Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson LLP is pleased to announce the addition of a new senior associate to its team in Washington, D.C. Attorney Xavier Barraza officially joined Native Law Group on June 2, 2021.
With offices in Louisville, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., the growing, majority native-owned firm provides a broad range of legal services to Indian tribes, tribal entities, and individual Indians across the United States. It prioritizes the sovereignty, jurisdiction, self-sufficiency, and self-governance of the tribes it serves.
“The addition of Xavier to our team this month supports Native Law Group’s ongoing dedication to hire the best and brightest Native attorneys as we continue our work in representing Tribal Nations to advance and defend the interests of tribes and individual tribal members,” said partner Jeremy Patterson. “We’re very pleased to welcome Xavier to our team.”
Xavier is an enrolled member of the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, whose lands in the Sanel Valley and surrounding areas are part of what is now southeastern Mendocino County, California. His grandmother was Marie Arnold-Lincoln of Hopland, and his grandfather, Nelson Hopper of Big Valley.
Xavier has over 10 years of policy and legal experience representing tribal governments. His broad expertise encompasses Indian housing, tax, finance, lands, natural and environmental resources, economic development, tribal codes and ordinances, litigation, and veterans’ affairs.
Xavier is also the co-founder of 7GenLeaders PAC, a Native American Independent-only political action committee. As a result, he has extensive knowledge in campaign finance, election, and voting rights laws.
As an advocate for tribes in D.C., Xavier helped pass Congressional bills that provide tribes with housing development, allowing tribal veterans to access critical housing funds and authorizing tribes to lease above surface lands for development using tribal environmental review standards. He has worked closely with tribal leaders and tribal CEOs to provide testimony at Congressional hearings and develop strategies to obtain results in Congress and before federal agencies in D.C. In some cases, he has worked to prevent the passage of bills that would attack tribal housing, water, and sanitation funding.
Xavier was born in Sacramento and raised on his tribe’s reservation in Hopland, CA. He is a proud alumnus of Sherman Indian High School, a Native American boarding school in Riverside, CA. Xavier lives on Capitol Hill in D.C. He enjoys concerts, movies, cheering for Bay Area teams, the gym, and cycling. To learn more about Xavier, click here.
Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson LLP is dedicated to the representation of American Indian tribes, tribal entities, and individual Indians across the United States. Our mission is to support and advance the sovereignty, self-sufficiency, and self-governance of our tribal clients. We take time to listen to, and fully understand, our clients’ concerns so we can develop responsive and appropriate solutions.