Indian Gaming Tradeshow 2019

Joel West Williams
Senior Staff Attorney
Native American Rights Fund


Joel West Williams is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Senior Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). Joel has represented tribal nations, individual Indians, and Indian organizations in matters involving religious liberty, sacred places, voting rights, natural resources, administrative law, and constitutional law. He is NARF’s lead attorney on the Tribal Supreme Court Project, which focuses on the strategy and coordination of Indian law cases before the United States Supreme Court. He earned a B.A. in Psychology and Religious Studies from Naropa University; a J.D. from Widener University Delaware Law School; and a LL.M. in Environmental Law summa cum laude from Vermont Law School. Prior to joining NARF, Joel was Assistant Counsel with the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of General Counsel, where he represented the executive branch as a trial and appellate attorney. He was also Senior Legislative Officer with Cherokee Nation and director of the tribe’s Washington, DC office. In addition to his work at NARF, Joel is also President of the National Native American Bar Association, an adjunct professor of law at Vermont Law School, and the alternate federal commissioner on the Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission.

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