Justice Amanda White Eagle
KEYNOTE: Amanda L. White Eagle, with nearly twenty years of Tribal law experience, provided advice and counsel to the Ho-Chunk Nation government. She previously served as the tribe’s Attorney General and Executive Director for the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Justice. She also served as a judicial officer (an Interim Chief Judge and Associate Judge) for the Ho-Chunk Nation Judiciary from 2006-2015. She is admitted to the Ho-Chunk Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, and the United States Supreme Court Bar. She served as the inaugural NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project Clinical Fellow.Presently, she is the Director of the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Additionally, she serves as a Tribal court judge or justice, to Tribal governments throughout the United States, including the Wampanoag Judiciary, Prairie Island Indian Community Court of Appeals, Santee Sioux Nation Judiciary, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with liberal arts degrees (a B.A. in Anthropology and French as well as a Certificate in American Indian Studies). She attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, graduating with a juris doctor degree. She also has a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Government from Harvard University Extension School.
The Honourable Judge Paul Favel
PANELIST: The Honourable Judge Paul Favel, a member of Poundmaker Cree Nation, was appointed to the Federal Court of Canada in December 2017. Prior to his appointment, he was a partner at McKercher LLP in Saskatoon, specialising in Aboriginal law with a focus on First Nations economic development, including land claims, self-government negotiations, and commercial leasing. He served as Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and was a member of the Oversight Committee under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Judge Favel is co-chair of the Federal Court Aboriginal Bar Liaison Committee and a member of the Court’s Chambers in Aboriginal law and Class Action law. He holds a BA from the University of Saskatchewan and an LLB from Dalhousie University, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in Saskatchewan in 2010. He remains closely connected to his community and has also lectured on First Nations economic development at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law.
Kerensa Johnston
PANELIST: Kerensa Johnston (Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahine) is a lawyer and leader with a strong commitment to social justice and Māori legal development. She has worked as a solicitor, barrister, and legal academic at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori legal issues, public law, and international law. From 2016 to 2025, she served as Chief Executive of Wakatū Incorporation and is currently the Project Lead for Te Here-ā-Nuku, a major litigation initiative seeking the return of whenua to the Māori customary owners of Whakatū (Nelson). Kerensa lives in Nelson and holds several governance roles, including Chair of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and Chair of Ngāti Tama ki te Tau Ihu Charitable Trust, reflecting her deep involvement in advancing Māori aspirations through law, research, and community leadership.