Canada AG: American, Canadian tribes share concerns

Posted by Arlyssa Becenti | Aug 2, 2018 | Community |

WINDOW ROCK

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Jody Wilson-Raybould, minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, right, is greeted by Navajo Nation Supreme Court Chief Justice JoAnn Bitsilly Jayne, pink shirt, and Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch July 24 in Window Rock.

It was the meeting of two great legal minds when Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch met the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, the honorable Jody Wilson-Raybould, when both women were being profiled by Harvard Law School for International Women’s Day.

In March, Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation, was the keynote speaker at the Women’s Day event and Branch, a Harvard alumna, was attending. Once Branch talked with the first First Nation’s attorney general, she extended an invitation to visit. “At the time I invited her not knowing if she would be able to make it,” said Branch. “But here we are now. We are honored to have her here and to have the opportunity to share Navajo culture and Navajo governance and the Navajo legal framework with her.”

On Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould made her visit to the Nation where she was met by enthusiastic leaders. Branch described the visit as a meet-and-greet, as well as allowing Wilson-Raybould to become acquainted with Navajo government.

The former assembly chief of First Nations, Wilson-Raybould has an impressive resume, which includes provincial crown prosecutor in Vancouver. She later served as an advisor at the BC Treaty Commission, a body established to oversee treaty negotiations between First Nations and the Crown.