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UCLA's Indigenous Peoples Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance

About Us: The Philosophy of the Journal

Current Editorial Collective

Volume 1, Issue 1 (2004)

Volume 2, Issue 1 (2005)

Volume 3, Issue 1 (2007)

Volume 4, Issue 1 (2008)

Volume 5, Issue 1 (2008)

A look at our Contributors

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About Us: The Philosophy of the Journal

From the Journal's Founders:   

    The Indigenous Peoples' Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance has its origins in a conversation among students, like-minded in our aspiration to create a more humane space within the legal world we are all immersed in as law students.  The first conversation was partially about imagining a space where indigenous people(s) and those committed to Indigenous rights could articulate legal claims, critique legal systems, and speak on legal issues relevant to their communities.

    The journey from that first conversation nearly two years ago to the many examples  of the resilience and beauty of the human spirit outlined in the articles, poems, and art here in our inaugural issue has indeed been a long one.  It is through hard work, passion, and tremendous dedication of a small group of students -- united by our desire to forge a new space for Indigenous people(s) within legal scholarship -- that the publication of this journal has been made possible.  We would like to extend our deepest gratitude and respect to all of the individuals who have helped to make this moment a reality.  Each person who contributed to this journal in some way, either through their work on its creation, or through the submission of their thoughts, pains, fears, and hopes, is also a testament to the beauty of the human spirit.

    It is our hope that this Journal will serve as a place for Indigenous communities to engage in dialogue with one another about their own strategies for reaffirming and renewing their traditional legal systems.  In Constructing an Analytical Model of Indigenous Sovereign Action, Michele Companion defines sovereignty as an "opportunity" for Indigenous peoples to "participate in the process of reframing power relations." Thus, by engaging in these conversations with each other, Indigenous people are actively "doing" sovereignty.

    The Journal is also about dismantling and then reframing the dialogue between Indigenous people(s) and the "interloper" nations and their legal representatives.  As long as the interloper retains complete control over the rules, the critique, and the discourse of law, indigenous peoples will be forced to negotiate legal systems that deny their realities as they continue to fight for the protection of their sacred and traditional lands, their cultural resources and intellectual properties, and sometimes even their very lives.  For, as Duane Champagne notes in Renewing Tribal Governments, "When the U.S. Founding Fathers proposed the U.S. Constitution, they made culturally specific assumptions about human nature, and about the place and role of man in the universe...." If peoples from multiple and varied backgrounds are ever going to be able to live together harmoniously, one culturally specific world view must not be allowed to dominate over all others.

    The Journal includes multiple forms of expression, including non-traditional articles, poetry, and visual art.  Our decision to reach beyond the confines of the discourse generally presented in law journals and reviews is rooted in two ideas.  First, we believe that before the law of the interloper system can effectively recognize the claims Indigenous peoples bring before the courts that uphold that system, the boundaries of acceptable commentary in the mainstream legal world must be broadened.  Integrating written and visual art into this journal is a way to push these boundaries by refusing to accept the idea that there is only one way to talk about law.  As R. Hōkūlei Lindsey notes in Reclaiming Hawai'i, "Frequently the stories, songs, dances, designs, and knowledge reference the histories, rituals, cultural concepts, morality, and integrity of the particular peoples."

    Second, art moves people in ways that traditional academic discourse cannot.  For centuries, Indigenous storytellers, poets, musicians, dancers, and writers have deconstructed the interloper's law (by voicing the frustrations of their people) and have helped to create and maintain their own law (by relaying history and traditional knowledge).  It is our intention to bring these voices to the center of legal discourse in order to restore what has been removed from traditional legal scholarship.  Lake Nadera Shaloub-Kevorkian in The Hidden Casualties of War, we too strive to "decanonize the silence" imposed on Indigenous communities by legitimizing alternative forms of discourse.

    The use of the word "resistance" in our title is a testament to the power of the knowledge(s) held by our ancestors and our Elders today.  It is the strength of these world views and their continuing relevance to our lives today that have enabled Indigenous stories, traditions, and ways of being survive in spite of brutal policies designed specifically to result in the destruction of our cultures and our lives.  As Abby Abinanti writes in A Letter to Justice O'Connor,  "At every step of the way ... the tribes resisted.  Not dropping dead was resistance that demanded a response."  We mean, by the use of this word, to honor our ancestors and continue their tradition of resistance by keeping the memory of their courage, strength, and survival alive in the title of the Journal.

    --- From the Introduction to Volume I.

Volume 1, Issue 1 (2004)

Link to Entire Volume (26,714 KB!)

Links to Individual Features:

Editorial Staff for this Volume:

Volume 2, Issue 1 (2005)

Link to Entire Volume (15,817 KB!)

Links to Individual Features:

Editorial Staff for this Volume:

Volume 3, Issue 1 (2007)

To be Published Late Fall 2007

Slated Features:

Editorial Staff for this Volume:

Volume 4, Issue 1 (2008)

To be Published Late Spring 2008

Slated Features:

Editorial Staff for this Volume:

Contact Us for Submissions or Subscriptions at:

Indigenous Peoples' Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance

Attn: IPJLCR Business Manager

UCLA School of Law

Box 951476

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476

(310) 267-5889 (Office)

(310) 267-2050 (UCLA Student Fax)

ipjlcr@lawnet.ucla.edu

Ahniin  (Anishinabe/Ojibwe)

O-si-yo (Cherokee)

Haku (Chumash)

Aloha (Hawai'ian)

Ko'la (Lakota)

Supa (Maasai)

Tena koutou (Maori)

A:neE na:p (Menominee)

Yá'át'ééh (Navajo/Dine)

Hau (Pottowatomi/ Badowadomi)

Buorre beaivi (Sami)

Taiguey (Taino)

Malo e lelei (Tonga)

Chamai (Yup'ik)