Tamara Napoleon⁺

Principal Lawyer | Co-Lead, Indigenous Law Group
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About

Tamara is a member of Saulteau First Nations and among a handful of Indigenous female solicitors in Canada. At MT+Co., Tamara co-leads our Indigenous Law Group.

Tamara works for clients that demand greater equity, legacy, and equality in their business and governance affairs. She delivers.

She delivers purposeful and strategic advice and empowers her clients’ informed decisions. Most importantly, Tamara brings diplomatic grace to her work that advances Nations and their businesses.

EXPERTISE

Tamara is a respected advisor on advancing Indigenous title implementation, jurisdiction, legal orders, and consent-based decision-making in government-to-government arenas. She helps clients navigate sustainable resource development and equitable revenue sharing for the projects and industries within their Territories. She also supports clients at negotiations, advises on UNDRIP implementation, and analyzes the legal responsibilities flowing from the use of natural resources.

Tamara maximizes the commercial footprint of Nations, advising on commercial acquisitions and the structures necessary to realize economic prosperity.

An avid volunteer and community leader, Tamara generously shares her skills with the BC Cancer Foundation Board of Directors, the Victoria Foundation Board of Directors, and her own Nation’s economic development entity, the Mistahiya Group of Companies. She is also former Vice President of the Aboriginal Mothers Centre Society, director of Vancouver Native Health Society, and Governor of the Justice Institute of BC.

WORTH NOTING

Tamara hails from a long lineage of fierce, driven Cree women who, while driving her limits, also drive her to make change happen in all aspects of her life. Outside of the office, Tamara is usually planning her next race or her next escape to the shores of Horsefly Lake. She is a mother to two endlessly curious boys who make everything less serious.

Credentials

  • Called to the Bar in BC, 2008
  • Director of the Victoria Foundation, 2022 - Present
  • Director of BC Cancer Foundation, 2021 - Present
  • Director of Wellness and Indigenous Sustainable Economies Centre, 2021 – Present
  • Recipient of UVic Distinguished Alumni Award, 2018
  • Former Vice President of Aboriginal Mothers Centre Society, 2010-2015
  • Juris Doctor (JD), University of Victoria, 2008
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA), Gender Studies and Sociology, University of Victoria, 2005
  • Member of Indigenous Bar Association
  • Director of Mistahiya Development Corp. (Saulteau First Nations corporate entity)

ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Recognized by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in the area of Indigenous Law, Since 2022
  • Lexpert Aboriginal Law Lawyers to Watch, 2021, 2022
  • Recognized in Lexpert Top 40 under 40, 2020
  • YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Nominee, 2017

⁺Tamara T. Napoleon Law Corporation

Areas of Practice

Indigenous Law