Gavin Cazon-Wilkes will be back in Fort Simpson as a lawyer this summer after more than a decade away pursuing higher education and gaining legal experience in Alberta.
He is set to become the in-house legal counsel for the Dehcho First Nations (DFN), bringing with him a wealth of experience working in Indigenous law, governance, and policy.
This return marks a full-circle moment. Cazon-Wilkes left home in 2014 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts and later earned a law degree. With his bar call in the NWT set for this summer, he’s eager to re-engage with his home community not just as a lawyer, but as a community member.
“I left as a teenager. I was 19 years old when I went to Alberta for my bachelor’s degree. And now I’m coming home, 30 years old, arguably now a man. To be away from home for 11 years is a long time… It also feels like just the beginning, ” Cazon-Wilkes said.
Having worked with the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge in Alberta, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal earlier this year for his work in Indigenous justice and leadership in the North and his historic achievement as the first lawyer from Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation.
But for Cazon-Wilkes, accolades are secondary to impact. His return home is guided by a desire to uphold Dene laws, support self-government negotiations, protect Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and provide accessible legal knowledge to his community.
He plans to introduce public legal education sessions that explain complex laws such as Bill C-92 in plain, understandable language.
“…I can make the law more understandable to as many people in the Dehcho as possible, so that they know what these laws mean, how their rights are affected, and how developments impact them directly and indirectly…” Cazon-Wilkes said.
“I want to make sure they understand the law the way I understand the law, because knowledge is power. We shouldn’t be gatekeeping certain types of knowledge just for the sake of the legal profession… Everybody has the right to understand what the law is.”
He emphasizes the distinction between the current legal system and a true system of justice.
“Justice is a tough term. There has been so much injustice historically toward First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people across this country and absolutely in the North,” Cazon-Wilkes said.
He finds it difficult to call Canada’s legal system a justice system, citing its history of discrimination against Indigenous peoples since colonization. While he does not believe it has earned the title yet, he is working to help transform it into a fairer system and improve the experience of the Dene in the North.
Gavin Cazon-Wilkes is returning to his home community of Fort Simpson to work as in-house legal counsel for the Dehcho First Nations (DFN). (Photo courtesy of Gavin Cazon-Wilkes)
Cazon-Wilkes also points to current legal developments as opportunities for structural integration of Indigenous legal principles.
“We are getting to a point where we can implement our Indigenous laws and Dene legal orders in this framework. Other Nations are doing it across the country, and that is really exciting. I want us to be able to do that as well back home. I’ve luckily been able to be engaged in this process down south, and I look forward to bringing some of those methodologies back home to the NWT,” he said.
Cazon-Wilkes also hopes his journey inspires youth across the North.
“The future is yours. You can do whatever you want. Even if I serve only as an example that we can become lawyers and go to university, I want young people to know we are just as smart as our peers…” he said.
“I want youth to know that as long as they have grit, they can achieve anything… I had to knuckle down and rely on grit, it got me through. So with grit, youth can achieve anything.”
Cazon-Wilkes will return home and officially begin his role in August.
“To be able to work for the Dehcho First Nations, to work for my people and help pursue Dene legal interests, makes me really happy. I am being given the opportunity to serve all the Nations and members in the Dehcho. It is something I am very honored to do.”