Indigenous Research Connections

Indigenous Research Connections (co-sponsored by the Office of Indigenous Initiatives and Western Research) is pleased to host Dr. Renée E. Mazinegiizhigoo-kwe Bédard, Assistant Professor (Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies & Indigenous Studies) in the Wampum Learning Lodge Dome from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 7, 2026. No registration required and all are welcome.

Title: Indigenous Feminist Research: The Story of Miyo Nipiy and the case of Connolly v. Woolrich and Johnson (1867)

Indigenous Feminist research works to reveal the stories that colonization seeks to refrain, rewrite, make invisible or forget. Connolly v. Woolrich and Johnson (1867) is a landmark Quebec Superior Court decision affirming the validity of Indigenous customary marriage. The Connolly case upheld Nehiyaw (Cree) marriage (wîkihtowin) between William Connolly and Miyo Nipiy (Good Water) from 1803, recognizing that a later, formal Catholic marriage to Julia Woolrich was invalid, establishing a legal precedent for recognizing Indigenous law. Unsettled by this case and subsequent cases that began to affirm Indigenous customary marriage and other rights, the government turned to make amendments to the Indian Act (1876) to ban Indigenous customs, thus ensuring customs would not be practiced and future generations would not be inclined to fight for customs they no longer practiced. Using an Indigenous Feminist approach, this presentation tells the story of Miyo Nipiy’s role in shaping the foundations of early Canadian legal history. Her story is not a footnote in a court case or the life of a fur trader, it is a journey of an Indigenous woman, along with Indigenous rights, culture, and customary marriage laws.