Originally from New Zealand, Maia Wikaira descends from the indigenous Maori tribes of Ngati Tuwharetoa, Ngapuhi and Te Rarawa. Maia is currently working in the Office of Tribal Attorney of the largest tribe in California, the Yurok Tribe, as a Legal Fellow. She is in the US as a Fulbright Fellow, having recently completed her Masters in Environmental Law and Policy at Stanford Law School. Prior to coming to the US, Maia was as an attorney with Kahui Legal, the Maori legal services firm that worked on New Zealand’s Whanganui River settlement, affording legal personality to the river. Maia specialized in Maori land, indigenous, environmental and natural resource law, and Treaty of Waitangi settlements.