09/01/2026
Alumni award recipient Patricia Barkaskas arrived at UVic at a turning point in her life. A first-generation university student, a young mother and a Métis woman searching for a place where questions of justice, history and responsibility could be explored with depth and honesty.
“There was something going on here that was so different. I really wanted to push myself for a more robust understanding of what it means to engage with justice and decolonization.”
Today, Barkaskas is an associate professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC, where she also served for nearly a decade as Academic Director of the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic. Located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the clinic provides free legal services to Indigenous community members while offering law students rigorous, trauma-informed and community-responsive training.
🎗️ Nominations are now open for the 2027 ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ | SIÁMĆEȽ | Distinguished Alumni Awards. Help us celebrate the remarkable achievements of University of Victoria graduates.
Nominate a friend, family member, colleague or former classmate: https://ow.ly/NFIz50ZGeZu
