Queering Indigenous Legal Studies

IntroductionI. Interdisciplinary conversationsII. Examining existing paths1. Putting the "pieces hack in place "2. Power and interpretation3. Using Indigenous lews to challenge oppressionIII. Challenges of queer ing Indigenous legal studiesIV. Preliminary propositions: queering Indigenous legal studiesConclusionIntroductionWhen reflecting on Indigenous studies, Chris Finley argues that while gender analysis has somewhat made its way into the field, sexuality is especially under-discussed and silenced and she argues for the importance of queering indigenous studies.1 Finley's analysis is important and there is a need to expand this conversation to explicitly address Indigenous laws and to queer Indigenous legal studies. It Is necessary to consider Indigenous laws (Indigenous peoples' own legal orders)2 because they are a central aspect of Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty.3 Indigenous legal studies includes analyses of Indigenous laws themselves, but also steps back and examines how Indigenous laws are engaged in academia-through theories, research, and pedagogy.4It is all too common in academic (and non-academic) discussions about Indigenous law that, gender is under-discussed.5 Sexuality (sexual orientation, preferences, and divergent sexual practices across gender and sex) is typically absent and there is very little discussion about 2LGBTQ social and legal issues as they relate to Indigenous laws.6 Furthermore, few have discussed how heterononnative oppression can be both perpetuated through, but also challenged by, Indigenous laws. Indigenous legal education is an important site for engaging critical discussions about sexuality and power, and there is a need to consider the following questions: What would it look like to queer Indigenous legal studies? What might this mean? What might this queering entail? Does Indigenous legal studies need to be queered? What are the implications of doing so? What are the implications of not doing so? These questions are not central in the field and I argue that queering Indigenous legal studies is necessary and urgent for inclusive legal practice and education. The overwhelming lack of discussion about sexuality and Indigenous laws needs to be addressed. Examining this problem through a queer framework interrogates how ideas about sex, gender, sexuality, and power are operating in and through. Indigenous law and legal education.This paper proceeds in four parts. First, I argue that, it is important to bring various perspectives together to foster this conversation about queering. Second, I do not assert that no one writes about sexuality and Indigenous laws; rather the problem is that work in this area is scarce, and what has been produced is infrequently taken, up in. the field to think more broadly about the politics of queering. I focus on three pieces (by Andrew Gilden, Jennifer Denetdale, and Val Napoleon) to consider the contributions of their work on 2LBGTQ issues in Indigenous law for queering Indigenous legal studies.7 Third, I contend that their common effort to take sexuality and Indigenous laws seriously has had little traction and I consider what some of the challenges are for centring sexuality in Indigenous legal studies. Lastly, I present preliminary propositions for queering Indigenous legal studies. The focus of my argument is to demonstrate the need for queering Indigenous legal studies and a framework for how to do this is only introductorily engaged here."Queer" is used in different ways. It is sometimes used to speak generally to no.n~normati.ve politics. I use "queer" in this article to focus on. sex, gender, and sexuality, given my concerns noted above, although I do at times also use queer to unsettle that which is normative.......for example, to trouble my own social location as a white, heterosexual woman writing in the area of Indigenous law. In drawing on the theories below, I aim to denaturalize the ways that I (and others) experience privilege and oppression. …