James (Sákéj) Youngblood Henderson

James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson (born December 20, 1944)[1] is an international human rights lawyer, advocate, and educator.[2][3] He was born in Oklahoma to the Bear Clan of the Chickasaw Nation and also has heritage from the Cheyenne Nation.[2] Currently, he works in Canada as the Research Director of the Native Law Center and as a professor of Aboriginal law at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law.[4][5][6][7][8]

Professor James (Sákéj) Youngblood Henderson in January 2017.

Personal Life

He is a member of a family of scholars and intellectuals, including Mi'kmaq educator Marie Battiste and Canadian MP Jaime Battiste.[2]

Education

Henderson was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.[1] He experienced poverty while growing up, which prompted him to make ending poverty for all Indigenous peoples a life goal.[9] As an undergraduate student, he served as the vice-president of the American National Indian Youth Council, which prompted him to look at the Civil Rights Movement as a model for a potential Indigenous rights movement.[9] He attended Harvard Law School, where in 1974 he became one of the first Native Americans to be awarded the Juris Doctorate of Law.[10]

Work

In his first year out of Harvard Law School, Henderson completed his first major case, in which he reestablished for his father's clan several legal rights.[9] Since then, Henderson has worked to protect Indigenous heritage and culture through legal means, working with the Canadian government, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the United Nations, and other First Nation governments.[2] Additionally, he has taught law at Stanford University, Berkeley, Harvard University, and other North American law schools throughout his career.[9] Henderson was brought to Canada in 1978 when his wife, Marie Battiste, was asked by the Grand Captain of the Mi'kmaq people to set up a bilingual education program in Nova Scotia.[9] He then began working with the Mi'kmaw Nation on drafting their land titles and representing them in their legal proceedings.[9] Between 1978 and 1983, Henderson worked with the Mi'kmaq Nation and the Assembly of First Nations as a constitutional advisor, and continued working with these groups through the constitutional process in Canada through 1993.[2][4][9] His expertise in Indigenous legal issues lead Henderson to serve on the advisory board of the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, as a member of the Sectoral Commission on Culture, Communication, and Information of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO between 2000 and 2010, and as a member of the Experts Advisory Group on International Cultural Diversity.[2][4][10] Additionally, Henderson worked to protect Indigenous Nations' rights during the Kelowna Accord, and through the Four Directions Council, a United Nations Non-Governmental Organization.[4][9] Throughout his career, he has helped draft and author many legal documents and other works which protect Indigenous heritage, culture, and legal rights, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.[4] Furthermore, he has authored several books, articles, and other writings on Indigenous law.[4]

Awards and honors

Henderson has received several awards and honors for his proficiency in international law and his dedication to pursuing justice for Indigenous peoples, including an Indigenous People's Council award in 2005, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Award, for Law and Justice in 2006, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Carleton University in 2007.[4][11] In addition, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2013.[4]

Selected publications
  • Indian Statehood Reconsidered (1974)[12]
  • Tribal Administration of Natural Resource Development (1975) with Russel Lawrence Barsh[13]
  • The Road: Indian Tribes and Political Liberty (1982) with Russel Lawrence Barsh [14]
  • Mikmaq State Papers (1984) with Mik'maq Indians, Russel Lawrence Barsh, and Bernie Francis[15]
  • First Nations' Legal Inheritance (1991)[16]
  • The Míkmaw Concordat (1997)[17]
  • Aboriginal Tenure in the Constitution of Canada (2000) with Marjorie Lynne Benson and Isobel Findlay[18]
  • Aboriginal Jurisprudences Protects Aboriginal Heritages (2002)[19]
  • Treaty Rights in the Constitution of Canada (2007)[20]

Notes
  1. "Canadian Who's Who Biography - Mr. James (Sákéj) Youngblood HENDERSON B.A., J.D., LL.D. (Hon.), F.R.S.C." canadianwhoswho.ca. Canadian Who's Who Biography. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  2. Staff, Sage. "Lawyer receives prestigious award". Aboriginal Multimedia Society. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. Brass, Mervin (2 July 2004). "Starlight Tours". CBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. "James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson". Mi'kmaw Archives. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  5. Brown, DeNeen L. (23 November 2003). "Survivor exposes Saskatchewan police abuse of Indians". The Boston Globe. Globe Newspaper Company. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  6. Adam, Betty Ann (4 March 2015). "Anti-terrorism bill could violate rights, lawyers say". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  7. Pomedli, Michael (7 January 2015). "Living with Animals: Ojibwe Spirit Powers". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  8. Chwialkowska, Luiza (24 April 1999). "Attorney-general needed for aboriginals, expert says". National Post. Southam Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  9. Orthner, Carmen Pauls. "James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson: havard-trained lawyer prefers to listen". The Free Library. Windspeaker. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  10. "James Youngblood Henderson Sákéj". Fraser Institute. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  11. "Jean Teillet Awarded Indigenous Peoples' Council Designation". Metis Nation of Ontario. Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  12. Henderson, James Youngblood. "Indian Statehood Reconsidered". Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  13. Henderson, James Youngblood; Barsh, Russel L. (1975). Tribal Administration of Natural Resource Development. University of North Dakota School of Law.
  14. Barsh, Russel Lawrence; Henderson, James Youngblood (1982). The road : Indian tribes and political liberty. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520046366. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  15. Henderson, James Youngblood; Mik'maq Indians; Barsh, Russel L.; Francis, Bernie (1984). Mikmaq State Papers. Mikmaq Grand Council.
  16. Henderson, James Youngblood (1991). First Nations' Legal Inheritance. Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  17. Henderson, James (Sákéj) Youngblood (1997). The Míkmaw Concordat. Halifax, N.S.: Fernwood. ISBN 1895686806. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  18. Henderson, James (Sakej) Youngblood; Benson, Marjorie L.; Findlay, Isobel (2000). Aboriginal tenure in the Constitution of Canada. Scarborough, Ont.: Carswell. ISBN 0459239368. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  19. Henderson, James Youngblood (2002). Aboriginal Jurisprudences Protects Aboriginal Heritages. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  20. Henderson, James (Sʼakʼej) Youngblood (2007). Treaty Rights in the Constitution of Canada. Toronto: Thomson Carswell. ISBN 0779813227. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

Further reading
  1. "James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson". The Banff Center. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  2. "James [Sákéj] Youngblood Henderson". Native Law Center. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. "JAMES [SÁKÉJ] YOUNGBLOOD HENDERSON". The Native Science Academy. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
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