Patricia M. Barkaskas

Patricia M. Barkaskas is Métis from Alberta. Her work examines the intersections of justice and law, with an emphasis on the experiences of Indigenous peoples, and disrupting the normative violence of colonial legal education. Her research focuses on Indigenous laws, access to justice for Indigenous peoples, decolonizing and Indigenizing law, and using Indigenous pedagogies in experiential learning and skills-based legal education and training. She currently teaches in the areas of Indigenous and Aboriginal laws, including Métis law, family law, and Indigenous and feminist legal theory.

Professor Barkaskas has held positions as the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan H. Robert Arscott Chair at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan (2025), Strategic Advisor to the Dean for the National Centre for Indigenous Laws and Associate Professor (limited term) in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria from (2022-2024), as well as Academic Director of Indigenous Legal Studies (2021-2022), Academic Director of the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic (2014-2022) at Allard Law, and faculty lead for the law school’s Indigenous Cultural Competency Certificate (2018-2022).

Patricia’s work has primarily engaged with Indigenous peoples in their encounters with justice and legal systems. She has practiced across a broad spectrum of law including administrative, civil, class action, criminal, child protection (as parent's counsel), family, and prison law, and has produced Gladue reports for all levels of court in BC.

Patricia holds an M.A. in History, with a focus on Indigenous histories in North America, and a J.D., with a Law and Social Justice Specialization, both from the University of British Columbia.

Research and Publications

 To learn more about my research, please visit my PURE Research profile. You can also access my works on the following sites: 

• Allard Research Commons / bepress Legal Repository Search
• SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
• HeinOnline