Indigenous Awareness Weeks 2021

Mr. Eddie Cubillo is an Aboriginal man with strong family links in both the urban and rural areas throughout the Northern Territory. His is a descendant of the Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrente peoples. Mr. Cubillo is Associate Dean (Indigenous Programs) University of Melbourne, Australia.

He obtained a Bachelor of Laws Degree and in was admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. He is currently completing a PhD with the University of Technology of Sydney and is working part-time at the University of Melbourne’s Law School as a Senior Fellow.

In 2002 he was elected to the ATSIC Yilli Rreung Regional Council, and subsequently became the Chair. Mr. Cubillo has also been a former Chair of both the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) and the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.

In 2010 Mr. Cubillo was appointed the Anti - Discrimination Commissioner of the Northern Territory. Mr. Cubillo then took on the role of Executive Officer with National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS). As the Executive Officer he championed the rights of Indigenous Australians in a legal context. In 2015 he was named the National Indigenous Legal Professional of the year and in 2016 attended Geneva on a UN Indigenous fellowship. In 2017 he then took up an opportunity to work on the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory as the Director of Community Engagement.

In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family.

Sheryl Lightfoot, PhD is Anishinaabe, a citizen of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe. She is the North American Representative to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics and Associate Professor in Political Science, the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Indigenous Studies. She is also Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs and is leading the implementation of the 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan across UBC.

As one of the world’s experts in global Indigenous politics, Sheryl’s research specializes in complex questions of Indigenous peoples’ rights and how those rights are being claimed and negotiated. Her work explores both practical and theoretical aspects of implementation of Indigenous rights globally as well as in domestic contexts. She is the author of Global Indigenous Politics: A Subtle Revolution as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.

She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota as well as a master’s degree from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Prior to her academic career, she had fifteen years’ volunteer and contract experience with a number of American Indian tribes and community-based organizations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including nine years as Chair of the Board of the American Indian Policy Center, a research and advocacy group.

As a member of the UN Expert Mechanism Sheryl provides the Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Mechanism also assists Member States in achieving the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She is the first Indigenous woman from Canada to be appointed to this prestigious position.

Claire is from Ngati Whakaue, Tuwharetoa, Nga Puhi and Tainui.

Claire’s primary area of research is in Indigenous peoples’ rights in international and constitutional law, often with a comparative focus. Claire is working on articles on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the relationship between tikanga Māori and the state legal system, tensions between human rights and Indigenous peoples' rights and on the legitimacy of Indigenous peoples' rights under international law, which will be published as a book by Cambridge University Press. Claire is also working on a number of collaborative research projects including on Indigenous peoples' self-determination and the philosophical foundations of Indigenous law. and is a member of the International Law Association's Committee on Indigenous peoples' rights. Claire was awarded a Royal Society Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2017:

Claire has typically combined her academic research and teaching with advocacy for the rights of Indigenous peoples at the domestic and international levels and is currently a trustee on the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. In 2016 - 2017 Claire was appointed by the President of the United Nations General Assembly to advise him on enhancing Indigenous peoples' participation in the United Nations. From 2010-2013 Claire worked for the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section, focusing on the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Claire is currently the director of the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law.

June L. Lorenzo, PhD. Laguna Pueblo/Navajo (Diné), is an attorney and consultant. Her law practice has included serving as attorney for Native nations, US Senate and US House of Representative committees; the US Department of Justice (voting rights litigation), in land claims litigation, and in human rights advocacy for Indigenous Peoples before the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Currently she serves as a Judge at Zia Pueblo, and practices law in tribal and state courts in New Mexico. She remains engaged in projects at Laguna Pueblo, including advocacy on uranium legacy issues, protection of sacred sites, and protection of cultural patrimony. She holds a JD from Cornell Law School and a PhD in Justice Studies from Arizona State University.

Romeo Saganash was the Member of Parliament for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou from 2011-2019.

Romeo's story is not a typical story: values from the Eeyou Cree, a childhood spent in the forests of Northern Quebec, a survivor of Residential School, hard work and education to become the first Indigenous Lawyer from the Université du Québec a Montréal law school, and a lifetime working to uphold human rights.

His father was a hunter from the Broadback forest of central Quebec and his mother is the inspiration and foundation for her children and her community. Romeo was born on the shores of a lake in his parents' tent because his parents lived a traditional lifestyle; the only language he heard and spoke for the first seven years of his life was Cree.

After he finished residential school, Romeo was asked by his Chief to attend a conference on the 10th anniversary of the signing of the first modern treaty in Canada: the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. It was there that his love for the law began.

His accomplishments are many: he was one of the principal authors of La Paix des Braves - a landmark agreement between the James Bay Cree and the Government of Quebec - and he has been a key negotiator for many national and international initiatives, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Romeo founded the Cree Nation Youth Council in 1985, served as Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Cree for a number of years. A passionate environmentalist, Romeo served as vice-chair of the Cree Regional Authority and Chair of the James Bay Advisory Committee on the Environment. His work in the economic sector with Creeco Inc. and the Eeyou Co. showed his understanding of how to balance our duty as stewards of the land with sustainable economic growth.

Romeo has a son and two daughters and two grandchildren.