Naiomi W. Metallic, KC

About Naiomi

Naiomi is from the Listuguj Mìgmaq First Nation, located within the Gespègewàgi district of Mìgmàgi (what is also known today as northern NB and the Gaspé Coast of Quebec). She holds a Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Laws from Dalhousie, a civil law degree from the University of Ottawa, and a masters of law from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was also a law clerk to the Hon. Michel Bastarache of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006-2007.  Naiomi is currently finishing her PhD through the University of Alberta on how the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a framework for the exercise of self-government by Indigenous Peoples within Canada. 

Since 2016, Naiomi is full-time faculty at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, and she holds the Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy. As a legal scholar, she is most interested in writing about how the law can be harnessed to promote the well-being and self-determination of Indigenous peoples in Canada, particularly through the revitalization of their governance and legal institutions. 

Naiomi has held many positions with the firm, from summer student in 2003-2005, articling clerk in 2007-2008, associate lawyer from 2008 to 2016, and counsel since 2016. She remains a member of the firm’s Indigenous Peoples practice group, has ongoing active files and advises on others, and has appeared before the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, in several high-profile cases on Indigenous Peoples’ rights. 

Naiomi has won awards in recognition of her legal advocacy, as well as her scholarship in law. She has been named to the Named to Best Lawyer in Canada® list in Aboriginal law since 2015. In 2024, she received the Canadian Bar Association’s Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award 2024 recognizing outstanding contribution in law reform, legal scholarship and/or legal research. She was designated as King’s Council in 2025, and awarded the 2026 recipient of the IndSpire Law and Justice Award.