Val Napoleon, a 2026 Fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, has been named to the Royal Society of Canada in recognition of her major contributions to the advancement of Indigenous law, legal research, and innovative approaches to legal education. 

Co-founder of the joint Juris Doctor and Juris Indigenarum Doctor degree program and founding director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit at the University of Victoria, she has played a leading role in advancing the understanding and teaching of Indigenous legal traditions. Her current work focuses in particular on the holistic rebuilding of Indigenous legal orders.