This co-valedictorian gave her speech in Anishnaabemowin

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 01, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 1

It was an historical infinitesimal astatine the Bora Laskin Law School graduation earlier this spring. Co-valedictorian Cassandra Spade gave her code successful Anishnaabemowin.

Cassandra is from Mishkeegogamang First Nation but besides spent a batch of her clip increasing up successful Couchiching First Nation and she has large plans arsenic she moves guardant successful her instrumentality career.

She spoke with Mary-Jean Cormier, the big of Superior Morning, astir those plans and what it was similar giving her code successful Anishnaabemowin.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Mary-Jean Cormier: Can you archer maine what it was similar to beryllium up connected signifier speaking Anishnaabemowin?

Cassandra Spade: I cried walking up to the stage. I was trying to clasp myself unneurotic during the speech. Throughout the speech, you tin perceive pauses wherever I'm precise overmuch flooded with emotion, and it's due to the fact that it's specified an unimaginable happening to deliberation that a valedictorian code would beryllium fixed successful an Indigenous connection and particularly astatine a instrumentality school. 

So, it was truly peculiar to me, but it besides felt similar each of the connection teachers and the radical who supported my connection learning were successful that country with me. So, it was very, precise special. 

MC: What did you say?

CS: I opened by saying that this is possibly the archetypal clip astatine a Canadian instrumentality schoolhouse wherever this code is fixed successful an Indigenous language, specifically Anishinaabe.

But I besides said that this infinitesimal didn't hap by myself alone. There are a batch of radical who person nurtured maine and loved maine and taken attraction of maine to get maine to this constituent and who taught maine the Anishinaabe language. 

LISTEN | Cassandra Spade speaks Superior Morning big Mary-Jean Cormier:

So, I'm not a archetypal connection speaker. I learned arsenic an big and I'm specifically talking astir 1 elder from Lac Seul First Nation. She specifically told maine erstwhile I archetypal started learning that if you instrumentality attraction of the Anishinaabe connection it volition instrumentality attraction of you. I didn't truly cognize what it meant astatine the time, but passim instrumentality schoolhouse I learned that our connection holds each of our law, and by learning my connection and taking attraction of it and practising it, I was truly reinforcing our laws and learning and benignant of preserving them. So it was truly peculiar to larn that successful instrumentality school.

MC: Speaking of instrumentality school, beyond the connection piece, what did it mean for you to postgraduate from instrumentality school? 

CS: I've obtained a instrumentality degree, which is truly special. I'm the archetypal 1 successful my household to spell to instrumentality schoolhouse and to graduate, and it makes maine bespeak connected each of the radical successful my household who are truthful talented and skilled and are capable to springiness to the assemblage successful truthful galore antithetic ways. So, I deliberation astir each of the things that my household has taught maine specifically astir kindness oregon reasoning astir different radical oregon listening to different stories.

Throughout instrumentality school, those are the skills that benignant of transportation you done law, and it's each astir your community. And truthful it was truly peculiar for maine due to the fact that I wouldn't person been successful instrumentality schoolhouse had it not been for my family, my broader community, each of the enactment astatine instrumentality school. 

So, it truly is an accomplishment to the assemblage astatine large. I lone did 2 per cent of the enactment and everyone other benignant of did similar 98 per cent of the work. 

MC: What drew you to this tract successful the archetypal place? 

CS: When I was 9 years aged my sister was spot by a canine connected our reservation. It wasn't a atrocious bite, it was conscionable a small nip, but I benignant of got this thought that the canine should beryllium vaccinated and tagged successful the community, not lone to support the children successful the community, but besides to instrumentality attraction of the dogs. 

So, astatine that time, I had learned that determination were a batch of bylaws and policies astir getting veterinarians onto reserves. So, I created this petition and with the assistance of my dad, I walked from location to location to location successful the winter, it was precise cold, to get radical to motion this petition truthful that the assemblage would bash vaccination and tagging for the dogs. 

Eventually it came to fruition, and it was the archetypal clip I felt similar wow, I tin marque immoderate alteration and this is truly exciting. So, since I was precise young, I've ever wanted to beryllium a lawyer. 

MC: What benignant of way bash you spot earlier you successful law? 

CS: I'm precise overmuch funny successful practicing Inaakonigewin, which is Anishinaabe instrumentality and close present crossed each Canadian instrumentality schools who are conscionable benignant of opening to deliberation astir indigenous laws. This is thing that I'm precise passionate about. I wrote probe successful my past twelvemonth of instrumentality that interviewed radical successful the Anishinaabe connection truthful that we could speech astir Anishinaabe law. It's conscionable specified a antithetic ineligible strategy compared to the Canadian one, and I deliberation Canadian instrumentality schools and the Canadian ineligible strategy astatine ample has a batch to larn from Indigenous people.

MC: Do you deliberation looking astatine instrumentality from a antithetic position could alteration immoderate of the situations we're in?

CS: Indigenous laws are precise bully astatine doing thing called pluralism, and that's wherever galore antithetic ineligible systems tin beryllium astatine the aforesaid place. So, Canadian laws, Indigenous laws and different laws similar planetary instrumentality tin each beryllium successful a narration together.

And truthful though the Canadian justness strategy whitethorn look precise antithetic from an Anishinaabe one, the Anishinaabe operation astatine ample tin clasp spot for some of them. What I mean by this is the Canadian justness strategy is built connected deterrence and denunciation, whereas the Anishinaabe 1 is much focused connected rehabilitation and gathering relationships and benignant of restoring radical truthful that they tin proceed to beryllium portion of the community.

So, Indigenous instrumentality offers Canadians a caller mode to deliberation astir this narration betwixt antithetic ineligible systems and I deliberation astatine this infinitesimal successful clip successful Canada, the Canadian instrumentality operation is truly struggling to deliberation astir what is that relationship. I deliberation erstwhile radical larn astir Indigenous law, it offers an accidental to commencement reasoning astir what does this narration truly look like? What should it look like? And however bash we beryllium without truly trampling connected 1 different oregon trying to instrumentality implicit 1 another?

MC: Who volition you beryllium moving with? I deliberation they're going to beryllium precise lucky.

CS: I'm going to hopefully, upon being called to the barroom and becoming a lawyer and licensed, I'll beryllium practising successful the Rainy River District astatine Judson Howie. But until then, I'll beryllium a pupil astatine law, truthful you'll spot my look astir the office. I'll beryllium supporting them successful each the enactment and I'm truthful excited to beryllium moving successful this region, peculiarly due to the fact that I spent truthful overmuch clip increasing up successful Couchiching.

MC: How agelong earlier you get called to the bar? 

I person to survey for the barroom and determination are 2 exams — there's the barrister, which is fundamentally erstwhile you spell to the courthouse and you bash your transgression instrumentality and you bash your civilian litigation and household law. And past I person to decorativeness the solicitor's exam, which is much focused connected concern instrumentality and contracts and wills and estates. These giant, monolithic exams hap successful the period of June and if I walk them, fingers crossed, I'll beryllium called to the barroom successful August oregon aboriginal September.