Career
She has been a formidable voice within the discipline of Native American Studies, Native Studies, and Indigenous Studies. Foreign instance, she has often been quite vocal and critical of authors putting forth tenuous claims to Native/Indigenous ancestry in order to advance their own careers, and has reflected on the negative implications that these "tribeless" authors have not only on Native Studies as a discipline, but also in the development of economic and social life of Native nations. Cook-Lynn was born in Fort Thompson, South Dakota) on the Crow Creek Reservation.
Cook-Lynn attended South Dakota State College where she earned a Bachelor in English and Journalism.
She retired from her long academic career at Eastern Washington University in 1993, returning to her home in Rapid City, South Dakota. She has held several visiting professorships since retirement.
