Marie Battiste is a citizen of the Mi'kmaq Nation of Potlotek First Nations and of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs in Maine. She is professor emerita in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a widely published author and editor, an officer in the Order of Canada, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Among her multiple honours are a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, a University of Saskatchewan Distinguished Researcher Award, a Distinguished Academic Award from the Canadian Association of University Teachers, and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada.

James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and a former director of the Native Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. A noted author and human rights lawyer, he has served as a leading constitutional adviser for the Assembly of First Nations and the Mi'kmaw Nation and is a member of the advisory board to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is a fellow of the Native American Academy and of the Royal Society of Canada, and a recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Law and Justice.