PhD student awarded Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Graduate Prize

Naiomi Metallic’s doctoral work at the Faculty of Law is helping us learn how Indigenous laws can be implemented within the Canadian state, and last fall that innovative research earned her a Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Graduate Prize.

Metallic was one of three PhD students at the University of Alberta recognized with the prize and is the first student to receive the award in the Faculty of Law.

In the spring of 2021, Metallic was awarded a prestigious Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship.

“It's very humbling to have been chosen for this in addition to winning an Izaak Killam scholarship,” said Metallic. “It is heartwarming. I think it speaks to a real desire to support work towards reconciliation and to make space for Indigenous legal orders.”

Recipients of the Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Graduate Prize are selected based on academic achievement, research proposal, letters of recommendation and leadership qualities. Metallic’s supervisor is Associate Professor Hadley Friedland.

In addition to her doctoral studies, Metallic is an assistant professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, where she is the Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy.