Angelique EagleWoman explained

Angelique EagleWoman
Birth Date:1 December 1969
Nationality:Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
Other Names:Wambdi Awanwicake WasteWin
Occupation:Legal scholar
Education:Stanford University (BA)
University of North Dakota (JD)
University of Tulsa (LLM)
Known For:First Aboriginal person appointed as a dean of a Canadian law school.

Angelique EagleWoman (Dakota: Wambdi Awanwicake WasteWin; born 1969)[1] is a Dakota law professor and scholar of Indigenous law. She is a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation. EagleWoman was the Dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada from 2016 until she stepped down in June 2018, alleging issues of systemic racism leading to constructive dismissal.

She holds a law professor position and is the Co-Director of the Indian Law Program at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.[2]

Early life and influences

Angelique EagleWoman was born in Topeka, Kansas. During her childhood years in Kansas, she was raised mostly in a single-parent household by her mother; her family, including a brother, faced poverty conditions. When she was 8 years old, she watched her aunt and uncle on television after they won a lawsuit against the Shawnee County Sheriff's department for brutally beating her uncle, an African-American, when he went to pay a speeding ticket.[3]

As a teenager, she moved with her father and brother to her home reservation, the Lake Traverse Reservation of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. Her grandmother, Ramona (DeCoteau) Washington and her father, Stephen L. Jackson Sr., both attended mandatory government boarding schools in South Dakota. When she was 15 years old, she received her woman's name in the Dakota language of Wambdi Awanwicake Was'teWinyan in a family ceremony on her reservation.[4]

As a young woman, she was mentored by Roger Jourdain, former Chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and a strong sovereignty advocate for Indigenous nations. She has one son named Maverick Jourdain Eagle. His middle name is in honor of her mentor.

Career

Before being appointed Dean at Lakehead University, EagleWoman taught at the University of Idaho College of Law, established the Native American Law Emphasis Program, held a position in the law faculty at Hamline University School of Law teaching Native American Law and Contracts, and a visiting position at the University of Kansas School of Law and in the master's degree program, Indigenous Nation Studies. Her classes focus on tribal economic development, legal code development, litigation, contract law, and international Indigenous law.

During the 2017-2018 academic year, EagleWoman taught all of the first-year students in two sections of the mandatory Indigenous Legal Traditions fall course and taught the entire second-year class of students in the mandatory Aboriginal Legal Issues course to ensure that the courses were taught by an Indigenous legal academic.

She filed a civil suit against the university in November, 2018, claiming $2.67 million for lost wages, human rights violations as an Indigenous woman, and "harm to dignity". "In a statement of claim filed in Ottawa, EagleWoman alleges she experienced ongoing micro-management, a failure on the university to provide her with the resources and support needed to carry out the law school's mandate, a lack of support with managing faculty and a hostile work environment."[5] Further, "EagleWoman added that her abilities to lead the law school were continually undermined by the school's senior administration as they regularly made decisions about the law school without consulting her."[6] The claim was settled in 2020 "to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.[7]

Several times, EagleWoman has served on the board for the National Native American Bar Association. Additionally, she holds memberships with the District of Columbia, Oklahoma, and South Dakota Bar Associations. Of particular note is her time serving as General Counsel to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate, working as an associate attorney with Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse and Endreson in Washington D.C., and her work as a Tribal Public Defender for the Kaw Nation and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.[8]

On January 12, 2016, the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University announced that EagleWoman would be the new Dean of Law.[9] [10] Her tenure, which began in May 2016, made her the first Indigenous law dean in Canada.[11] Her appointment was welcomed by the Indigenous legal community, including the Indigenous Bar Association. In June 2018, EagleWoman stepped down from her position citing systemic racism in the university and the law school.[12]

She currently is a visiting law professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, MN where she teaches in the Indian Law Program and courses in contract law and civil dispute resolution.[2]

Education and awards

EagleWoman has her BA in Political Science from Stanford University, her JD from the University of North Dakota School of Law with distinction, her LLM from the University of Tulsa College of Law, with honours, studying American Indian and Indigenous Law.[13]

During the spring of 2008, EagleWoman received the Kansas University Center for Indigenous Nation's Crystal Eagle Award. This award was for recognition of her leadership and dedication in helping members and students in Indigenous communities. Other awards include:

Works

References

  1. News: Warren . May . First aboriginal woman to head Canadian law school lives up to her name . August 2, 2018 . Toronto Star . January 24, 2016 . https://archive.today/20180802165958/https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/24/first-aboriginal-woman-to-head-canadian-law-school-lives-up-to-her-name.html . August 2, 2018 . en . live .
  2. Web site: Angelique EagleWoman – Faculty, Staff, and Administration. mitchellhamline.edu. 2019-09-25.
  3. Web site: ContractsProf Blog: Contracts Prof Weekly Spotlight: Angelique EagleWoman (Wambdi WasteWin). lawprofessors.typepad.com. en. 2019-09-25.
  4. News: First aboriginal woman to head Canadian law school lives up to her name The Star. The Toronto Star. 24 January 2016 . en. 2019-09-25.
  5. Web site: EagleWoman sues Lakehead University. Chronicle-Journal. The. The Chronicle-Journal. 22 November 2018 . en. 2019-09-25.
  6. Web site: Former law school dean sues Thunder Bay's Lakehead University for 'racial discrimination'. 2018-11-21. CBC. 2019-09-25.
  7. Web site: Lakehead settles discrimination suit with former law dean . 8 February 2021 .
  8. Web site: Angelique EagleWoman. University of Idaho Law. June 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160701085323/http://www.uidaho.edu/law/people/faculty/eaglewoman. July 1, 2016. dead.
  9. Web site: Angelique EagleWoman named dean at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. TBNewsWatch.com. 12 January 2016 . en. 2019-09-25.
  10. News: Celebrated Indigenous law school dean resigns claiming systemic racism. Yang. Jennifer. April 11, 2018. Toronto Star. April 12, 2018.
  11. Web site: First aboriginal woman appointed as dean of Canadian law school. Loriggio. Paola. January 13, 2016. The Globe and Mail. June 20, 2016.
  12. News: Lakehead University 'acknowledges' law school dean's resignation CBC News. April 4, 2018. CBC News. April 12, 2018. en-CA.
  13. Web site: Angelique EagleWoman appointed Dean of Lakehead's Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. January 12, 2016. Lakehead University. June 20, 2016.
  14. Web site: Diverse Archive Emerging Scholars. diverseeducation.com. 2016-07-20.
  15. Web site: 9 Notable Women Who Rule American Indian Law. 13 September 2018 .

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