Tracey Lindberg

Tracey Lindberg is a citizen of As’in’i’wa’chi Ni’yaw Nation Rocky Mountain Cree, originating from the Kelly Lake Cree Nation in British Columbia. Her academic journey includes a bachelor of law from the University of Saskatchewan, a masters in law from Harvard University, where she was the first Indigenous woman in Canada to complete her graduate law degree, and a doctorate in law from the University of Ottawa, becoming the first Indigenous woman to receive a doctorate in law from a Canadian university. In 2007, she was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal for her dissertation on “Critical Indigenous Legal Theory.” Her academic focus lies in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Legal Orders, and Law, a field in which she holds a Canada Research Chair.

Lindberg’s career began in 1997 when she joined Athabasca University to teach Criminal Justice. She co-established the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research in 2001, later serving as its director of Indigenous Education. By 2010, she became Athabasca’s fourth Canadian Research Chair, concentrating on Indigenous Legal Orders, Laws, and Traditions. She divided her time between Athabasca University and the University of Ottawa before transferring full-time to the University of Ottawa in 2016, where she currently serves as a professor of Indigenous law and government and an associate professor in the Faculty of Law. Her work at the University of Ottawa includes teaching courses on Aboriginal business law, Indigenous women, and dispute resolution, and contributing to the Indigenous Law Program’s curriculum development, which launched in 2016.

Her debut novel, “Birdie,” published in 2015, became a national best-seller and was selected for the 2016 edition of Canada Reads, defended by entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip. “Birdie” was also a finalist for several other awards, including an Alberta Literary Award, the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and was long-listed for the International DUBLIN Literary Award. Lindberg’s work extends into activism, advocating for Indigenous rights, governance, education, and reconciliation, with a particular focus on Indigenous women’s legal advocacy and addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. She also engages in public speaking on topics like reconciliation, the strength of survivors, youth empowerment, and Indigenous storytelling, and performs as a blues music singer.