Board Members
Justice Yvonne Kauger
When Justice Yvonne Kauger was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1984 by Governor George Nigh, she became the second woman ever to serve on the court. She served as Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from January 1997 to December of 1998. Kauger is a fourth generation Oklahoman from Colony, Oklahoma. After she was adopted by the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma in 1984, she co-founded Red Earth, Inc.. She founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian in Colony and has acted as Symposium Coordinator for The Sovereignty Symposium, a seminar on Indian law sponsored by the Oklahoma Supreme Court since its inception in 1987.
Justice Kauger is widely known for her advancement of Native American cultural and scholarly events. She founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian, which is located in her hometown of Colony, Oklahoma. She was co-founder of Oklahoma City’s nationally acclaimed Red Earth Native American Culture Festival which promotes awareness of the diversity of the many Native American cultures Since 1987, she has served as coordinator for the Oklahoma Supreme Court-sponsored Sovereignty Symposium, a two-day conference held each spring in Oklahoma City adressing current legal issues affecting Native Americans.
She has received many awards throughout her career, including the Oklahoma Bar Association's Award for Judicial Excellence. She is the only sitting judge to have received the Herbert Harley Award from the American Judicature Society, given in recognition of her efforts to improve the administration of justice. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.
Justice Kauger graduated magna cum laude from Southwestern State University and first in her class from OCU School of Law. She received an honorary doctorate from OCU in 1991, and she has been named a distinguished alumnus by OCU and Southwestern. Her husband, Ned Bastow, a former Assistant Attorney General, now serves as General Counsel to the Chancellor of the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education. Her daughter, Jonna Dee Kauger Kirshner, is General Counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
Box 11000 - Oklahoma City, OK - 73136