Douglas Sanderson

Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) is Beaver Clan, from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and currently holds the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy.  He was managing editor of the inaugural edition of the Indigenous Law Journal in 2002 while a student in the JD program.  He went on to earn his LL.M from Columbia University as a Fulbright Scholar. From 2004-2007 he was Senior Advisor to the Government of Ontario, first in the Office of the Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, and later, to the Attorney General.

Prof. Sanderson's research areas include Aboriginal and Indigenous legal theory, as well as private law (primarily property law) and public and private legal theory. Moving beyond the framework of common law property rights and constitutional land/treaty rights, his scholarship focuses on Aboriginal institutions, post-colonial reconciliation and rebuilding community.  Professor Sanderson's current research interests include the Peace and Friendship Treaties (1600-1763) and the early history of the fur trade in Canada, focusing in on the ways in which these historic relationships can serve as models for the present day.

His book, Valley of the Birdtail, co-authored with Andrew Stobo Sniderman, is a national bestseller.

• Winner – 2023 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize
• Winner – 2023 John W. Dafoe Book Prize
• Winner – 2023 High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer
• Winner – 2022 Manitoba Historical Society Margaret McWilliams Book Award for Local History
• Winner – 2023 Quebec Writers’ Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction and Concordia University First Book Prize
• Finalist – 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
• Finalist – Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
• Finalist – 2023 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Evergreen Award
• Finalist and Honourable Mention – Canadian Law and Society Association Book Prize
• Finalist – Ukrainian Canadian Foundation Kobzar Book Award
• Longlisted – 2023-2024 First Nations Communities Read