Vanessa Racehorse
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401 UCB
2450 Kittredge Loop Road
Wolf Law Building
Boulder, CO 80309
Office: 405
Phone: (303) 492-3652
E-mail: vanessa.racehorse@colorado.edu
Curriculum Vitae: View (PDF format)
Bio:Vanessa Racehorse is an Associate Professor of Law and a core faculty member of the American Indian Law Program at Colorado Law. 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 has previously taught as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law and 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 and was 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.
Articles
| Tribal Health Self-Determination: The Role of Tribal Health Systems in Actualizing the Highest Attainable Standard of Health for American Indians and Alaska Natives, 55 COLUM. HUM. RTS. L. REV. __ (forthcoming 2024). |
| Achieving Climate Justice Through Land Back: An Overview of Tribal Dispossession, Land Return Efforts, and Practical Mechanisms for #LandBack, (with Anna Hohag) 34 COLO. ENV'T L.J. 175 (2023). |
Other Publications
| Indigenous Influence on the Rights of Nature Movement, 38:3 NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT (ABA SECTION OF ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND RESOURCES) (Fall 2023). |
Courses:
| Spring 2025 | American Indian Law II | LAWS 7735-801 |
| Fall 2024 | Special Topics | LAWS 6708-802 |