Patricia Zell

Patricia Zell (Navajo/Arapahoe) recently left her position as Democratic staff director and chief counsel of U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs as well as her duties as editor of Indian Law Review. Zell’s involvement in Indian Affairs issues began when she worked for the American Indian Policy Review Commission from 1975 to 1977, serving as the research director for the Task Force on Tribal Government and later as a member of the staff that prepared the Commission's final report. In 1977, she joined the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where she worked on the Investigation into the Administration of Justice by the State of Washington as it affects Native Americans and was a contributor to the Commission's 1981 publication entitled Indian Tribes: A Continuing Quest for Survival. In 1978, Zell joined the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs as a professional staff member and also began her legal studies at Georgetown University, earning a Juris Doctor in 1981. After graduation from Georgetown, she worked for a year as a staff attorney with the American Indian Lawyer Training Program before returning in 1982 to the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs to serve as a staff attorney. In 1985, she began serving as the editor of the Indian Law Reporter. In 1986, the then new Chairman of the Committee, Senator Daniel Inouye, appointed Zell as Chief Counsel to the Committee. In December 1990, she also assumed the duties of Staff Director. During her career her work on behalf of Native Americans has been recognized by a number of organizations including receiving the 1992 Distinguished Service Award from American Indian Resources Institute.

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Seminar speeches given by Patricia Zell:

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