Meet the Team

Honor Keeler, JD (Cherokee Nation) is a highly respected Native scholar who has taught at Brown University and other leading institutions. She has been a leader at the forefront of repatriation efforts and protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples internationally. Honor served as the Director of the International Repatriation Project, which she brought to the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA) through a grassroots effort by the Working Group on International Repatriation, composed of Native Nations, tribal members, and others seeking to bring their Ancestors, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony home. Prior to working at the AAIA,

Honor has also worked with Native leadership to advance and protect environmental rights and tribal sovereignty in Indian Country. She is working with Cherokee Nation citizens and other Native allies to address threats to waterways in the Cherokee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma. Her work in the Cherokee Nation reservation includes organizing Cherokee women and supporting civic engagement in the Reservation. Honor’s work in the Cherokee Nation is rooted in her deep relationships and kinship ties with Cherokee cultural, political, and spiritual leaders. Her work is always approached with the deepest respect for traditional values and protocols.

Keeler was a Visiting Assistant Professor and Repatriation Coordinator at Wesleyan University, where she taught classes centered upon tribal and federal Indian law, Indigenous international law, cultural resources protection, American Indian youth, and repatriation. She has also worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Indian Law Center, and Blackwell Sanders. Keeler received her A.B. from Brown University with Honors in Anthropology, and her J.D. and Indian Law Certificate at the University of New Mexico School of Law where she graduated with clinical honors. In 2010, Keeler founded the International Repatriation Blog, and authored Indigenous International Repatriation (2012), an ASU law journal article, and A Guide to International Repatriation: Starting an Initiative in Your Community (2015). She also served as assistant director for Utah Diné Bikéyah and was appointed to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Honor Keeler, JD has worked extensively with Indigenous Nations and others on the tribal, national, and international levels. Honor…