Kirke Kickingbird (Kiowa) has been Of Counsel to Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, since 2000.
In 1971 with Vine Deloria, Jr, and Frank Ducheneaux, he created an Indian law research center, the Institute for the Development of Indian Law (IDIL). He was co-counsel in Redman v. Ottina (1973) which forced the Nixon administration to free the “impounded” $18 million to start the Indian Education Act of 1972, and in Harjo v. Kleppe (1976), which enforced the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s treaty guarantee of self-government.
He advocated doubling the tribal land base through the return of stolen lands in his book, “One Hundred Million Acres” (1973). His book “Indian Sovereignty” (1977) supports tribal sovereignty, treaties and jurisdiction. His 1987 book, “Indians and the U.S. Constitution” highlights sovereignty and the tribal political relationship with the United States.
In 1996 Mr. Kickingbird became the first Native American elected to the American Bar Association Board of Governors. In 2016 he became the first Native American to Chair the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. He served twice as president of the Native American Bar Association.
Admitted to practice in 1969, he has been a legal advisor on Indian law to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Congress American Indian Policy Review Commission, the U.S. State Department, the Legal Services Corporation and Special Counsel on Indian Affairs to the Governor of Oklahoma. He was director of the Native American Legal Resource Center at Oklahoma City University law school from 1988-2000.