Delia Opekokew is a Cree lawyer from the Canoe Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan. She was the first Indigenous woman to be admitted to the bar associations of Ontario and Saskatchewan, and the first woman to run for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations. Delia specializes in Constitutional Law with respect to Indigenous Treaty rights and Aboriginal/Indigenous Law, and served as a Deputy Chief Adjudicator with the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Process. Delia is a celebrated “Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel” (IPC), an award given to her by the national Indigenous Bar Association and received an award for “Law and Justice” in the annual nationally televised National Aboriginal Achievement Awards ceremony (2009). She was recognized with the President’s Award from the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, (2012), and received the Law Society Medal (the Ontario Law Society’s highest award for recognition to the profession in the province) (2013). In 2019, the Law Society of Ontario recognized her with an honourary doctorate, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD). Delia continues to serve First Nations in their self-government under Indigenous law, and represents First Nations in respect of Specific Claims against Canada relating to breaches of Treaty and inherent rights, and fiduciary obligations.
Constitution law related to Treaty, Aboriginal and Indigenous law, self-governance, human rights, inquiries, and adjudication
