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Biography

John Borrows BA, MA, JD, LLM (Toronto), PhD (Osgoode Hall Law School), LL.D. (Hons., Dalhousie, York, SFU, Queen’s & Law Society of Ontario), D.H.L, (Hons., Toronto), D.Litt. (Hons., Waterloo), F.R.S.C., O.C. His publications include, Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (Donald Smiley Award best book in Canadian Political Science, 2002), Canada's Indigenous Constitution (Canadian Law and Society Best Book Award 2011), Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide (2010), Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism ((Donald Smiley Award best book in Canadian Political Science, 2016), The Right Relationship (with Michael Coyle, ed.), Resurgence and Reconciliation (with Michael Asch, Jim Tully, eds.), Law’s Indigenous Ethics (2020 Best subsequent Book Award from Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, 2020 W. Wes Pue Best book award from the Canadian Law and Society Association). He is the 2017 Killam Prize winner in Social Sciences and the 2019 Molson Prize Winner from the Canada Council for the Arts, the 2020 Governor General’s Innovation Award, and the 2021 Canadian Bar Association President’s Award winner.  He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. John is a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

Books

• Opening and Closing Relations: Indigenous Spirituality in Canada 13 authors (with Paul Bramadat, David Seljak, Heidi Stark, eds.) (under consideration, U. of T. Press)
• The Seven Cycles of Life: Seeking Healing, Connection and Justice in Anishinaabe Teachings (Penguin Random House) (completed manuscript, January 2026 release)
• The RAVEN Essays: Indigenous Environmental Justice, Education and Self-Determination (with Dawn Hoogeveen, Max Ritts, Susan Smitten eds.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2025)
• Indigenous Voice, Cultural Appropriation, and the Place of Non-Indigenous Academics (ed. with Kent McNeil) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2022)
• Indigenous Legal Issues: Cases and Materials, 6thth edition (Toronto: Butterworth’s, 2022) (co-edited with Len Rotman)
• Canadian Constitutional Law, 5th edition (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2022) (co-editor) and author of Indigenous Law Chapters, 6th ed.
• Wise Practices: Exploring Economic Justice and Self-Determination (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021) with Ryan Beaton, Robert Hamilton, Brent Mainprize, Joshua Nichols, eds.
• Indigenous Peoples & International Trade: Building International Trade & Investment Agreements (Cambridge University Press, 2020) with Risa Schwartz ed.
• Braiding Legal Orders: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (McGill University Press; CIGI, Waterloo, 2019) with Larry Chartrand, Oonagh Fitzgerald, Risa Schwartz, eds.
• Law’s Indigenous Ethics (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019)
• Resurgence and Reconciliation: Responsibilities for Shared Futures (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018) with Jim Tully and Michael Asch, eds.
• The Right Relationship? Reimagining the Implementation of Historical Treaties (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017) with Michael Coyle, ed.
• Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, May, 2016)
• Drawing Out Law: A Spirit’s Guide (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010) 318 pp.
• Canada’s Indigenous Constitution (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010) 472 pp.
• Recovering Canada: The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002) (312 pages).

Selected publications

• “Anishinaabe Treaties and the Rule of Law (2025) Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence.
• Chapters 2 & 33, Indigenous Constitutionalism and Indigenous Law and Aboriginal Rights, Peter Hogg and Wade Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, (Toronto: Thomson Rueters, 2025) chapters co-written with Hadley Friedland, Robert Hamilton, Joshua Nichols, Naomi Metallic, Val Napoleon, Jana Promislow, Jeffery Wornock.
• “Indigenous Law and Climate Change”, in Law in a Changing World, Jutta Brunnée, Brenda Cossman eds., (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2025).
• “Learning Anishinaabe Law from the Earth” (2024) Review of Constitutional Studies.
• “Origin Stories and the Law: Treaty Metaphysics in Canada and New Zealand” in Carwyn Jones, ed., ‘Kimihia te kahurangi: Historical, Legal, and International Perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi’.
• “Indigenous Constitutionalism: Pre-existing Legal Genealogies in Canada” in Nathalie Des Rosiers, Patrick Macklem, Peter Oliver., eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
  • “Canada’s Colonial Constitution”, The Rights Relationship: Reimaging the Implemenation of Historic Treaties (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017).
• “Seven Gifts: Revitalizing Living Laws Through Indigenous Legal Practices” (2016) 1 Lakehead University Law Review 1.
• “Heroes, Monsters, Tricksters and Caretakers” (2016) 61 McGill Law Review 795.
• “Learning from the Land: Outdoor Indigenous Legal Education” (2016) 32 Windsor Yearbook on Access to Justice 1, Guest Editor for Entire Volume, 10 articles in volume.
• “Challenging Historical Frameworks: Aboriginal Rights, Agency and Originalism” (2016) Canadian Historical Review 114.
• “Unextinguished: Rights and the Indian Act” (2016) 67 University of New Brunswick Law Journal 1.
• “Indigenous Love, Law and Land in Canada’s Constitution” in Arthur Schfar, Steven Lecce, eds., Fragile Freedoms: Human Rights in Global Context (London: Oxford University Press, 2016).
• Legislation and Indigenous Rights, in Patrick Macklem and Douglas Sanderson eds., Section 35 @ 25 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016).
• “Aboriginal Title and Private Property (2015) 68 Supreme Court Law Review 91.

Awards

• 2025    King Charles III Coronation Medal for Interfaith Leadership, Canada
• 2025    Mundell Medal for Excellence in Legal Writing, Attorney General of Ontario
• 2025    Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize
• 2024    Law Foundation of Ontario’s 2024 Guthrie Award
• 2023    Charles Taylor Award, Broadbent Institute 
• 2021    Canadian Bar Association, President’s Award
• 2020    Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2020    Best Book, Subsequent, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) for Law’s Indigenous Ethics
• 2020    Best Book, Wes Pue Prize, Canadian Law and Society Association
• 2020    University of Toronto Alumni Geography Alumni Award
• 2020    Governor General’s Innovation Award, Rideau Hall Foundation
• 2019    Molson Prize, Canada Council for the Arts & SSHRC
• 2019    Lexpert Zenith Award, Change Agent in Law
• 2018    Top 25 Most Influential Canadian Lawyer, Canadian Lawyer
• 2017    Killam Prize in Social Sciences, Canada Council for the Arts
• 2017 & 2002   Donald Smiley Prize, Best Book in Canadian Political Science (Canadian Political Science Association), Freedom & Indigenous Constitutionalism & Recovering Canada: Resurgence
• 2016    Fleck Fellowship, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• 2012    Indigenous Peoples Counsel (I.P.C.), Indigenous Bar Association
• 2011    Best Book, Canadian Law and Society, for Canada’s Indigenous Constitution, also shortlisted for Canada Prize and Donald Smiley Best Book in Canadian Political Science
• 2009    Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ Law Students Society Teaching Award
• 2007    F.R.S.C., Fellow, Canadian Society of Arts, Humanities and Sciences
• 2006    Trudeau Fellow, Outstanding achievement Humanities and Social Sciences ($225,00)
• 2006    New Zealand Law Foundation Distinguished Visitor
• 2004    International Fellow, Aust. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
• 2003    National Aboriginal Achievement Award, for outstanding accomplishment in the field of Law and Justice, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation

Courses

• : The Legal Process
• Law 340: Indigenous Lands, Rights and Governance 
• Law 343: Comparative Indigenous Law: The US Experience