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.