Chase Iron Eyes
Executive Director
Chase Iron Eyes is a life long advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. As director of the Lakota People’s Law Project and co-founder of LastRealIndians.com, Chase was a key figure in peaceful resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline. A member of the Oglala Nation from Standing Rock, he holds degrees in political science, American Indian studies, and law with a focus on Federal Indian Law. Chase’s work emphasizes the intersection of Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protection.
Jiah Dzentu
Director of Operations & Development
Jiah Dzentu (Dene) is a traditional hide tanner, youth advocate, and cultural facilitator from Liidlii Kue, NWT, Canada. They have worked with non-profits around the circumpolar Arctic to build impactful on-the-Land cultural programming for the last decade. Jiah helps ensure that Sacred Defense Fund operates smoothly and efficiently, managing resources and supporting funding initiatives.
Dov Korff-Korn
Legal Director
Dov uses legal strategy and movement building to safeguard Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice. Dov manages our civil rights caseload and policy campaigns resisting the destruction of Indigenous homelands and sacred sites by extractive industry. His work involves federal Indian law cases heard before the Supreme Court and proceedings on behalf of cultural practitioners, water protectors, and incarcerated elders. Dov supports Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) food justice and community health programs as a board member of Hui Hoʻoleimaluō. He holds a BA in government from Dartmouth College and a JD from the New York University School of Law, where he was a member of the American Indian Sovereignty Project. Dov is admitted to practice law in New Mexico.
Darren Thompson
Director of Media Relations
Darren Thompson is an award-winning journalist, artist, and organizer from the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reservation in Wisconsin. For over 15 years he has championed tribal sovereignty and environmental justice through media work, including the National Congress of American Indians and Native News Online. Darren studied Criminology & Law Studies at Marquette University, where he also began his journey as a traditional Native American flute player.
Tokata Iron Eyes
Spokesperson & Organizer
Tokata (Future) Iron Eyes is a fierce climate activist and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, advocating for Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice from an early age. Raised on Standing Rock and Pine Ridge Reservations, she blends Western and Indigenous teachings to challenge colonization and capitalism. Tokata continues to inspire global action against the climate crisis and fights for land back to Indigenous people.
Chris Sherertz
Video Editor
Chris is a cinematographer, database developer and video editor working with Native-led organizations, mainly the Warrior Women Project, Last Real Indians and Lakota People’s Law Project since 2008. His approach to visual storytelling centers narrators and the integrity of their narratives, and relationships with the storytellers are what have kept him connected to this work. Since 2016, much of his editing work focused on the Dakota Access Pipeline and related water issues.
Noel Rabinowitz
Digital Director
Noel has over three decades of empowering grassroots movements with strategic technology and media capabilities to win greater racial and economic justice for more and more people. It’s an honor to serve here for Native American rights and environmental justice as we “get in good trouble” against racism, poverty, war, exploitation, gender oppression and environmental degradation. What do digital platforms for mass organizing, outreach performance analysis, supporter research, staff training, data integrity and security have to do with social progress? Well I’m with you still trying to learn by doing. Find me any time by emailing noel@lakotalaw.org or message me on LinkedIn. I’d love to connect.