James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson (born 1944) is an international

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

lawyer, advocate, and educator.

Background

James Youngblood Henderson was born on December 20, 1944, in

Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimated ...

. His is Chickasaw through his paternal grandfather, and he also claims

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

ancestry. He experienced

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

while growing up, which prompted him to make ending poverty for all

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

a life goal.

Education

As an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

student, he served as the vice-president of the American

National Indian Youth Council The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) is the second oldest American Indian organization in the United States with a membership of more than 15,000.National Indian Youth Council, Inc."NIYC History" Retrieved on 2009-09-30. It was the first in ...

, which prompted him to look at the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

as a model for a potential Indigenous rights movement. He attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, where in 1974 he became one of the first Native Americans to be awarded the

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. He married

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

educator

Marie Battiste Marie Ann Battiste (born 1949) is an author and educator working as a professor in Canada at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Educational Foundations. From the Potlotek First Nation in Nova Scotia, Battiste is the daughter of Mi ...

and is the father of Canadian MP Jaime Battiste.

Work

In his first year out of Harvard Law School, Henderson completed his first major case, in which he reestablished for his father's clan several legal rights. Since then, Henderson has worked to protect Indigenous heritage and culture through legal means, working with the Canadian government, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, and other

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

governments. Additionally, he has taught law at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and other

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n law schools throughout his career. Henderson was brought to Canada in 1978 when his wife,

, was asked by the Grand Captain of the Mi'kmaq people to set up a bilingual education program in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. He then began working with the Mi'kmaw Nation on drafting their land titles and representing them in their legal proceedings. Between 1978 and 1983, Henderson worked with the Mi'kmaq Nation and the Assembly of First Nations as a constitutional advisor and continued working with these groups through the constitutional process in Canada through 1993. His expertise in Indigenous legal issues lead Henderson to serve on the advisory board of the

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs The Minister of Foreign Affairs (french: Ministre des Affaires étrangères) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's international relations and is the lead minister respo ...

, as a member of the Sectoral Commission on Culture, Communication, and Information of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO between 2000 and 2010, and as a member of the Experts Advisory Group on International Cultural Diversity. Additionally, Henderson worked to protect Indigenous Nations' rights during the Kelowna Accord, and through the Four Directions Council, a

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. Throughout his career, he has helped draft and author many legal documents and other works which protect Indigenous heritage, culture, and legal rights, including the

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...

. He wrote many books, articles, and other writings on Indigenous law. Henderson works in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as the Research Director of the Native Law Centre and as a professor of Indigenous law at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

College of Law.

Awards and honors

Henderson has received several awards and honors for his proficiency in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and his dedication to pursuing justice for Indigenous peoples, including an Indigenous People's Council award in 2005, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Award, for Law and Justice in 2006, and an

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctorate of Law from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

in 2007. In addition, he was named a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 2013.

Selected publications

*''Indian Statehood Reconsidered'' (1974) *''Tribal Administration of Natural Resource Development'' (1975) with Russel Lawrence Barsh *''The Road: Indian Tribes and Political Liberty'' (1982) with Russel Lawrence Barsh *''Mikmaq State Papers'' (1984) with Mik'maq Indians, Russel Lawrence Barsh, and Bernie Francis *''First Nations' Legal Inheritance'' (1991) *''The Míkmaw Concordat'' (1997) *''Aboriginal Tenure in the Constitution of Canada'' (2000) with Marjorie Lynne Benson and Isobel Findlay *''Aboriginal Jurisprudences Protects Aboriginal Heritages'' (2002) *''Treaty Rights in the Constitution of Canada'' (2007)

Background

Education

Work

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Notes

Further reading