partir de leurs cultures ancestrales, ces artistes autochtones contemporains lient leurs blessures à celles de la Terre-Mère et s’expriment ainsi sur les conséquences des développements coloniaux de ce territoire. Ces démarches environnementales autochtones anticoloniales en ces terres urbanisées visent ainsi à rétablir un équilibre. / In light of the conclusions of various commissions of inquiry (National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in 2014, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015, Viens Commission in 2019), the harm perpetrated by the Canadian colonial regime on Indigenous people is impossible to deny. In the Anicinabe territory of Abitibi, a genuine Indigenous cultural affirmation thus testifies to the fact that they are speaking out in the urban space. This dissertation analyzes four public environmental artworks, connecting them to the history of colonization of the territory where they emerged : Des pierres qui prient (Pésémapéo-Bordeleau 1997, Amos), Poésie en marche pour Sindy (Pésémapéo-Bordeleau 2017, Val-d'Or), Otipi (Papatè 2017, Val-d'Or) and Orignal (Boulanger, Binette, Happyjack and Kakekayash 2019, Val-d'Or). Through my encounters with the artists (Pascale-Josée Binette, Kigos Papatè and Virginia Pésémapéo-Bordeleau), as well as the cultural workers involved in the projects (Geneviève Béland, Carmelle Adam and Marianne Trudel), and building on theories of mostly Indigenous thinkers, these different works are reflected as participating in the Indigenous healing movement that is underway in Abitibi for several years, and as opposing the effects of colonialism that are still perceptible in the cities. These different cultural manifestations propose a way of relating to nature in the urban space closer to an animistic than anthropocentric relationship. Anchoring their artistic practice in their ancestrals cultures, these contemporary indigenous artists link their wounds to those of Mother Earth, hence expressing themselves on the consequences of colonial developments in these lands. These anti-colonial indigenous environmental approaches thus aim to restore a balance in urbanized lands.