Dr. Carma Corcoran Retires After 19 Years of Dedication

After 19 years with Lewis & Clark Law School, Dr. Carma Corcoran is retiring as the Director of American Indian Law.

Reflecting on her work at Lewis & Clark Law School, Dr. Corcoran noted “my vision was to support both Native American Law students and all students interested in Indian Law. I feel like I have been able to do that by being an advisor, a connector across Indian Country, and a relationship builder.”

Dr. Corcoran’s work first began with scheduling summer classes, hiring summer professors, and promoting the area of Indian Law. Over the last two decades, she began launching new and additional course offerings, recruited, hired, and supervised more adjunct professors across Indian Law, and collaborated on and created events focusing on the issues of Native and Indian people and the law.

In addition to her work at Lewis & Clark Law, Dr. Corcoran earned a PhD in Philosophy, focusing her dissertation on the issue of incarceration and Native American women; published a book: The Incarceration of Native American Women Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery through Gentle Action Theory; was as an Adjunct Professor at Portland State University; was named a Whistenton Fellow through the Kettering Foundation’s Deliberative Democracy Institute; and was named a Fellow through the Native Hope Fellowship Program.

As her time at Lewis & Clark Law School comes to a close, Dr. Corcoran is decidedly most proud to have broadened the understanding of Indian Law at Lewis & Clark. “As I often say, there is no practice of Law that does not coincide with the issues of Native Americans and Indigenous people… All aspects of my life, including my education and career, are defined by my being a Native American woman and an enrolled citizen of the Chippewa Cree Nation.”

Though she will be missed in her position at the Law School, Dr. Corcoran plans to continue teaching for a few years before transitioning to focus on her consulting business and drafting her second book. She notes that “I’ll still be very active across Indian Country addressing societal issues.” We would expect nothing less.