Brett Lee Shelton received his Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford University, and a Master of Arts from the University of Kansas.
He is a magna cum laude graduate of Baker University, where he majored in Business Administration. While at Stanford Law School, he was honored by the Foundation of the State Bar of California with an Exceptional Merit Award for Public Service Leadership, and he received the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Award and Scholarship, the John Milton Oskison award for best graduate student paper, and was named Indian Graduate Student of the Year. He is currently licensed to practice law in various courts including California, Colorado, South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, as well as several United States courts.
Following graduation from law school, Brett has worked as a research attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, as policy analyst for the National Indian Health Board, as an organizer for international indigenous peoples in biotechnology evaluation, assisting domestic violence victims in civil court for a reservation-based nonprofit, and in private practice.
His publications include Issue Brief: Legal and Historical Roots of Health Care for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, Publication #7021, (Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, February 2004); “The Legal and Historical Basis of Indian Health Care” in Promises to Keep: Public Health Policy for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the 21st Century, (Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 2001); “Genetic ‘Markers’ are Not a Valid Test of Native Identity”, with Jonathan Marks, in GeneWatch, (Cambridge, MA: Council for Responsible Genetics, Winter 2000); Indigenous Peoples, Genes, and Genetics (Wadsworth, NV: Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism, 2000); Tribal Perspectives on Indian Self-Determination and Self-Governance in Health Care Management (Denver: National Indian Health Board, 1998); “A View from the Front Lines: Current Status of Four Water Rights Cases,” Water Resources Update, no. 107, (American Resources Council, Spring 1997); Intellectual Property Rights: An Overview (Boulder, CO: Native American Rights Fund, 1996). His public speaking engagements and radio interviews have been numerous across the U.S., Canada, and Aotearoa/New Zealand, and he has also given educational presentations in Tonga and Greenland.
His current practice experience includes extensive work representing and advising tribal governments, agencies, and enterprises in general governmental, health and human services, employment, natural resources, construction, and economic and business development matters, as well contributing legal advice and litigation support for various private business and development initiatives.
Brett’s other interests include adding to the knowledge of the Lakota language given to him by his grandfather Walt Stone, hiking, men’s personal development, and making original jewelry creations for Makoce Designs Inc.