University of Victoria (UVic) Law professor, Val Napoleon sees a bold new future for Canada's legal landscape. She envisions equal footing for both Canadian and Indigenous law, bringing about deep societal transformation.
Her vision is now backed with recognition: Napoleon has been named a 2026 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Fellow.
Breaking ground in Indigenous law research
The Trudeau Fellowship supports Napoleon in expanding her latest research initiative Next Steps: Rebuilding Indigenous Law, dedicated to Indigenous law revitalization and rebuilding Indigenous legal orders across Canada.
I am grateful to the foundation because in recognizing this work, they're recognizing all the people Indigenous leaders, community members and allies that came before me and continue the important work in Indigenous law."
Val Napoleon, UVic Law professor and Law Foundation chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance
"It's not just what I do. It's about all the ways we do it together and hold each other up. That's the importance and honour I take from this fellowship," says Napoleon.
Napoleon is Cree from Saulteau First Nation (BC Treaty 8) and an adopted member of the Gitanyow (northern Gitxsan). A UVic Law grad (LLB '01, PhD '09), she's celebrated for co-creating an Indigenous law research methodology that works in partnership with Indigenous communities to restore their own laws.
Her foundational initiatives include the Indigenous Law Research Unit , the world's first and only joint degree program in Indigenous law and Canadian common law Juris Doctor and Juris Indigenarum Doctor (JD/JID) and the faculty's Indigenous Law wing.
"Val Napoleon is an international leader in Indigenous law and UVic is proud to honour this incredible achievement," says Qwul'sih'yah'maht, Robina Thomas, acting president and vice-chancellor of UVic. "Her Trudeau Fellowship represents a vote of confidence for the progression and integration of Indigenous laws in our society. I am deeply grateful for Napoleon's remarkable ambition, her work in the JD/JID program and the leadership and vision she continues to provide in the field of law."
Napoleon was one of five Trudeau fellows selected from 77 leading academics in Canada across the fields of humanities and social sciences. She is the seventh UVic professor to receive a Trudeau Fellowship, and the third from the Faculty of Law.
Uplifting Indigenous law
Recognizing Indigenous law in this moment is increasingly important, says Napoleon.
"There's so much fear in the public about Indigenous law and recent court decisions," says Napoleon. "Law is a social collaboration, and everyone needs to be included. Educating the world about Indigenous law and how it builds stronger legal relationships, a stronger Canada, is a responsibility that parallels the work we're doing."
This fellowship signals a continued appetite for the recognition of Indigenous laws in Canada at a time when political commitments to Indigenous rights are being challenged."
Freya Kodar, Dean of Law
"Val Napoleon is a leading voice in the work to create a legal landscape where Indigenous legal orders stand strong alongside Canadian law, shaping a multi-juridical society rooted in respect, reciprocity, accountability and justice," says Kodar.
Supporting Next Steps
The fellowship one of Canada's top academic honours celebrating academic achievement and future transformative contributions provides up to $300,000 to support a research project that is "innovative and socially significant, pushing research and thinking in new directions."
Next Steps' focus is enabling five different Indigenous societies to work on rebuilding entire legal orders. These legal orders shape the lawful ways societies organize, from governance, citizenship, family law, business and trade, land management and more. Operational legal orders are important to support all Indigenous communities in consultations, treaty implementation, jurisdictional negotiations, benefit agreements and more, says Napoleon.
The Trudeau Fellowship allows Next Steps to expand from its first legal order partnership with the Secwépemc Nation.
"We're talking to people on a preliminary basis to find the next partnership for the initiative," says Napoleon. "I'm doing a lot of public engagement about rebuilding Indigenous law and creating spaces for complex conversations that promote Indigenous law and why it matters."
Next Steps responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' (MMIWG) Calls to Justice and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It also actions Indigenous priorities in addressing disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates in Canada and aims to balance an uneven political and legal relationship between Canadian and Indigenous law.
Val Napoleon teaches in the Sky Classroom of the new Indigenous Law wing. Credit: UVic Photo Services
Napoleon was the first graduate of the PhD program at UVic Law. Since graduating, she has been a force in the field of Indigenous law and served important national roles, including as an expert witness for both the MMIWG Inquiry and the Quebec Inquiry Commission on Relations between Indigenous Peoples and Public Services. She's received honours such as the King Charles III Coronation Medal, the Royal Society of Canada Yvan Allaire Medal, honorary doctorate degrees from Queen's University and the University of Northern BC, as well as an Indspire Award for Law and Justice.
While being rightfully honoured for her achievements, Napoleon stays committed to advancing change for the future.
"We have to do as much as possible in the time we have here. We have to squeeze joy out of every opportunity and support our next generation of grandkids, families and communities," says Napoleon.
