Kristen A. Carpenter of the University of Colorado Law School has been appointed as a justice of the inaugural Supreme Court of the Shawnee Tribe.
Following her nomination by Chief Ben Barnes, Professor Carpenter was confirmed by the Shawnee Tribal Council and sworn in during an online ceremony on Dec. 10, 2020.
"I am deeply honored by the confidence entrusted in me by the Shawnee Tribe," Professor Carpenter said. "At a time when Indigenous peoples are rebuilding their legal institutions, with attention to both traditional custom and contemporary circumstances, I will try to carry out my responsibilities with the utmost care and respect for the Shawnee people and all others within the jurisdiction."
Professor Carpenter is an American Indian law scholar with expertise in property, cultural property, human rights, and Indigenous peoples. She serves on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as its member from North America and served for many years on the board of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Section.
Learn more here.