The Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic was founded in 1978 by Indigenous people living in the District of Thunder Bay who identified the need for culturally appropriate legal services. The structure of the clinic and its service delivery model were designed to respond to the need to provide culturally appropriate legal services for people of Indigenous ancestry, who, because of cultural and geographic barriers, did not have access to existing traditional legal services.
The clinic’s special outreach mandate to serve Indigenous clients in this District has been preserved by maintaining an all-Indigenous Board of Directors who are elected in five area communities – Armstrong, Geraldton, Marathon, Nipigon, and Thunder Bay. The membership of the Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic is also reserved for individuals of Indigenous ancestry. The legal clinic’s services however, are available to all residents of the District of Thunder Bay who are financially eligible.