The Hon Tim Whetung

This interview with Timothy Clifford Whetung provides a comprehensive account of the first Indigenous lawyer to practice in the Peterborough, Ontario area. Born in 1954, Whetung grew up on the Curve Lake Reserve where his family operated a diverse business including a general store, fishing lodge, and marina. His father served as postmaster and his non-Native mother was a registered nurse who provided medical services to the Reserve community. The interview reveals the primitive conditions on the Reserve during his childhood – no electricity or running water in most homes, manual water pumps, and unpaved roads.

Whetung’s educational journey was unconventional, beginning with Reserve schooling to Grade 4, then busing to Lakefield for high school where he was the only Native student of his generation to complete Grade 13. After a detour through marine mechanics at Sir Sanford Fleming College and two years of engineering at University of Western Ontario, he entered Western’s law school in 1976. As part of Western’s affirmative action program, he was required to attend a summer preparatory program at University of Saskatchewan, which he found unnecessary given his academic background but valuable for meeting other Native law students.

After graduating in 1979, Whetung articled jointly with Tom Cole in Lakefield and Bill Grant and Bill Carruthers in Peterborough. He established his practice in Peterborough, becoming solicitor for two bands while maintaining his primary residence off-reserve. The interview explores the unique challenges of Native legal work, including land claims complexities, the absence of traditional property law concepts on reserves, and the cultural barriers Native people face in the justice system. Whetung advocates for Native justice systems while acknowledging the gradual integration of reserves into surrounding communities, particularly noting how Curve Lake has evolved from an isolated community to one with modern infrastructure and services.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.