Institute Leadership
Alumni Leaders
Angelique W. EagleWoman (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate) Director
Judge Lenor Scheffler Blaeser ’88
Angelique W. EagleWoman (Wambdi A. Was’teWinyan) began her career in legal academia in 2006 as a law professor at Hamline University School of Law, a predecessor school to Mitchell Hamline. As conditions did not allow for the establishment of a program focused on Native American law, she started on a full circle journey that brought her back to Mitchell Hamline in 2018. In the fall of 2021, Professor EagleWoman realized the dream of stewarding the Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute in the Dakota homelands by becoming director. During her legal academic journey, EagleWoman established the Native American Law emphasis program at the University of Idaho College of Law in 2008, and in 2016 she became the first Indigenous law dean in Canada when she assumed the deanship of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She has taught several times in the Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians and Alaska Natives, as she is dedicated to increasing the number of Native American attorneys in the country. She has received numerous awards for her teaching, scholarship, and contributions to supporting diversity in higher education.
Ḳaƞġi Ḣupahu Wiƞ (Lower Sioux Indian Community) Chief Judge Upper Sioux Community Tribal Court
Justice Anne McKeig ’92
Awaniikwe (White Earth Nation/Eagle Clan) Associate Justice Minnesota Supreme Court
Professor Kekek Stark ’06
Kekek (Gekek) (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) Assistant Professor of Law Co-Director of the Indian Law Program and Co-Director of the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic Alexander Blewett III School of Law University of Montana
In November 2020, she was sworn in as an associate justice on the Sisseton Wahpeton Supreme Court, and she has been acting chief justice since May 2021. She is the only member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota) of the Lake Traverse Reservation to sit on this court. As a Dakota woman, having the opportunity to teach the law on Dakota homelands in St. Paul is especially meaningful to her. EagleWoman is a nationally known expert in the field of Native American law. She presents and publishes on topics including tribal-based economics, Indigenous sovereignty, international Indigenous legal principles, treaty rights, tribal court jurisprudence, and quality of life for Indigenous peoples. She is co-author of the book “Mastering American Indian Law” (2nd edition 2019) with Stacy Leeds (Cherokee Nation), law professor at Arizona State University and the first Native American woman dean in the United States (University of Arkansas Law). EagleWoman attended Stanford University, B.A. in Political Science; University of North Dakota School of Law, J.D. with distinction; and the University of Tulsa College of Law, LL.M. in American Indian and Indigenous Law with honors. She is a citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota) of the Lake Traverse Reservation and from the Thunderbeings Clan.
Patti Buhl ’20
(Cherokee Nation) Director of Juvenile Justice Office of the Attorney General Cherokee Nation
Two of Professor EagleWoman’s recent publications include: NATIVE AMERICAN LAW AND SOVEREIGNTY INSTITUTE
♦ “Permanent Homelands through Treaties with the United States: Restoring Faith in the Tribal Nation-U.S. Relationship in Light of the McGirt Decision,” 47 MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW REV. 640 (2021)
875 Summit Avenue St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
♦ “Jurisprudence and Recommendations for Tribal Court Authority due to Imposition
888-962-5529 mitchellhamline.edu
of U.S. Limitations,” 47 MITCHELL HAMLINE LAW REV. 339 (2021).
Contact information: Director, Angelique EagleWoman Email: angelique.eaglewoman@mitchellhamline.edu Office: 651-290-6438
Follow Professor EagleWoman on Twitter @ProfEagleWoman
Follow the institute on Twitter and Instagram: @nals_institute
01924 2021-10
Empowering legal perspectives and skills, in a supportive community that prepares students to take on the legal challenges and issues in Indian Country
Academics
Community
Applying to law school
The Native American Law and Sovereignty (NALS) Institute is unique as a program at the law school. It has dual purposes of furthering legal education in the field of Native American law and of recruiting, supporting, retaining, and graduating Native American law students. Further, it maintains a strong connection to the Indigenous peoples of this region and the sovereign Tribal Nations in Minnesota. The institute is also engaged in highlighting and supporting the cultural and traditional Indigenous legal principles the Native faculty and students bring to the school.
As part of the institute, students join a community of law students and alumni across the country sharing similar experiences as Native Americans entering the field of law or as students interested in the field. Law students have the opportunity to join the Mitchell Hamline Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) chapter. Our NALSA chapter participates in advocacy at the local, regional, and national levels. Participants in coursework and NALSA may apply to represent the law school in the annual National NALSA Moot Court Competition. Guest speakers are invited by the institute and NALSA to celebrate and elevate Indigenous Peoples Day and other events.
