Delia Opekokew
Delia Opekokew is a Canadian lawyer. A Cree from the Canoe Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, she was the first First Nations lawyer ever admitted to the bar association in Ontario and in Saskatchewan,[1] as well as the first woman ever to run for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations.
Opekokew graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1977, and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1979 and to the Bar of Saskatchewan in 1983.[1] She was initially a partner in her own law firm, Zlotkin & Opekokew, which she soon left in order to become legal counsel to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations from 1980 to 1985, and later became an associate with Blaney, McMurty, and Stapells from 1985 to 1990.[1] She subsequently worked in First Nations law across Canada, including stints as a commissioner investigating the shooting death of Leo Lachance and as lead counsel in Kenneth Deane's trial for the shooting death of Dudley George.[1]
She was a candidate in the AFN's 1994 leadership convention, but lost to Ovide Mercredi.
She is currently a partner in the Saskatoon law firm of Opekokew, Johnstone-Clarke.[1]