Eleanor Shirley

Eleanor Shirley is an American and Navajo jurist serving as the interim chief justice of the Navajo Nation since 2025. A member of the Navajo Nation Bar Association since 1977, she has been an associate justice of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court since 2011 and previously served as a district court judge in Crownpoint, New Mexico.

Shirley was first appointed to the Supreme Court as a probationary justice in 2008. Her permanent appointment in 2011 followed a contentious confirmation process in which a Navajo Nation Council committee initially voted against her before the decision was reversed. She was formally recognized as interim chief justice on July 3, 2025.

Early life and education Shirley speaks the Navajo language. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Fort Lewis College.

Career Shirley has been a member in good standing of the Navajo Nation Bar Association since December 1977.

On July 3, 2025, Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren, speaker Crystalyne Curley, and Law and Order Committee chair Eugenia Charles-Newton formally recognized Shirley as the interim chief justice of the Navajo Nation. Her appointment followed the Council's decision not to make the previous probationary chief justice, JoAnn Jayne, permanent.