Indigenous Ideas of Human Dignity

The ICLRS and UCLA’s Native Nations Law & Policy Center were pleased to welcome scholars in Indigenous law and advocates for Indigenous peoples to the Indigenous Ideas of Human Dignity Workshop held at Christ Church, University of Oxford, 21–22 July 2026.

Participants considered how the legal and philosophical concept of human dignity had affected Indigenous peoples and how the concept might assist Indigenous peoples in securing human rights. The group included participants from Bangladesh, New Zealand, Mexico, Guatemala, Cameroon, and the Seneca, Hopi, Potawatomi, and Navajo Nations, among other nations. Discussants emphasized the Indigenous value of the dignity of relationships, among peoples and in care of the water, the plants, and all of the natural world. Several participants emphasized that such reciprocal relationships are vital for human dignity and flourishing.

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