Tracey Lindberg

Tracey Lindberg is a writer, scholar, lawyer and Indigenous Rights activist from the Kelly Lake Cree Nation in British Columbia. She is Cree-Métis and a citizen of the As'in'i'wa'chi Ni'yaw Nation, Rocky Mountain Cree.

She won the Governor General's Gold Medal with her dissertation, Critical Indigenous Legal Theory, and her academic work earned her a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Legal Orders and Laws. Lindberg works with elders and spiritual leaders in Indigenous communities to record and translateIndigenous law. She taught law at Athabasca University and the University of Ottawa before moving to the University of Victoria.

Her debut novel, Birdie, was published in 2015 and is a national best-seller. It presents the path of healing through the main character, Bernice Meetos, a Cree woman who is trying to reconcile with her tragic past. Reviewers have noted how Birdie demonstrates the effects of colonization and transgenerational trauma on Indigenous families and speaks to a universal story of self-discovery. The novel was selected for the 2016 edition of Canada Reads, where it was defended by entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip. The novel was also a finalist for the Alberta Literary Award for Fiction and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award.

Lindberg also performs as a blues singer.

Education

Lindberg received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan, Master of Laws from Harvard University, and PhD in law from the University of Ottawa. She was the first Indigenous woman in Canada to complete her graduate law degree at Harvard University. She is also the first Indigenous woman to receive a doctorate in law from a Canadian university.

Career

Teaching

In 1997, Lindberg was hired to teach criminal justice at Athabasca University in Alberta. In 2001, she helped to establish its Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research and became Director of Indigenous Education. In 2010 she became Athabasca's fourth Canada Research Chair. Her focus was on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Legal Orders and Laws. At this point she began to split her time between Athabasca University and the University of Ottawa and transferred to UOttawa full-time in 2016.

Lindberg was a professor of Indigenous law and government at the University of Ottawa. Within the Faculty of Law at UOttawa, the Common Law Section offered an Indigenous Law Program for the first time in September 2016. She also taught at the Native Law Program and has written and taught courses about Indigenous business law, Indigenous women, and dispute resolution.

Lindberg now teaches at the University of Victoria. Her areas of research include traditional Cree law, Indigenous law and literature, and Indigenous legal theory.

Reconciliation

Much of Lindberg's academic work deals with the issue of reconciliation for Indigenous communities with Canada. In 2017, Lindberg appeared at the Indigenous Writers' Gathering, which facilitates reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through the sharing of Indigenous literature. It was part of the IndigenousReads campaign and encompassed discussions with many Indigenous authors who shared their perspectives on overcoming adversity and building resistance.

Literary work

Lindberg's literary works demonstrate the importance of Indigenous tradition, resiliency, and narratives to empower marginalized populations. Lindberg's written work includes essays and dissertations on Indigenous governance, Indigenous feminism, and traditional Indigenous education. She received a Governor General's Academic Gold Medal in 2007. She is the co-author of the 2012 academic text Discovering Indigenous Lands: The Doctrine of Discovery in the English Colonies with Larissa Behrendt, Robert J. Miller, and Jacinta Ruru.

Activism

Lindberg's social and political activism in Indigenous law, governance, education, and reconciliation, particularly with Indigenous women, got her the position as an associate professor in the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research.

In 2018, she spoke at the first Indigenous-led summit that focused on building solutions and promoting healing from the effects of the Indian Act. The summit, determiNATION: Moving Beyond the Indian Act brought together Indigenous Elders, spiritual leaders, youth, scholars, and the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations to speak to issues impacting Indigenous communities.

Lindberg has given presentations on the strength of survivors of abuse that also come up in her book Birdie. She advocates for the narratives of Indigenous peoples to be recognized, especially for Indigenous women and their cultural identities. Her work includes advocating on behalf of Indigenous youth, where she focuses on empowerment and teaching the importance of Indigenous language and storytelling.

Lindberg's political activism focuses on the complexities of reconciliation for Indigenous people. In 2017, Lindberg delivered a speech called (W)rec(k)-onciliation: Indigenous Lands and Peoples' Respect, Reciprocity and Relationships. It was presented at Vancouver Island University's second annual event for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation. Her approach to reconciliation focuses on a complex process with many factors involved, rather than a linear process.

Indigenous women's legal advocacy

Lindberg advocates for Indigenous women, due to the fact that many narratives about Indigenous women have been used to impair their agency, knowledge, and present them in destructive ways. She targets this issue by writing counter-narratives to reclaim socio-cultural stories in regard to Indigenous women's history. Lindberg's legal advocacy for Indigenous women provides an anti-colonial approach to legal assistance and proper representation.