Aaron Mills shortlisted for SSHRC Impact Award

Law PhD candidate Aaron Mills is one of three students shortlisted for SSHRC’s esteemed Impact Talent Award.

The award recognizes champions who bring forward ideas that help us understand and improve the world around us. The strength and impact of Aaron’s work, teaching, and research in the area of Indigenous law has made him a highly sought-after academic. He is currently a Trudeau Foundation scholar and turned down a prestigious scholarship at Harvard Law to complete his masters at Yale on a Fulbright Scholarship. He has received numerous academic awards, including a National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Scholarship, the Casino Rama’s Award for Excellence Scholarship, the Gladys Watson Memorial Scholarship, and the Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal Youth Scholarship.

"Aaron is one of the most creative, innovative and thoughtful students I have taught in my twenty-five years as a law professor," says John Borrows,  Aaron's doctoral supervisor at UVic's Faculty of Law. "It's rare to encounter someone as well prepared to make an immediate impact through his scholarship and leadership skills."

Aaron has already made an impact with his article “ Wapshkaa   Ma’iingan  – Aki,  Anishinaabek ,  kaye   tahsh  Crown“, published in the Indigenous Law Journal, which applies  Anishinaabe  (Indigenous) law to natural resources conflicts in Canada and demonstrates how these laws can create a more peaceful and respectful path to development. The article has the potential to make a significant impact on the way logging and mining take place on Aboriginal lands.  

And in Aaron's own words,  "I really think we can’t have an honest conversation about reconciliation without taking indigenous constitutional orders seriously.  What is it we think we’re reconciling?  This nomination is recognition of the amazing supervision, guidance, and support I’ve received from so many at UVic,  Couchiching , and other communities, and I’m greatly encouraged to have my efforts at articulating Anishinaabe  constitutionalism considered important." 

The SSHRC Impact Award winners will be announced at an event in Ottawa on November 22 ^nd. Good luck Aaron!