Meet Our Newest Board Member

Elise McGowan-Cuellar is an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and serves as an Appellate Justice for her Tribe. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan with a degree in American Culture and graduated from Michigan State College of Law with the Indigenous Law Certificate from the Indigenous Law & Policy Center.  In addition to her role as Appellate Justice, Elise also serves as Executive In-House Counsel for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. Prior to serving the Executive Branch of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, she served as a staff attorney for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. She has also worked for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians Legal Department and Michigan Indian Legal Services. Throughout the year, Elise enjoys living Mino Bimaadiziwin (the good life) attending and dancing at powwows with her three children and asserting tribal treaty rights.

Meet Our Newest Board Member

Kathryn V. Myrtle has dedicated her entire career to the field of Indian Law and to the advocacy of Tribal Nations. She earned her B.A. in political science from Rhode Island College in 2019 and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina, School of Law in 2022. After law school, she served as Judicial Law Clerk for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court. She also worked at a national law firm on its Indian Law Practice Team based in Buffalo, NY before returning to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in 2025. There, she currently serves in the Office of Legal Counsel, where she represents the interests of the Tribal Nation and its departments, arms, entities, and enterprises, including Foxwoods Resort Casino.