Daniel N. Paul, CM ONS, (born 1938) is a Miꞌkmaq elder, author, columnist, and human rights activist. Paul is perhaps best known as the author of the book We Were Not the Savages. Paul asserts that this book is the first such history ever written by a First Nations citizen. The book is seen as an important contribution to the North American Indian movement. One writer stated, "It's a Canadian version of Dee Brown's bestseller Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and, as such, served a valuable purpose in raising public consciousness about Miꞌkmaq history, identity, and culture."

Among his many awards, Paul has been conferred with the Order of Canada (2005) and the Order of Nova Scotia (2002). He received from Université Sainte-Anne an honorary Doctor of Letters degree (1997).[1] He has an honorary law degree from Dalhousie University (2013) and is the recipient of the Grand Chief Donald Marshall Memorial Elder Award (2007).  During his active career, he has visited and lectured at most high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools in Nova Scotia, several out of province, all universities in the Maritimes and at many others elsewhere in Canada and the United States of America. His brother Lawrence Paul is the former long-serving chief of Millbrook First Nation (1984-2012).