Michelle L. LaPena

Michelle L. LaPena is a member of the Pit River Tribe and a mother of three. She is an Indian law attorney, and has owned and operated an Indian law practice since 2006. She has lectured at primary, secondary, and university levels on topics related to California Indians and federal Indian law for over two decades. In addition, she has published a number of law review articles, essays, and non-fiction articles on topics relative to her work with California Indian tribes. She received her BA in 1993 and her JD in 1998, both from the University of California, Davis. She was recently graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with an MFA in Creative Writing, and is a recipient of the 2015 Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship and a Full Circle Scholarship from the American Indian College Fund.