West Coast Environmental Law’s RELAW Program
The Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air and Water (RELAW) Program of West Coast Environmental Law began in 2016. Through RELAW projects, lawyers from West Coast work collaboratively with Indigenous nations to apply their own teachings and laws to an environmental issue. Guided by the Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU) Methodology, RELAW amplifies the stories and the wisdom of elders to support in developing written expressions of law and strategies for implementation and enforcement.
The LFFA-RELAW Team come to this work as legal allies:
From left to right: Leah, Jessica, Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie from Shxw'ōwhámel & Rayanna at Yale.
Leah Ballantyne, Mikisew Iskwew, is Nehithaw ota from Pukatawagan/Highrock in Treaty 6 Territory, northern Manitoba. She is a lawyer and the LFFA-RELAW Coordinator and lives in Sts’ailes territory at Harrison Hot Springs. Rayanna Seymour-Hourie is Anishinaabe from Anishinaabeg of Naongashiing, Treaty 3 Territory in Ontario. Both ‘relawyers’ of the RELAW Program at West Coast Environmental Law who live in Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-wautuh Territories in Vancouver.