Shelly Martin is a Mi’kmaq lawyer from Millbrook First Nation. As the first daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter in a long line of Smiths, Phillips and Copes, including her parents Roger and Gayda, grandparents Pat and Lila, and great-grandparents Margaret (“Aung Meg” or Maggie) and Charlie—her roots run deep. While Shelly has built a legal career across a broad area of practice, her first loves are history, storytelling and music.

She is deeply committed to her community, serving on the Curatorial Advisory Board for Mi’kmawey Debert and the Judicial Advisory Committee for Judicial Affairs Canada. Her leadership extends nationally as a technician for the National Chiefs Children’s Committee and the AFN Chiefs’ Committee on Justice. A former Small Claims Court Adjudicator, she honed her reputation for good judgement and open-mindedness. Shelly currently serves as the Mi’kmaq co-Chair of the Tripartite Forum’s Justice Committee and volunteers on the board of the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation.

Shelly participates in rug hooking and knitting. She grew up helping her Dad and Grandad dress and skin deer, and often played a game of double dare with her two sisters, to judge which of her dad’s buck scent collection was the worst. Like her mother, she is haunted by the famous moose that got away on Hunter’s Mountain. Sometimes after late-night returns from a fishing trip, Shelly can be spotted gutting her catch in the driveway—much to the amusement of her neighbours in Fall River. Shelly shares her home and her adventures with her two children and her dog, Archie.