Baker was born on October 4, 1976[1] in New Town, North Dakota on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.[2] She is an enrolled member of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.[2] Her parents spoke Hidatsa but Baker did not learn the language.[3] She attended Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHS College).[4] She earned a B.S. in environmental geology and technology (2002) and M.S. in education general studies (2005) from the University of North Dakota (UND).[4]
From 2009 to 2013, Baker was the project director of the UND national resource center on Native American aging.[4] In this role, Baker established a database based on surveys of Native elder health statistics on diabetes, suicide, and other health issues.[3] She also worked in tribal data sovereignty and policy.[3] During this time, she completed a Ph.D. in teaching and learning and research methodologies in 2013 from UND.[4][2] Her dissertation was titled Mental health and social engagement among American Indian elders.[1] Her doctoral advisor was Steven LeMire.[1] The doctoral research led Baker to become the principal investigator of the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative.[3]
In 2013, Baker returned to NHS College as the dean of students at the invitation of Alyce Spotted Bear who was working as the vice president of Indian studies.[4] Six months later, she became its interim president.[3] In October 2014, she was appointed the seventh president of NHS College.[4]
In 2020, Baker alongside Prairie Rose Seminole and Ruth Buffalo formed a Native American caucus group within the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party.[5]
Baker has seven children.[3]
