Remembering Former Trustee Robert H. Piestewa Ames
Robert “Bob” H. Piestewa Ames (Hopi; 1929–2023), a beloved former Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Board of Trustees Member and Chair, passed away peacefully in Salinas, California on December 5, 2023, at the age of 94. Ames’s zest for life, love for his family, and contributions to all the communities he served leave an enduring legacy. He was born in Winslow, AZ, on February 26, 1929, to Mary Meade Holloman Piestewa and Harry Piestewa. Ames led a truly remarkable life for a Native person born just before the Great Depression. In 1991, US President George H.W. Bush nominated Ames to the IAIA Board of Trustees, and after a full Senate confirmation in 1992, he was sworn in at the US Supreme Court by Sandra Day O’Connor, a fellow Stanford alumna. This appointment solidified what became an over-40-year passion for all that was Santa Fe for both Ames and his wife Emmy (née Badger) and their family.
“Bob Ames’s accomplishments—including being the first Native American to graduate from Stanford Law School, and the first Hopi to become a lawyer—were groundbreaking. He brought his considerable talents and wisdom to IAIA as a trustee and board chair and was very proud of his Presidential appointment and service to IAIA, and to Indian Country as a whole. He also brought his warm spirit, self-effacing presence, and friendship to everyone he met and every endeavor he took on. We would like to thank Emmy and the entire Ames family for sharing a lovely human being with us.”
Robert H. Piestewa Ames, photograph courtesy the Ames family
Ames excelled in football, basketball, tennis, and baseball at Winslow High School, graduating in 1947. He was also one of the first Eagle Scouts in Arizona. In 1947, he headed for Stanford University and became the first in his family to attend college. Ames received his BA in Economics in 1951 and, while attending Stanford Law School, served as the “house-mom” for Theta Chi. After graduating from law school and preparing to take the bar in 1954, he worked in construction, contributing to the building of Crothers Memorial Hall on the Stanford campus. When Ames received his JD in 1954, he became the first American Indian graduate of the Stanford Law School and the first Hopi to become a lawyer. He joined the Salinas law firm of Stave and Bryan in Salinas, CA. In 1963, Ames received state and national attention for his successful defense of a migrant agricultural bus driver in what was at the time the worst bus and train accident in the United States—the case helped change the farm labor bus laws and regulations as well as accelerated the end of the “Bracero Program.” Eventually, Ames became a partner at Pioda, Leach, Stave, Bryan, and Ames. Ames was deeply involved in Salinas’ civic life.
In the late ’60s, Ames was approached by the elders of the Hopi Tribe as they looked to advance the reservation’s judicial system. Serving as the Tribal Court Chief Judge for 20 years from 1973, Ames traveled monthly to Second Mesa/Keams Canyon, AZ, to preside over cases. As the leader of the Hopi judiciary, Ames worked very hard to make the courts something that the Hopi people could understand and use only when it became necessary. He always hoped that the people would continue to practice their customs and traditions as they did in the past in resolving disputes. Ames also spent a short time in 1969 on Alcatraz during what is regarded as a major turning point in American Indian political power. Ames was there to offer his legal assistance in hopes of bringing a peaceful end to the American Indian occupation such that it would benefit all tribes.
Ames’s impact reached beyond the Hopi reservation, as he lectured on comparative native law at Stanford and Texas Tech University, assisted the Southern Ute Nation with their legal system, and served on the boards of the Museum of Arizona in Tucson and The Heard Museum in Phoenix. Ames’s unwavering loyalty to Stanford was manifested through over 60 years of volunteer service, which was recognized in 2011 with only the 16th “Stanford Medal” ever conferred. He was also an ardent supporter and mentor at Stanford’s Native American Cultural Center, earning induction into the Multicultural Hall of Fame in 2004.
Services and reception for Robert “Bob” H. Piestewa Ames will be held at 1:00 pm on Thursday, December 28, 2023, at Salinas Valley Community Church, 368 San Juan Grade Road, Salinas, CA 93906.
Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is the only college in the world dedicated to the study of contemporary Native American and Alaska Native arts. IAIA offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing, Studio Arts, and Cultural Administration; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History. The college serves approximately 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native American students from around the globe, representing nearly a hundred federally recognized tribes. Named one of the top art institutions by UNESCO and the International Association of Art, IAIA is among the leading art institutes in our nation and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).