Martha Blue

Blue was admitted to the bar in Arizona in 1967.[5] She entered private practice in 1974, specializing in publishing, art, copyright, human rights, and Native American law.[5][6][1] As a young lawyer and mother, she would bring her daughter to work with her every day and nurse her in the office.[7]

In 1967, Blue was one of the first attorneys to work at Dinébe’iiná Náhiiłna be Agha’diit’ahii (DNA), a legal aid program serving Navajo and Hopi people.[8][1][7] She took the job at DNA partly because it was difficult for her to find a position as a female attorney.[1] She was one of three women in her graduating class, and all were only offered jobs as law clerks.[7] During her time at the agency, she handled more than 6,000 cases and trained native peoples to serve as legal advocates in tribal courts.[1]

For seven years, Blue lived in Tuba City, Arizona, on Navajo lands.[5] She works frequently with Hualapai, Navajo, and Hopi peoples.[5] Ward and Blue is based in Flagstaff, Arizona but has a branch office in Tuba City.[5][1] Blue also served as counsel to the Tuba City School Board.[6] She was the general counsel for the Havasupai tribe[2][8] and helped the tribal counsel draft of the tribal law code.[6] The only way to reach the tribe, who lives at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, is to travel by foot, horseback, or helicopter.[5]

Blue lived for a time in Micronesia[9] but found it difficult to be taken seriously as a woman.[7] While there, she helped to establish a legal services program for Micronesian residents of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1971.[1]

Blue has taught at various levels,[1] including courses at Northern Arizona University on Navajo ethnology.[5] She is frequently consultant on issues relating to Native American welfare.[6] She was recognized in 2000 by the Maricopa County Bar Association as one of 100 minority lawyers who had made a difference in Arizona.[9] Blue has served as chairman of the Arizona State Bar Association's Art Law Committee.

Blue was born in Cincinnati, Ohio[1] to David and Martha Manning.[10] As a child her family moved to Cleveland.[1] When she was 11, they moved west, first to Colorado and then Arizona.[9][1] The family arrived in Phoenix, and then settled in Prescott where she was graduated from high school.[1][9][7] As a child she wanted to be an African missionary when she grew up, and then a doctor, before settling on the law in high school.[1] Blue attended the University of Arizona for both her bachelor's degree and then for law school, completing the traditionally seven year program in six.[1][7] Blue earned a Juris Doctor in 1966.[1]

Blue founded and served as president of the Friends of the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site.[8][1] She was also a trustee of the Museum of Northern Arizona and served on the board of Native Americans for Community Action.[8]

Blue has a sister, Marlene McGoffin, and a brother, Quentin Craft.[10] Blue was formerly married to Roy Ward, her law partner.[1] Together they have a daughter, Zoe.[1] She lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.[10]

Her writing focuses on the historical juxtoposition of the various cultures of the American Southwest.[9]

• By the Book, Legal ABCs for the Printed Word[5]
• Your Right to Indian Welfare[5]
• Handbook on BIA General Assistance for Attorneys and Advocates[5]
• Making It Legal: A Legal Guide for the Author, Artists, and Craftsperson[5][6]
• Indian Trader, an ethnobiography of Juan Lorenzo Hubbell[8]

• List of first women lawyers and judges in Arizona