Minwewe Valliere 3L wants to do everything she can to help preserve Native traditional knowledge.
Valliere, co-president of University of Wisconsin Law School’s Indigenous Law Students Association, is a member of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Chippewa Indians, where her mother is an enrolled member. However, she grew up on the Lac du Flambeau reservation, where her father is a member and most of his family resides. She has been attending ceremonies in Lac du Flambeau since she was a baby, experiences that ignited her passion for preserving traditional knowledge and a safe community.
“I have precious memories of my mom teaching me how to cook certain meals and how my prayers go into the food I make,” she said. “I remember my gaagaa (grandma) giving me asemaa (tobacco) as an offering from her beaded pouch when I forgot my own.”
Her upbringing in ceremony made her realize she wanted to help preserve a viable community that is supported for future generations.
“The community and environment that I had the privilege to grow up in is the one that my family and current community members built themselves,” she said. “Their teachings stuck with me through my educational journey.”
Most of Valliere’s family have a long tradition of working for or representing their own or other tribal communities.
Her father teaches their traditional language, Ojibwe, to his community while her mother serves as health director for the Lac Vieux Desert Health Center. Her gaagaa has held numerous positions on the tribal council and has worked for the tribal historic preservation office for years, and her older brother, Steve, works for the Substance Use Support Alliance and helps tribes across California.
“Seeing my family strive for higher education, helping their community and following their own passions inspired me to pursue a career in law,” Valliere explained. “Seeing my family do honest work for their tribe made me passionate to initiate positive change in my community and throughout Indian country.”
Native communities face a number of challenges that Valliere said she feels could benefit from increased legal representation from members with a vested interest in community and culture like herself; issues including affordable housing on reservations to addressing violence within tribal communities. A somewhat new area of tribal law Valliere has explored is data sovereignty and its impact on tribal communities.
“Currently, tribes are attempting to maintain their traditional knowledge in modern society, but they struggle to ensure their legal protections of it,” she explained. This traditional knowledge includes spiritual acts, medicine, language, production, natural resources, etc. which is often passed down through oral tradition.
“Tribal sovereignty allows different tribes to handle issues as they please,” she said. “However, data sovereignty is an issue that reaches across Indian country, affecting us all. Due to the lack of written traditional knowledge, this data has become incredibly valuable. This leaves tribal communities in a vulnerable state with no uniform legal protections in place. It is important to safeguard this data and preserve it for future generations.”
Valliere hopes to be a part of the solution, to help codify a protection for traditional knowledge, specifically Native language in a tribal constitution.
“Throughout my research, I have seen cases where tribes are extorted and receive no compensation for their knowledge and data,” she explained. “Tribes need protection so their knowledge is not commodified and kept from them. It is important to preserve tribal culture and dignity.”
Preserving tribal culture means a lot for a number of reasons, said Valliere, but also because “our language is dying.”
“Throughout generations, my people were forced to give up such an important part of their identity: their way to communicate. I do not want my children or my children’s children to suffer that same fate,” she said. “I want to help protect this language.”
Valliere said she wants to continue the work of those before her, like her father, who goes to work every day and supplies the knowledge of the language to future generations.
“He does his part, and I hope to do mine and solidify the essential legal protections needed for Ojibwe language,” she said. “I hope to make him, the rest of my family, my community and Indian country proud.”
Q&A With Minwewe:
Question: You're co-president of the Indigenous Law Students Association (ILSA). How has your engagement in that organization impacted your experience at UW Law?
Answer: I have been the co-president of ILSA for two years now, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my educational journey so far. It has offered me a sense of community, something that I have struggled with throughout my education as a Native student. Being in ILSA has allowed me to connect with other Native students and be supported by non-Native students who are passionate about tribal law/federal Indian law.
Through ILSA, I have had the privilege to organize and be a part of many events. The most notable is the Coming Together of Peoples Conference (CTOPC). CTOPC is made up of panels organized by students that focus on different aspects of tribal and federal Indian law. Through this process, I have learned so much; leadership, connection, community and respect for my peers. ILSA also works with the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center (GLILC). GLILC has afforded me many opportunities, including my assistantship researching data sovereignty and collaboration with Northwestern Pritzker School of Law tracking tribal and federal Indian law cases.
Both ILSA and GLILC have helped me build a solid foundation for my professional career in Indian country after law school.
Q: How is your broader UW Law experience preparing you to address issues within tribal communities?
A: My UW Law experience has been filled with a diverse group of peers and professors who have shaped my outlook on the legal landscape. I come from a very rural part of northern Wisconsin and lacked diversity in people and opinions. However, throughout my law school journey, I have formed great friendships and professional relationships and have learned so much from each of them. I hope to bring new ways of thinking to tackle prevalent issues within tribal communities.
Q: What are some challenges Native communities face today that you feel could benefit from increased legal representation?
A: Native communities face significant obstacles in addressing violence, largely due to jurisdictional challenges and underfunded law enforcement systems. Unfortunately, Native women and girls are largely impacted by domestic abuse, sexual assault, murder and trafficking. Tribal law enforcement on many reservations struggle with insufficient resources, limited staffing and restrictions on prosecuting.
On the Lac du Flambeau reservation, there is a billboard for Susan Poupart, a young tribal member who went missing in 1990. Throughout my childhood and now adulthood, I have driven past that billboard. Whenever I leave town, it serves as a painful reminder of this issue. Proper legal representation is essential to strengthen tribal jurisdiction, ensure the enforcement of laws and secure federal funding for public safety initiatives. It is also important to ensure that Native issues like these are addressed and solved by Native representation with a vested interest in community and culture.
Affordable housing on reservations is another persistent challenge stemming from generational, systemic barriers. Many reservation lands are held in trust by the federal government, which complicates land use. Federal funding is often inadequate, leaving tribal housing authorities unable to meet members' demands. I have witnessed housing shortages throughout many tribal communities; families waiting on lists for years never get their own housing. Many tribal housing developments also suffer from poor maintenance and overcrowding. With increased legal representation in this area, tribes can navigate land disputes, secure funding and increase development. By advocating for this issue, tribes can strive for a safer community for their members.
Q: Were there any role models, either from Lac du Flambeau or elsewhere, who inspired you in your pursuit of a legal career?
A: My biggest role model is my mom. She has always had dreams to become a lawyer and talks about it often. A huge part of me chased this dream of becoming a lawyer so she could live through me in a way. She has achieved so much and has done so much for her community, but now I know a part of her dream gets to live on. I’ve had the opportunity to work for the Lac Vieux Desert Legal Department as a law clerk, so we both have served our community in our own way, which makes her so proud!
My first job was through a youth program at Lac Vieux Desert, where I got to work under the chief judge at the time, Mark Esqueda. He also ignited my passion for law. What really stood out to me was that people throughout Indian country trusted him. Forming reciprocal relationships is so important, and trust is something that is earned. He worked for the tribe for many years, and I always wanted to be like him; I wanted people to trust me and look to me for guidance like they did with him.
Submitted by Law School News on November 21, 2024
This article appears in the categories: Features, Students
