Maxine Matilpi

Maxine Hayman Matilpi, J.D., LL.M, is a member of the Ma'amtigila and Kwakiutl First Nations. A former lawyer, chief negotiator for the Kwakiutl First Nation (Tsakis), instructor at Vancouver Island University (First Nations Studies and Women’s Studies), and Director of the Academic and Cultural Support Program at UVic’s Faculty of Law, her research interests are Indigenous Law and Indigenous Pedagogy.

Maxine grew up in Tseil-Waututh Territory where her social activism started early. As a child, in solidarity with Cesar Chavas and agricultural workers in California, for close to five years her family stopped eating grapes and started talking on a daily basis about exploited workers and the benefits of union membership. Later, her activism led her to the practice of midwifery (long before it was legal in BC) giving women and families a choice about where and how to birth their babies. She has co-facilitated the Work That Reconnects on Vancouver Island and Bowen Island. She lives in Komox/Pentlatch Territory on a northern Gulf island where she practices “re-creation” through making art, dancing, and growing potatoes.