Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he spent his childhood in New Mexico. He is an enrolled member of Taos Pueblo. His maternal grandfather was a leader within the Taos Pueblo community and was an original member of Taos Pueblo's water rights task force.
From 1986 to 1990 he worked as a professional engineer for General Electric. He was a research assistant in the Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado from 1991 to 1993. He was then employed with the Interior Solicitor's Office in Washington, DC and in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He and his wife Shari [née Hanson] have a son, Matthew and a daughter, Gabriela.