Legal Theory

Wanekia (Kia) Dunn is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law. His research focus is on Indigenous and Aboriginal law, and intersections therein with constitutional law, property law, and the law of equity.  Kia wrote his LLM thesis “Cutting the Knot: Founding Canada and Restoring the Honour of the Crown” as an analysis of how to overcome the intractable knot that is the sui generis legal status of Indigenous peoples, and which holds Indigenous peoples precariously in a liminal space of legal exceptionalism.

Kia’s upcoming work seeks to explore pathways forward via innovations in land tenure within the space of declared Aboriginal title, as recognized in the Xeni Gwet’in of the Tsilhqot’in. His last few years of professional work have allowed him to learn from and work with several partner First Nations, including the Tsilhqot’in. This provided the understanding that it will be necessary for Canadians to expand the scope of what it can mean in law to have a relationship with lands and territories to enable substantive reconciliation to move forward.

The conceptual frameworks for recognizing lands and territories with a form of legal personhood akin to corporation are on the rise in Canada and internationally; they present distinct potential for manifesting Indigenous worldviews and lawful relations. The issue of standing is resolved when natural agency is understood to contain an inherent guardian and steward relation as between the lands and their First Peoples: a fundamental trust.  He returns to the Faculty of Law to more fully develop these conceptual tools so that they are available to facilitate self-governance.