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In August, Prof. Vanessa Racehorse will join the Colorado Law Faculty as an Associate Professor of Law and a core faculty member of the American Indian Law Program. Her teaching and scholarship focus on American Indian & Indigenous Peoples law, human rights, international law, and environmental justice. Racehorse is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and a descendant of the Cherokee Nation and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes.    

Professor Racehorse currently teaches on the faculty at the University of New Mexico School of Law and has previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law. Prior to entering academia, she served as a Deputy Attorney General for the Colorado River Indian Tribes, an attorney for the California Native American Heritage Commission, and an Associate Attorney at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, LLP, a top-ranked national law firm dedicated to representing Native American interests. She is admitted to practice in the State of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  

Professor Racehorse has a B.A. from the University of Denver, an LL.M in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a recipient of the Parker School Recognition of Achievement in International and Comparative Law, President of the Columbia Native American Law Students Association, and the Bluebook Editor for the Columbia Law Review. 

In this interview, Prof. Racehorse sits down with Colorado Law’s Emily Battaglia to share more about her work. 

What are you most excited for in your move to Colorado? 

VR: I could not be more thrilled to return to Colorado! On a professional level, I’m eager to connect with Colorado’s legal community and to further build relationships with Colorado’s Native community.  On a personal note, I attended college at the University of Denver, so I’ve always loved Colorado’s natural beauty. I have so many more 14ers to hike and I still need to learn to ski, so I’m looking forward to fixing that. 

Can you share a bit about any current projects you are working on? 

VR: I am currently finishing an Article that is forthcoming in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review where I examine the concept and practice of Tribal self-determination in the context of health care systems that serve American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The intent of this Article is to highlight the crucial role that Tribally-managed health systems can and are playing in closing the health gap that exists in Indian Country. 

Somewhat relatedly, I am also working on a piece for the American Indian Law Review’s 50th Anniversary Symposium, where I reflect on the 50-year history and impact of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. 

What is your proudest career accomplishment? 

VR: In my academic career, it’s definitely been receiving the offer to join the faculty at Colorado Law! In practice, I’ve had the privilege of having a legal career where I’ve been able to work closely with Tribal nations on a lot of really interesting matters pertaining to Tribal self-governance, so it’s hard to pick just one specific accomplishment. However, I was very proud to be part of a top-tier law firm where I was able to do legal work for all three of the Tribal nations that I have ancestry from. 

Can you talk more about your work in UNM School of Law’s Law and Indigenous Peoples Program? Do you plan to undertake similar work here at Colorado Law?  

VR: During my time teaching in the Law and Indigenous Peoples Program at UNM, I’ve taught in the Southwest Indian Law Clinic, where I worked with students on live cases to provide legal representation to tribal members of surrounding Pueblos. Recognizing the importance of practical experience, I intend to also provide students at Colorado Law with impactful opportunities to work with real-world partners as much as possible, even though I will teach outside of the clinic space.  

I have also taught a lot of different courses like Indian Law and the Law of Indigenous Peoples. As part of Colorado Law’s fantastic American Indian Law Program, I’ll be teaching similar courses within the field of American Indian and Indigenous Peoples law, including Tribal Law and advanced American Indian Law.  

What inspired you to pursue your legal career, and more specifically, one with a focus on American Indian & Indigenous Peoples law, human rights, international law, and environmental justice?  

VR: My dedication to American Indian and Indigenous Peoples law is really rooted in my Native identity, as an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and a descendant of the Cherokee Nation and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. I’ve had my sights set on entering the legal profession since childhood, understanding on a very personal level the power the law has to either help or disenfranchise entire communities. In college, I attended a pre-law summer program where I learned about the high rates of violence that American Indian and Alaska Native women experience at the hands of interracial perpetrators, and how the complicated criminal jurisdiction scheme that exists in Indian Country exacerbates the issue. That was honestly a pivotal moment for me, and I felt even more driven to go to law school so that I could gain the tools to figure out how to be part of the solution.  

Around that time, I also studied abroad in Australia and started to learn about the striking parallels between the governmental policies and actions of different settler-colonial states, and how deeply harmful they have often been to indigenous peoples, which broadened my professional interests to include human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples on a global scale.  

In law school, these interests were really just reaffirmed, as I gained a more in-depth understanding of the impact of race in the law, the role of Tribes as sovereign governments in our domestic legal system, and to be honest, what an intellectually fascinating and all-encompassing field Indian law is to navigate. It’s hard not to be passionate about the work, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have opportunities to shape my career around these deeply meaningful areas.