This month’s Spotlight shines on Neegann Aaswaakshin, Director of Reconciliation and In-house Legal Counsel, Lax Kw’alaams First Nation, Lax Kw’alaams.
How did you first get involved with CLEBC?
Like many BC lawyers, I was first exposed to the fantastic CLEBC programming through the PLTC program, and then was invited to a panel at the 2025 Aboriginal Law Conference.
What are you currently working on (or have most recently worked on) with CLEBC?
It was also an honour to speak at the recent CLEBC 2026 Indigenous Real Estate conference, which was a fantastic and timely discussion—the opportunity to share real-life practice insights with lawyers was so important. Most recently, I have worked with my primary client, Lax Kw’alaams First Nation, on developing a potential self-government model, exploring Aboriginal right and title recognition opportunities, and advancing legislative advocacy at the BC Legislature.
What inspired you to go to law school?
Around 2005, I started working for the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and became inspired by the many strong and powerful Indigenous and non-Indigenous women I worked with, most of whom were lawyers. Having been raised around kitchen tables of grassroots Indigenous women that were passionately organizing at the community level, my experience at NWAC launched my growth in advocacy that was seeded through my upbringing.
The day then President Beverley Jacobs said, “You would be a great lawyer,” I knew I had to become an advocate for our people.
What has your experience been like in the legal profession as an Indigenous woman?
Learning the law became a spiritually exhausting experience, and practice often tests our stamina as Indigenous women. It seems we have come so far, but yet have a very long way to go. I have come to learn to use my seat as the only Indigenous woman at most tables as my superpower, harnessing the strength, dignity, and power passed on to me by my mother, aunties, and countless Indigenous women role models.
What has been the most rewarding part of your career?
I have become most proud of the various projects I have led over the last few years that help my First Nation clients reclaim their self-determination. I have assisted in crafting a First Nation stand-alone constitution framework, institutional constitutional implementation framework, and recent legislature and legislative advocacy in defence of Aboriginal rights and title.
After decades of hard work and training, it is very rewarding to now have a comprehensive understanding of my client’s problems and realize the strategic ability and approach to help them solve these complex problems.
Other than law, what are you passionate about?
I am passionate about children, especially my own. My mother was a survivor of residential school, the Sixties Scoop, and countless other traumas. She fiercely dedicated her life to child protection, knowing through her childhood experience how Indigenous children slip through the cracks. But she fought her whole life for these vulnerable children that deserve safety, dignity, and love like all other children.
My home has become that house—a hub for any child to play, have fun, and feel safe, seen, and at home—nothing brings more joy than playing on the floor with smiling children filling the air with laughter.