Additional information
by John Borrows (Editor), Dawn Hoogeveen (Editor), Max Ritts (Editor)
Named after the Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs (RAVEN) nonprofit organization, The RAVEN Essays is an anthology that celebrates a decade of prize-winning student essays. Since 2012, RAVEN has awarded an annual essay prize to honour students who champion the vital importance of Indigenous rights and self-determination, both in Canada and globally. The essays featured in this collection highlight exceptional student work while reflecting on the evolving relationship between Indigenous politics and academia. From issues like fishing rights and the Trans Mountain Pipeline to challenges of sexism and conservation policy, these essays capture a transformative period in Indigenous struggles, offering insights that resonate far beyond the Canadian settler state.
The anthology also includes contributions from prominent scholars such as Glen Coulthard, Dara Culhane, Michael Fabris, Sarah Hunt, and Heather Dorries. Five complementary essays explore various aspects of structural change, institutional constraints, and broader commitments to Indigenous knowledge within university settings. Aimed at readers in Indigenous law, environmental studies, anthropology, and geography, The RAVEN Essays is a book created by students for students, and by academics for the academy.
Together, the contributors reflect on the powerful formation and enactment of Indigenous law, environmental stewardship, place-based knowledge, pedagogy, and literacy - both within the academy and in the broader community, across land, water, and culture.
Author Biography
John Borrows is a professor and the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.
Dawn Hoogeveen is a research associate in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Max Ritts is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University.
Susan Smitten is an award-winning filmmaker and writer; she is retired from her role as the executive director of RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs).
