Snuw'uyulh: fostering an understanding of the Hul'qumi'num legal tradition

dc.contributor.authorMorales, Sarah Noel
dc.contributor.supervisorBorrows, John
dc.contributor.supervisorTully, James
dc.date.accessioned2015-04-30T22:48:40Z
dc.date.available2015-04-30T22:48:40Z
dc.date.copyright2014en_US
dc.date.issued2015-04-30
dc.degree.departmentFaculty of Lawen_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_US
dc.description.abstractOne cannot begin to understand the nature of Hul’qmi’num legal tradition without first acknowledging and understanding the relationship between culture and law. The Coast Salish people have a vibrant culture, influenced heavily by the nature of their relationships with their ancestors, their kin and their lands. These relationships permeate their legal tradition. Influencing not only regulatory aspects of law, but also dispute resolution processes. Trying to understand and appreciate this tradition outside of this worldview would be detrimental to the tradition itself, as I believe it would result in a transformation of the laws and practices. In thinking about the relationship between law and culture, this research has identified two fundamental categories of law within the Hul’qumi’num legal tradition: 1) snuw’uyulh and 2) family laws. Snuw’uyulh refers to a condition generated by the application of seven teachings: 1) Sts’lhnuts’amat (“Kinship/Family”); 2) Si’emstuhw (“Respect”); 3) Nu stl’I ch (“Love”); 4) Hw’uywulh (“Sharing/Support”); 5) Sh-tiiwun (“Responsibility”); 6) Thu’it (“Trust”); and 7) Mel’qt (“Forgiveness”). Accordingly, universal teachings seek to foster harmony, peacefulness, solidarity and kinship between all living beings and nature in the world. In a sense, snuw’uyulh is a state or condition and Hul’qumi’num legal tradition encompasses all the animating norms, customs and traditions that produce or maintain that state. As a result, Hul’qumi’num law functions as the device that produces or maintains the state of snuw’uyulh. There is another fundamental category of law present within the Hul’qumi’num world – family laws. Family laws encompass the norms, customs and traditions, or customary laws, which produce or maintain the state of snuw’uyulh. Law is a practice – an activity. Arguably, much of the practice of law takes places in the form of regulation and conflict and dispute resolution. Similar to how law cannot be separate from its surrounding culture, nor can the processes developed to resolve conflicts in the law. Since time immemorial the Hul’qumi’num Mustimuhw have utilized processes and practices to resolve conflicts and disputes both within their communities and with other communities in the Coast Salish world. Although the processes and practices have varied over time, it is possible to identify several inherent standards of conflict resolution which the Hul’qumi’num people continue to utilize in resolving their disputes.en_US
dc.description.proquestemailSarah.Morales@uottawa.caen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationJ. Borrows & S. Morales “Challenge, Change and Development in Aboriginal Communities” in Joseph Magnet and Dwight Dorey, eds., Legal Aspects of Aboriginal Business Development (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2005).en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationS. Morales & C. Simon, “Métis Crossing: A Case Study in Economic Development” in C. Voyageur, L. Brearley and B. Calliou eds, “Restoring Indigenous Leadership: Wise Practices in Community Development” (Banff, Alberta: Banff Centre Press, 2014).en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationLynda M Collins and Sarah Morales, “Aboriginal Environmental Rights in Tort” (2014) Journal of Environmental Law and Practice (forthcoming)en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationTransformation Stories: A Legal History Reflected in Landscape (UBC Law Review, submitted and under consideration) (62 pages)en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationS. Morales, “A Glass Half Empty: Drinking Water Quality in First Nations Communities” in Jerry White et.al. eds., Aboriginal Policy Research: Setting the Agenda for Change, Vol. 3 (Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing Inc., 2007)en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationS. Morales, Book Review of Two Houses Half Buried in Sand: Oral traditions of the Hul’q’umi’num’ Coast Salish of Kuper Island and Vancouver Island by C. Arnett, ed., B.C. Studies, (Winter 2008/09: 133-134).en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/6106
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectIndigenousen_US
dc.subjectCoast Salishen_US
dc.subjectlawen_US
dc.subjectlegal pluralismen_US
dc.titleSnuw'uyulh: fostering an understanding of the Hul'qumi'num legal traditionen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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