Nova Scotia adjudicator writes small claims court decision in Mi’kmaw – CBC

Jan 30, 2023

Tuma Young calls it ‘a big step forward for the Canadian legal system’

When small claims court adjudicator Tuma Young wrote a decision over a dog custody issue recently, he wrote it in Mi’kmaw.

He said neither the courts nor the province of Nova Scotia prompted his action but rather he said it was time.

“To bring our L’nu [Indigenous] laws means we bring our language to the courts,” said Young, who is from Eskasoni First Nation.

Young is a lawyer and for the past four years he has been delivering decisions as an adjudicator. He’s written most of them in English but Nova Scotia named Mi’kmaw its “first language” last year.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/mikmaw-language-small-claims-decision-1.6727480