Indigenous Ideas of Human Dignity

This Workshop explored Indigenous conceptions of human dignity, including the sacred nature of human beings and relationships, the reciprocal dignity of the natural world and the human responsibility to care for all our relations, and the special concern to care for ancestors and cultural resources. The Workshop sought to identify ideas of human dignity informing Indigenous cultures and how to honor those values within Indigenous cultures and for the broader society. The goal was to generate comparative insights about the relationship between human dignity and Indigenous culture and self-determination.

Workshop organizers were Michalyn Steele (Seneca Nation), the Marion G. Romney Professor of Law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School; and Angela R. Riley (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), the Carole Goldberg Endowed Chair of Native American Law, Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Affairs, and Director of the Native Nations Law & Policy Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Workshop’s sponsor was the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.

Program

Participant Directory