Jean Teillet
Canadian lawyer and author of Métis descent
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Jean Teillet is a Canadian retired lawyer and author of Métis descent. Her legal work has specialised in Métis and First Nations land rights in Canada.
Jean Teillet | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953[1] St Vital, Winnipeg, Canada[2] |
| Alma mater | York University, University of Toronto |
| Occupations | Lawyer, author |
| Relatives | Louis Riel (great-granduncle), Roger Teillet (uncle) |
Teillet is Counsel Emeritus at the Canadian law firm Pape Salter Teillet having retired from legal practice in January 2024.[3]
Career
Teillet received her LL.B and LL.M from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.[3]
Métis and Indigenous rights and history
Teillet was a founder of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Teillet was a lead counsel regarding the R v Powley defining Métis Aboriginal rights.[4]
In 2019, Teillet wrote history of the Métis people called The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation.[5][6] The book won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards.[7]
In October 2022, Teillet wrote a report commissioned by University of Saskatchewan entitled Indigenous Identity Fraud following a controversy regarding the Indigenous identity of one of their faculty (Carrie Bourassa).[8]
In April 2023, Teillet suggested that institutions should have policies to check identity when people claim Indigenous rights.[9] August 2023, Teillet criticized the candidate vetting processes by major political parties in Canada regarding Indigenous identity claims.[10]
Personal life
Teillet is the great-grandniece of Louis Riel, a political leader of the Métis people.[11]
Honorary doctorates
- University of Guelph, 2014[12]
- Law Society of Ontario, 2015[13]
- University of Windsor, 2017[14]
Works
- The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation (Patrick Crean Editions, 2019) ISBN 978-1443450126