BA (Dalhousie), BL (Dalhousie), LLM (Osgoode), LL.L (Ottawa), PhD (in progress) (UAlberta)
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 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie, a civil law degree from the University of Ottawa, a masters of law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and is currently pursuing her PhD through the University of Alberta. Her dissertation seeks to comprehensively unpack 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, looking to the instrument’s history, purpose and provisions.
Since 2016, Naiomi has been 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 continues to practice law with Burchell Wickwire Bryson LLP in Halifax (where she was Associate Lawyer before joining the law school). As a member of the firm’s Aboriginal Law practice group, she 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 was designated as King’s Council in 2025, an honorary title given to recognize lawyers who have made exceptional contributions to the legal profession. 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.