PROFESSOR CHRISTINE ZUNI CRUZ SHARES HER KNOWLEDGE OF
INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND ISSUES

During the 2008 January Term, the Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law was honored to host Christine Zuni Cruz, Professor of Law from the University of New Mexico Law School.

Professor Zuni Cruz is well known for establishing the Southwest Indian Law Clinic, which she continues to administer. She has also distinguished herself as the first attorney from the Isleta Pueblo and was the first Pueblo woman to become a tenured law professor. Professor Zuni Cruz’s teaching and scholarship explore law and culture, including the impact of law on Indian families, lawyering for native communities, and the internal traditional and modern law of Indigenous People. She is also the Editor in Chief of the Tribal Law Journal, an on-line journal dedicated to the Law of Indigenous People.

Professor Zuni Cruz serves as an Associate Justice on the Isleta Appellate Court. She also served as a tribal court judge for the Pueblos of Laguna and Taos, an appellate judge of the Isleta Court of Tax Appeals, and an appellate judge of the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals.

While in Hawai‘i, Professor Zuni Cruz taught a course on the law of Indigenous People. She also was kind enough to make public presentations to the Native Hawaiian Bar Association and the law school community.