In 2026, West Coast Environmental Law is proud to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the RELAW (Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air and Water) Program. Over the past decade, the RELAW Program has grown into a relationship network that strives for the revitalization of Indigenous laws.
To celebrate a decade of nation-led work, RELAW is sharing “10 years in 10 months” to showcase stories and milestones from our team members, co-learners and RELAW partners.
We wish to highlight the people, places, relationships and experiences that have shaped RELAW since its beginnings. Our 10th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the past ten years and reflect on the work that lies ahead.
A Reminder: Who is RELAW and what do we do?
RELAW is a unique program in BC, offering pro-bono legal support and training to Indigenous nations in a systematic, deliberative and community-driven approach for contemporary law-making grounded in their ancestral oral legal traditions. With 10 team members, RELAW is the largest program at West Coast Environmental Law.
The RELAW Program includes two branches with a diverse range of strategies grounded in Indigenous law:
- RELAW Projects: Learning Partnership Agreements with Indigenous nations and organizations with access to pro bono legal services that support them in Indigenous law-based strategies.
- Co-learning Program: A year-long co-learning program consisting of representatives and allies from Indigenous nations across the province and beyond, who are focused on approaches to researching, applying and enforcing Indigenous law in the area of environment or sometimes in other fields such as social services. ‘Co-learners’ are often nominated by their First Nation or the nation they work alongside.
RELAW Projects
Across BC, many nations are actively reclaiming and revitalizing their legal traditions – laws that have long governed relationships between people, lands, waters, and other living beings. These legal orders offer powerful guidance for addressing environmental challenges and supporting more sustainable and just systems of governance.
In partnership with nations, RELAW lawyers (RELAWyers) engage in community-led research through story sharing, to learn from and apply Indigenous legal traditions in environmental decision-making.
Our active partners are nations and Indigenous-led organizations working on a wide array of Indigenous law-based strategies – from engagement with knowledge holders on ancient stories, and education on the ground and on the water, to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) implementation and enforcement, Guardians work, fisheries governance and watershed management. There are nations who choose to do this important work with their people, visitors and residents on their territories, and/or with provincial and federal governments.
In all projects, this work nations are leading is diverse and innovative. RELAW also provides convening and ad hoc legal and strategic support to dozens of other nations and Indigenous-led organizations across BC and into the Yukon.
The RELAW Co-learning Program
With the leadership of RELAW’s Co-learning Manager, Katłıà Lafferty, the Co-learning Program is a year-long education journey focused on tools for researching, applying and enforcing Indigenous law with a different cohort each year. Our cohorts are on average 35 people, including the RELAW team and individuals and representatives from various nations and Indigenous-led organizations, who are nominated and willing to deepen their capacity for Indigenous law revitalization.
The Co-learning Program creates a space for participants to engage in questions about governance, responsibility and community decision-making through an Indigenous story lens. It supports individuals as they develop the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to carry forward their communities’ legal traditions in ways that reflect their own priorities and visions for the future.
Celebrating 10 Years – And Looking Ahead
A 10-year anniversary is an important milestone, but it is also a reminder that the work of Indigenous law revitalization and environmental justice is ongoing.
Over the coming months, our “10 Years in 10 Months” showcase will highlight stories from the RELAW Network – stories of learning, relationship-building and the many ways in which Indigenous law is being revitalized and applied to environmental governance.
Rayanna Seymour-Hourie, Staff Lawyer & RELAW program lead shares her vision for this showcase:
“I am super excited to reflect on the past 10 years and look forward to the next 10 years. We want to create space for our RELAW partners, past and present, and for our RELAW Cohorts, past and present, to share a bit of how they are applying their legal traditions to their Nations’ and communities’ ongoing work. I hope this will be reflective in the next 10 months online, and in our in-person 10-year anniversary gathering this winter. Indigenous law-based work is so expansive and diverse, because our laws as First Nations peoples reflect our unique landscapes, languages and circumstances in which we originate, so I know that the strategies and approaches reflect this diversity as well.”
As we celebrate this milestone, we extend our gratitude to everyone who has been part of the RELAW journey over the past decade – participants, Indigenous partners, supporters, staff, lawyers and teachers of the program.
Top photo: The RELAW team (2016) / Bottom photo: The RELAW team pictured in Brew Creek Centre, Whistler BC (2024)