The Huerta Scholarship was established in 2014 in honor of Judge Laurence Huerta to provide financial support to Native American law students at the University of Arizona Law. Judge Huerta, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, was the first Native American student to graduate from Arizona Law (class of ’53) and be licensed to practice law in Arizona. Throughout his illustrious career, Judge Huerta worked tirelessly to increase access to education and promote tribal sovereignty.
This year we are calling on the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program and University of Arizona Law community to support the Huerta Scholarship by donating on #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving, this November 27, 2018.
How You Can Support Huerta Scholars
Invest in the success of Native law students this #GivingTuesday on November 27, 2018. There are multiple ways you can support Huerta Scholars:
You can support Huerta Scholars by making a donation today. Make sure to select "Huerta Scholars" in the “I want to support” field on the donation page.
Leading up to November 27, share our campaign on social media and tell your friends why you stand with Native students using #HuertaScholars and #GivingTuesday.
Stand with Native law students by donating to the Huerta Scholarship today. Help us reach our goal of raising $15,000 in support of Native law students.
Class of 2021 Includes Community Leaders, Scholars, and Health Advocates
The members of the University of Arizona College of Law (University of Arizona Law) class of 2021 bring a wealth of experience in community advocacy and leadership to the law school community. Thanks to the heavy investments the University of Arizona Law and the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program have made in student recruitment, retention, and advising initiatives focused on Native students, this year’s incoming class is one of the most accomplished to date. With the addition of Assistant Professor of Law and IPLP Program Graduate Advisor Akilah Kinnison, along with IPLP Program Specialist Alisha Morrison’s focus on student success, we are poised to continue the great strides we have made in Native student recruitment and mentoring.
Meet some of the members of the JD class of 2021.
Michelle Paulene Abeyta is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She was raised by her grandmother and grew up in To’hajiilee, New Mexico. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Mexico, where she majored in Native American Studies and Communication with a minor in Geography. Public service has been a life lifelong tradition in Paulene’s family, which she continues to carry on today. She is the Vice President of the To’hajiilee Community School Board of Education. During her first year on the Board, she advocated for a Memorandum of Understanding between the To’hajiilee school and the Canoncito Health Center, which allowed the health center to expand services and promote community wellness for the students, teachers, and staff on the school campus. In 2017, she was elected to the Board of Directors for the Canoncito Band of Navajos Health Center, Inc., and the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Women, Infants, & Children Program (ACL WIC). While on the ACL WIC Board, she advocated for breast-feeding participants to receive nursing bras and nursing pads, a costly necessity often overlooked.
Paulene is a member of the Emerge New Mexico Class of 2017. While in Emerge New Mexico, Paulene raised concerns about the low participation of Native American women running for office in tribal communities and state government. She found a solution and pitched the idea of “Emerge Native America” to help promote the Emerge mission in Native American communities. This past August, Emerge New Mexico named Paulene the 2018 Emerging Woman of the Year.
Paulene is an American Indian Graduate Center Fellow, a Williams Achievement Scholar, and a member of the Native American Law Students Association at the University of Arizona. She chose the University of Arizona Law for the opportunity to study under noted scholars of Indian Law, particularly Professor Williams, who is a contributing author to the Federal Indian Law: Cases and Materials case book. Paulene and her husband Chad, also a Juris Doctorate candidate and Air Force veteran, have two awesome kids and four playful dogs. Chad will be joining the 3L class (and re-uniting with the family) as a transfer student from University of New Mexico Law School in the Spring. We look forward to Chad joining our NALSA community.
Vincent Redhouse is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law at the University of Arizona in 2015. Upon graduating, he accepted a two-year Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. His research focused on the moral authority of Australia and the United States to impose laws on their respective indigenous citizens, concluding that no such authority could plausibly be said to exist under contemporary liberal moral frameworks. His decision to attend law school came as a result of working with politicians and staffers from Australia and the U.S. during his Fulbright. After graduation, he hopes to work as a lobbyist for tribes in Washington, D.C.
Joy Parker (Abenaki, Koasek/Sokoki) moved to Tucson from northern Minnesota to attend the University of Arizona Law and to participate in the IPLP program. She comes to the study of law as a midwife, with years of experience practicing as a primary health care provider in mostly rural areas and having tended hundreds of babies into this world. Joy brings with her deep human rights concerns, specifically as they relate to the rights of indigenous women (and all women) to respectful, trauma-informed and culturally honoring care, and to an environment that will nurture their health and that of future generations. While she is (for generations) a child of the north woods and is at home in the cold and snow, she finds all wilderness nourishing and has fallen in love with the Sonoran Desert and the saguaros here in Tucson.
