Dr. Michael Luoma
Assistant Professor – Political Science

Michael Luoma (BA, University of Toronto; MA, PhD, Queen’s) is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Political Theory at the University of Northern British Columbia (Department of Political Science). Prior to starting his position at UNBC, Michael was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity (CSDD) and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (IIGR) at Queen’s University (2023-2025). Michael’s research focuses on normative and philosophical problems concerning state legitimacy in multinational contexts, with a focus on jurisdictional authority and territorial rights in Indigenous-settler relations. He has published articles about traditional Indigenous governance systems and collective self-determination; historical injustice and restitution; the rights of cross-border Indigenous peoples; domination in contemporary treaty negotiations; and changing representations of Indigenous peoples in Ontario’s K-12 curriculum. Presently, Michael is co-editing a volume in the IIGR’s longstanding State of the Federation series on Indigenous self-determination and treaty federalism with Dr. Veldon Coburn (McGill) while also working on a solo-authored book manuscript about the restitution of territory.