Angela Barker-Jones (July 29, 1969 – July 31, 2018) was a Cherokee jurist who served as a justice on the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

supreme court. She was the second woman to hold this position in the court's history.

Life

Barker-Jones was born on July 29, 1969, in

Okmulgee, Oklahoma Okmulgee is a city in the Tulsa metropolitan area and the county seat of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, Okmulgee County in Oklahoma, United States. The name is from the Muskogee language, Muskogee word ''okimulgi,'' which means "boiling waters".Bambu ...

. Her mother, Dianne Barker-Harrold, was an attorney, and her husband, Stephen, led dental programs within the

health system. She graduated from Tahlequah High School in 1987 and received a B.S. in criminal justice from

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of hig ...

in 1991, where Barker-Jones graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. In 1995, she earned her J.D. from the

University of Tulsa College of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law is the law school of the private University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 2023, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Tulsa College of Law at No. 111 among all law schools in the United S ...

, graduating in the top ten percent of her class and being named to the Order of the Curule Chair. Barker-Jones began her legal career as an assistant district attorney for Muskogee County from 1995 to 1996, later serving in the same role for Cherokee County in 2007. She later became a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

in Cherokee and Adair counties, where she focused on ensuring fair legal representation for all clients, particularly juveniles. She maintained a private law practice in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

, where she worked on criminal and civil cases. Barker-Jones served as a hearing officer for the Cherokee Nation's administrative appeals board and was a member of the tribe's employee appeals board. On January 2, 2013, Barker-Jones was sworn in as a Cherokee Nation supreme court justice after her appointment was approved by the

tribal council A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines. An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...

in December 2012. Her appointment marked her as the second woman to serve on the court, following Stacy Leeds, and the first to be appointed under principal chief Bill John Baker’s administration. Barker-Jones was 43 at the time and began a 10-year term on the five-member Supreme Court, replacing justice Darell Matlock, whose term expired at the end of 2012. During her five and a half years on the bench, she interpreted Cherokee Nation laws and oversaw cases involving

child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...

, the

Indian Child Welfare Act The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA, enacted November 8, 1978 and codified at Indian Child Welfare Act, (, )) is a United States Code, United States federal law that governs jurisdiction over the removal of Native Americans in the United ...

, citizenship, and other legal matters. Lee W. Paden was selected to fill the remainder of Barker-Jones' term set to run until December 31, 2022. Barker-Jones was married to Stephen Jones, with whom she had three children. She and her husband owned and operated The Grill, a restaurant in Tahlequah. She served on the Tahlequah Main Street Association board and provided

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

legal services to local organizations. Barker-Jones died on July 31, 2018, at the age of 49, after a cancer diagnosis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker Jones, Angela 1969 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Native American people 20th-century Native American women 21st-century American judges 21st-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women Justices of the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation Living people 21st-century American women judges University of Tulsa College of Law alumni Cherokee Nation women Northeastern State University alumni Women in Oklahoma politics Native American women in politics People from Okmulgee, Oklahoma People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Life

See also

References