Jean Teillet
{{Short description|Canadian lawyer and author of Métis descent}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jean Teillet
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_place = St Vital, Winnipeg, Canada{{cite journal |year = 2018 |title = Indigenous Jurists and Policy-Makers from Manitoba: A Collection of Oral Histories (2018) |url = https://themanitobalawjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/articles/MLJ_41.2/Interview-with-Jean-Teillet.pdf |journal = The Manitoba Law Journal |volume = 41 |issue = 2 |pages = 311–353 |access-date = 14 April 2024}}
| nationality = Canadian
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| alma mater = York University, University of Toronto
| occupation = Lawyer, author
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| relatives = Louis Riel (great-granduncle), Roger Teillet (uncle)
}}
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.
Teillet is Counsel Emeritus at the Canadian law firm Pape Salter Teillet having retired from legal practice in January 2024.
Career
Teillet received her LL.B and LL.M from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.{{cite web |url=https://pstlaw.ca/jean-teillet/ |title=Jean Teillet |access-date=14 April 2024}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/lawyer-wins-key-court-case-for-the-metis-and-her-family/article18431035/ |title=Lawyer wins key court case for the Métis and her family |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=20 September 2003 |first=Kim |last=Lunman |access-date=14 April 2024}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-north-west-is-our-mother-by-jean-teillet-1.5221600 |title=The North-West is Our Mother by Jean Teillet |publisher=CBC |date=30 July 2019 |access-date=14 April 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2021/01/in-the-eye-of-the-historian/ |title=In the Eye of the Historian |publisher=Literary Review of Canada |date=1 January 2021 |first=Christopher |last=Dummitt |access-date=14 April 2024}} The book won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/jean-teillet-jenny-heijun-wills-among-winners-of-the-2020-manitoba-book-awards-1.5577055 |title=Jean Teillet & Jenny Heijun Wills among winners of the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards |date=20 May 2020 |publisher=CBC |first=Samraweet |last=Yohannes |access-date=14 April 2024}}
In October 2022, Teillet wrote a report commissioned by University of Saskatchewan entitled Indigenous Identity Fraud following a controversy regarding the Indgienous identity of one of their faculty (Carrie Bourassa).{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/new-independent-university-report-tackles-indigenous-identity-1.6639470 |title=New University of Sask. commissioned report tackles 'poison' of Indigenous identity fraud |publisher=CBC |first=Geoff |last=Leo |date=3 November 2022 |access-date=14 April 2024}}
In April 2023, Teillet suggested that institutions should have policies to check identity when people claim Indigenous rights.{{Cite AV media |url=https://globalnews.ca/video/9608555/metis-lawyer-jean-teillet-explains-how-to-deal-with-the-indigenous-identity-fraud |title=Metis lawyer Jean Teillet explains how to deal with the Indigenous identity fraud |publisher=Global News |date=6 April 2023 |access-date=14 April 2024}} August 2023, Teillet criticized the candidate vetting processes by major political parties in Canada regarding Indigenous identity claims.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-parties-indigenous-claims-metis-1.6911631 |title=Manitoba's political parties not doing enough to verify Indigenous identity: Métis lawyer |publisher=CBC |date=1 August 2023 |first=Joanne |last=Levasseur|access-date=14 April 2024}}
Personal life
Teillet is the great-grandniece of Louis Riel, a political leader of the Métis people.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/full-episode-may-2-2020-1.5549163/louis-riel-s-great-grandniece-jean-teillet-continues-to-speak-out-about-m%C3%A9tis-legacy-and-recognition-1.5549165 |title=Louis Riel's great-grandniece Jean Teillet continues to speak out about Métis legacy and recognition |publisher=CBC |date=1 May 2020 |access-date=14 April 2024}}
Honorary doctorates
- University of Guelph, 2014{{cite web |url=https://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2014/06/human_rights_activist_among_13_receiving_honorary_doctorates_spring_2014_convocation.html |title=Human Rights Activist Among 13 Receiving Honorary Doctorates |date=3 June 2014 |access-date=14 April 2024}}
- Law Society of Ontario, 2015{{cite web |url=https://lso.ca/about-lso/medals-awards-and-honours/honorary-lld |title= Honorary LLD |publisher=Law Society of Ontario |access-date=14 April 2024}}
- University of Windsor, 2017{{cite web |url=https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/2017-05-24/university-honour-eight-honorary-degrees-during-spring-convocation |title=University to honour eight with honorary degrees during Spring Convocation |date=25 May 2017 |access-date=14 April 2024}}
Works
- The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation (Patrick Crean Editions, 2019) {{ISBN|978-1443450126}}
References
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Category:Members of the Métis Nation of Ontario