Applications Open for Tribal Professionals Cohort
Each year, full funding for three January In Tucson courses is offered to a small group of tribal professionals living and working in the U.S. This carefully selected Tribal Professionals Cohort is interested in educating themselves on how to strengthen tribal governance. Completing these courses will earn the individual cohort members credit towards a Continuing Education Certificate in Indigenous Governance. Additionally, the cohort will receive supplemental educational materials as well as the opportunity to meet and debrief what they’ve learned with one another throughout the year.
The application deadline is December 1, 2018. Apply here.
Professor Diamond Leaves Legacy of Service
Professor Diamond (right) with Donald Harvey (Chief Judge, Tohono O’odham Nation Court) Pete Sabori (Hopi & Pima).
Professor James Diamond (SJD Class of 2014) has announced he will be retiring, starting in the spring 2019 semester.
Among the many lasting and significant contributions Professor Diamond made during his time at the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program, some of the most impactful include the expanded partnerships with the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Under Diamond’s direction, the Tribal Justice Clinic expanded the strong partnership with the Tohono O’odham Judiciary and established a student practice rule adopted by the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Court, allowing students enrolled in the Tribal Justice Clinic to appear in court under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
The University of Arizona Law and IPLP Program is starting a national search for a new Director of the Tribal Justice Clinic. In the interim the clinic will be directed by Professor Robert A. Williams and IPLP Teaching Fellow Derek Kauanoe.
Arizona Law Student Awarded Los Abogados and Seven Generations Scholarships
The Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association held its annual gala earlier this month, announcing the recipients of the Valdemar A. Cordova ('50) Scholarship. Los Abogados has a long tradition of involvement by Arizona Law alumni. Among the recipients named was third year Arizona Law student Marliza Rivera (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma).
The Cordova Scholarship is awarded to law students who have demonstrated a commitment to serving the Hispanic community. Marliza Rivera is originally from inner city Chicago. She is deeply devoted to serving Arizona's Latino and Native American communities. Her award bio continues, "She is a proud Latina and a member of the Kiowa tribe. She received her Bachelor's degree in psychology from Chicago State University. Through the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy program at Arizona Law, she is working to increase bar passage rates among diverse students and establish a legal incubator for new attorneys. As an attorney, she will practice immigration and tribal law and continue to devote significant pro bono hours to immigration work."
Marliza was also awarded the Seven Generations Scholarship earlier this month, established by the Native American Bar Association of Arizona. The scholarship is awarded to promising Native law students with a commitment to community service and advocacy.
Congratulations, Marliza!
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University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
The Huerta Scholarship was established in 2014 in honor of Judge Laurence Huerta to provide financial support to Native American law students at the University of Arizona Law. Judge Huerta, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, was the first Native American student to graduate from Arizona Law (class of ’53) and be licensed to practice law in Arizona. Throughout his illustrious career, Judge Huerta worked tirelessly to increase access to education and promote tribal sovereignty.
Vincent Redhouse is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law at the University of Arizona in 2015. Upon graduating, he accepted a two-year Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. His research focused on the moral authority of Australia and the United States to impose laws on their respective indigenous citizens, concluding that no such authority could plausibly be said to exist under contemporary liberal moral frameworks. His decision to attend law school came as a result of working with politicians and staffers from Australia and the U.S. during his Fulbright. After graduation, he hopes to work as a lobbyist for tribes in Washington, D.C.
Joy Parker (Abenaki, Koasek/Sokoki) moved to Tucson from northern Minnesota to attend the University of Arizona Law and to participate in the IPLP program. She comes to the study of law as a midwife, with years of experience practicing as a primary health care provider in mostly rural areas and having tended hundreds of babies into this world. Joy brings with her deep human rights concerns, specifically as they relate to the rights of indigenous women (and all women) to respectful, trauma-informed and culturally honoring care, and to an environment that will nurture their health and that of future generations. While she is (for generations) a child of the north woods and is at home in the cold and snow, she finds all wilderness nourishing and has fallen in love with the Sonoran Desert and the saguaros here in Tucson.
The Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association held its annual gala earlier this month, announcing the recipients of the Valdemar A. Cordova ('50) Scholarship. Los Abogados has a long tradition of involvement by Arizona Law alumni. Among the recipients named was third year Arizona Law student Marliza Rivera (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma).
