Valarie Waboose graduated from Windsor Law in 1993 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995. Since this time she has practiced and worked in many different places. From 1996 to 2002 she worked as In-House Legal Counsel to the Walpole Island First Nation (Bkejwanong Territory). While working full-time for the Walpole Island Chief and Council she completed her Life Skills Coach Training.
In addition to a LL.B she also completed an LL.M in Alternative Dispute Resolution at York University/Osgoode Hall Law School (1999). In 2002 she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended the Program on Negotiation for 1 year. Upon returning home she set up a consultant business specializing in policy development, strategic planning, program planning and evaluation, pre-employment training and life skills coaching. Later in 2005 she returned to school to complete her Ph. D. In 2016 she graduated from Trent University with a Doctorate in Philosophy. Her Ph. D. dissertation is entitled: Re-Living the Residential School Experience, An Anishinabe Kwe’s Examination of the Compensation Processes for Residential School Survivors.
In December of 2015 she was successful in a competition for a tenure-track position in the Faculty of Law that commenced on July 1st, 2016. Valarie is delighted to be working at the law school in which she graduated and hopes to see many Indigenous students pass through the doors of Windsor Law while she is here.
Valarie’s teaching philosophy revolves around Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Legal Traditions. As a member of the Midewiwin Society her Indigenous Knowledge is interwoven with her pedagogical teaching methodologies utilized within a classroom setting. As an Anishinabe Kwe she believes in sharing her knowledge with non-Indigenous students so that they can better serve the clients when they enter the legal profession.
In the past 3 years Valarie has been invited to speak at a variety of functions:
2014 – Canadian Indigenous Studies National Association Conference, Montreal, Quebec
Spoke on excerpts from her dissertation: “Re-Living the Residential School Experience, An Anishinabe Kwe’s Examination of the Compensation Processes for Residential School Survivors.”
2015 – Reconciliation Day, Walpole Island First Nation
Spoke on excerpts from her dissertation: “Re-Living the Residential School Experience, An Anishinabe Kwe’s Examination of the Compensation Processes for Residential School Survivors.”
2016 – Windsor, Ontario
Child Welfare
2016 - Indigenous Justice Gathering, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Child Welfare