Embracing identity and pursuing justice

First-year Indigenous law student Shirina Evans is warm, bubbly and constantly laughing as she recounts the life events that kindled her 10-year-long pursuit of becoming a lawyer. At times her lighthearted demeanour seems at odds with the stories she shares openly. Stories of overcoming racism, domestic violence, and being cut off from her Indigenous identity as a Sixties Scoop survivor. 

A single mother of two, originally from Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan, Shirina grew up knowing she was adopted but knew little else about her heritage. In her late teens, a social work report revealed her mother’s identity and Shirina’s birth name. The discovery that she is a Woodland Cree (nêhiyaw-iskwêw) woman took Shirina on a new journey learning about the culture and language she had longed to explore.

Shirina’s first application to a law school in 2016 was unsuccessful. “I wanted to be a Crown [prosecutor] but Creator said no,” she explains. “[after that] I went into corrections because I was leaving an abusive relationship and I needed a career that could support my family.” Her five years in corrections increased her desire to work in law. “Even going through the training, I knew it wasn’t for me,” she says, “but there was a large divine reason why I had to see what was going on in corrections. That’s what led me to want to pursue law school again.” Being inside what she sees as a broken system that disproportionately incarcerates Indigenous people—and witnessing and experiencing racism and injustices firsthand—ignited her passion to help reform the Canadian legal system.

Indigenous heritage and dream career eventually intersect.

When Shirina was accepted into UVic’s joint degree program in Canadian common law and Indigenous legal orders ("JD/JID"), her dream of becoming a lawyer and her search for her Indigenous heritage intersected. Last year, she had the opportunity to learn about her Cree heritage through constitutional and criminal law courses. “I feel like a lot of this Cree knowledge is something I can take back with me and promote or try to incorporate in certain institutions,” she says.  In the meantime, Shirina enjoys connecting with other Indigenous students, faculty and staff and community members across campus and recently started as the Native Student Union Coordinator at the SUB.

At the onset of her program, Shirina received the Carolyn E. & Robert J. McCormick Indigenous Entrance Scholar award, which is matched by the Indspire Foundation. This support has been crucial for her to maintain a connection with her children, easing the burdens of travel and the high costs associated with studying away from home. "I just don't know how I would have done this. I'm still struggling, but I certainly wouldn't have made it this far," she says.