Bachelor of Arts Honours (Law)
Isabelle Crew came to Carleton as a first-year student with a thought of attending law school. Then she read a paper about the legal rights of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a First Nation that stretches from Southern Ontario to northern Pennsylvania. As with the start of many future research projects, her curiosity was piqued.
What intrigued you about the story of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy?
I found it fascinating. It’s one of the oldest continuous constitutional systems in the world and it inspired the writers of the U.S. Constitution. But there’s this assumption that it lacks modernity—that it’s traditional, in a pejorative sense.
In my third year, I took a course in aboriginal law and I wrote a paper in which I analyzed its claim to sovereignty and self-determination under international law. I also published it in the Carleton University Journal of Legal Studies. Essentially, I demonstrate that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy meets the legal definition of a sovereign nation.
Why is that significant?
Dismissing their claim of sovereignty is not a legal argument, but more of an imperialistic misunderstanding of the facts. What I’m trying to demonstrate is that we can’t rely on a legal argument to explain the discrimination and the lack of rights granted to these communities. If we’re founded on the rule of law, why isn’t it being applied equitably?
How did your experience at Carleton support your interest in this field?
I was able to devote almost the entirety of my fourth year to this issue. My favourite class was a tutorial in law I took with Professor Betina Kuzmarov in which we focused on the evolution of sovereignty and selfdetermination. We had deep conversations about topics and readings that we both really cared about and were incredibly engaged with.
Experiences like that really shaped who I am in an academic capacity and pushed me intellectually to places I didn’t even know I could reach. Really, I think that’s the whole point of a university education.
What happens next in your journey?
I’ll be attending law school at Queen’s University, where I will be able to continue this research. It’s all part of a new wave of international human rights law and it’s a really exciting area to be in right now.
Friday, September 9, 2016 in Department of Law and Legal Studies, FPA Voices, Justice, People
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