Party and Table Assignments

Jessica Labranche, BCL/LLB'12, is a Crane Clan Anishinaabe Kwe and citizen of Michipicoten First Nation; a Robinson-Superior Treaty signatory. She was born and raised in her traditional territory located on the north-eastern shores of Lake Superior.  Jessica is the Principal at Black Feather Law, a Toronto based law firm. Her practice focuses on supporting Indigenous governments by providing legal advice on strategies aimed at affirming self-government, economic independence, territorial stewardship, and cultural sovereignty. Jessica has worked with Indigenous governments in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Prior to launching her own practice, Jessica worked with firms in Toronto and Montreal who specialized in Aboriginal law. Her work there focused on modern treaty implementation and litigation involving consultation and accommodation matters, land entitlement issues, and Aboriginal and treaty rights, including the Crowns’ treaty obligations under pre-confederation, post-confederation and modern treaties.

Dr. Kahente Horn-Miller (Kahente means “she walks ahead”) (Kanien:keha’ka/Mohawk) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Indigenous Research, Culture, Language and Education at Carleton University. Her performances, governance work and community-based research involve interpreting Haudenosaunee culture and bringing new life to old traditions. It is the fruit of her endeavors as a Mohawk, an educator, and a mother that she brings into her interactions with Onkwehonwe (original peoples) and the academic community. Academics for her is not only about theorizing the issues that Indigenous peoples face as a way to find solutions; it is also about putting these theories in to practice. It is also through writing, research, performances and teaching that she challenges others to learn about Indigenous cultures and about themselves as human beings, which in the long term fosters relationships between Indigenous and non-native peoples that will go beyond the written word, the classroom and the research setting to reconnect us to the realities of reinvigorating Indigenous traditions in the modern world.

Catherine Fagan, BCL/LLB'06, is a member of the Southern Inuit community of NunatuKavut in Labrador. A partner at Arbutus Law Group LLP with exclusively Aboriginal clients, she practices in the areas of Aboriginal law, constitutional law and environmental law and has particular experience in self-governance agreements, the creation of parks and protected areas, and other land and environmental matters. Before joining Arbutus, Catherine worked for over a decade of experience with a large Canadian firm. She has also volunteered for many years with Lawyers Without Borders Canada where she promoted access to justice for Indigenous communities in Colombia and prepared best practice guides for lawyers involved in strategic human rights litigation in various Caribbean nations. She previously worked with the United Nations Secretariat for the Convention on Biodiversity, as well as the Maori Waikato-Tainui Tribal Council in New Zealand. 

Nicholas Dodd, BCL/LLB'09, is a lawyer at Dionne Schulze. He has worked on cases involving the possession of reserve lands, federal and provincial environmental assessments, Aboriginal rights, the Indian Act tax exemption as well as many other areas of the Indian Act, administrative law and general private law. Nicholas has also worked with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic in Ottawa, and CKUT radio in Montreal.