LSAT Prep Scholarships may be available at different times during the year.
The institute is grounded in the practical skills of lawyering. Students learn from professors who have spent their careers working in Indian Country for Tribal Nations, law firms, and other entities involved with tribal governments.
Native Justice Scholarship is available for Native American applicants who meet admissions qualifications. It caps total tuition for the law degree at $40,000, not including summer and J-term courses. For other applicants demonstrating a depth of experience working with tribal communities, the scholarship may also be available.
Above: The institute hosted a daylong CLE titled “Tribal Courts and Treaty Rights: Perspectives from the Front Lines.” Judges and attorneys shared their experiences practicing in tribal courts in Minnesota and Wisconsin and compared those systems to Indigenous legal systems in Canada. Presentations also examined pending cases on tribal treaty rights in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts; 2018.
The remaining three requirements are to complete experiential learning credits, write a legal research paper on a Native American law topic, and take electives within the student’s area of concentration as discussed with the faculty adviser. Above: Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Anne McKeig (White Earth Nation), second from right, with Professor EagleWoman and NALSA students; Indigenous Peoples Day, 2019.
The institute partners with tribal court judges to offer judicial externship opportunities for law students in the upper years. In addition to judicial externships, law students may participate in an independent externship with lawyers practicing in a variety of capacities within Indian Country and in state and local government positions involving tribal families or other tribal legal areas.
is an excellent opportunity to prepare for the law school experience.
best suit student learning and degree completion.
The institute offers a certificate program for law students who complete four requirements. The flow of courses begins with an overview course introducing students to the Tribal Nations–U.S. relationship, including a focus on the tribal perspective on interactions through treaties and other legal agreements, U.S. policy eras related to Indian affairs, U.S. Supreme Court cases, and federal legislation impacting tribal governments, the tribal land base, and tribal citizens. The prerequisite course, Native American Law, provides an opportunity to review historical policies, cross-cultural perspectives on legal developments, and their continuing legacies to contextualize contemporary court decisions and policy implementation. The course is regularly offered in both the fall and spring semesters, to allow in-person and blended-learning students opportunities to take it. Next, students complete the foundational course requirement by taking Advanced Topics in Native American Law and the paper course, Introduction to Tribal Law. From this starting point, students may shape their trajectory through advanced course options to deepen their understanding and legal skills to enter the legal profession. All of the regularly offered courses are available in an online format.
The institute provides opportunities to engage in the work of lawyering as a law student. The Native Law: Tribal Code Drafting Clinic is supervised by Professor EagleWoman, former in-house counsel for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota) of the Lake Traverse Reservation and transactional expert for tribal law, regulation, and policy drafting. Students in the clinic are introduced to a small-firm environment where the faculty member serves in a senior partner role. Students receive drafting assignments that have been approved as legal development projects at the request of tribal governments and organizations.
Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians and Alaska Natives
Full-time, part-time, and blended online programs are all available to
Certificate and Courses
Clinics and Externships
Please use the contact information provided on the back panel to inquire as to eligibility and availability.
Right: Wayne Ducheneaux II (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), Native Governance Center executive director, at NALSA’s spring general membership meeting on Tribal Nation sovereignty in 2019.
Alumni and Networks Mitchell Hamline has a large alumni network to support and encourage current law students. The institute director participates on the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association (MAIBA) board of directors, and NALSA students serve on a range of committees. The institute is connected with a network of regional and national Native-focused organizations and activities. Law students may be mentored by practicing lawyers and judges throughout Indian Country and in this field of law.
Tribal Nations represented by our law students and graduates Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Brothertown Indian Nation of Wisconsin Cherokee Nation Chickasaw Nation Colorado River Indian Tribes Choctaw Nation Eastern Band of Cherokee Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Gila River Indian Community Ho-Chunk Nation King Island Native Community Kiowa Tribe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Lower Sioux Indian Community Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Native Hawaiian Native Village of Cantwell Native Village of Nelson Lagoon Navajo Nation Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Oglala Sioux Tribe Omaha Tribe of Nebraska Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Red Lake Band of Chippewa Rosebud Sioux Tribe Sac and Fox Nation Siksika Nation (First Nation in Alberta, Canada) Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota) of the Lake Traverse Reservation Spirit Lake Tribe Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Unangax (Aleut) White Earth Nation Yankton Sioux Tribe