While the transformation of the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law building is well underway, the Indigenous Legal Studies and Elder-in-Residence programs at Windsor Law will return to Tradition, Culture, and Respect by honouring the Indigenous ancestors, land, and peoples though a dedication ceremony. The private event will take place at the law building site on Monday, Oct. 25.

“By acknowledging that Windsor Law and the University of Windsor sit on the territory of the Anishinaabe people of the Three Fires Confederacy — the Odawa, the Ojibwe, and the Potawatomi — we also acknowledge the ancestors who were here before us and honour them and their spirits,” says Indigenous legal studies co-ordinator Michelle Nahdee.

The dedication ceremony will be led by Windsor Law’s elder in residence, Myrna Kicknosway, who will restore the protocols of the Original Instructions given to the Anishnaabe people by respecting the ancestors of this territory, as well for future generations. The hope is to assist the community in returning to the ways of the Seven Grandfather Teachings: Love, Truth, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, and Humility.

“This ceremonial process puts the steps back in order,” says Kicknosway. “Almost like repatriation, all colours of man to live respectfully with one another.”

To learn more about the law school transformation, visit the Transforming Windsor Law website.