Index of University Press Releases

Feb. 13, 2009

Pommersheim to speak at DWU

Frank Pommersheim

MITCHELL — Law professor Frank Pommersheim will speak at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17 in the McGovern Library Room 126 at Dakota Wesleyan University.

Pommersheim’s topic is Native Americans, Justice and Diversity: The Continuing Challenge. The public is invited to this free lecture.

Pommersheim was born in New York City, but has lived in South Dakota for more than 30 years. Prior to joining the faculty at USD’s law school in 1984, he lived and worked on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation for 10 years. He currently serves on a number of tribal appellate courts throughout Indian country and serves as chief justice for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals and associate justice for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Supreme Court.

Pommersheim writes extensively in the field of Indian law. He is the author of “Braid of Feathers (American Indian Law and Contemporary Tribal Life)” and many scholarly articles. He is also a poet. His most recent book is “East of the River: Poems Both Ancient and New.” He has also received the University of South Dakota Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching and the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center Reconciliation Award. Pommersheim is also a contributor to the 2005 edition of Felix Cohen’s “Handbook of Federal Indian Law,” and he received the 2006 John Wesley Jackson Award as the Outstanding Professor of Law. His new book, “Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes and the Constitution,” is due out in 2009.

This event is sponsored by the South Dakota Humanities Council, DWU Leadership and Public Service Program, DWU Criminal Justice Program, and Oyate Ho Waste.