Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute Historical Background March 2026 1
The Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute is the combination of faculty support, staff efforts, student organizations programming, law school courses, conferences, and events from the two legacy law schools and the current Mitchell Hamline School of Law. In 2015, Hamline University School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law merged to form the Mitchell Hamline School of Law (MHSL) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Both predecessor law schools had decades of academic coursework, Native student enrollment, and programming in the field. Their history has shaped and strengthened the present-day Native American Law and Sovereignty (NALS) Institute. Since 2024, the Mitchell Hamline School of Law has the highest enrollment of Native American law students in the country. The legacy and current law school are located on the treaty homelands of the Dakota peoples. The greater region in Minnesota includes the homelands of the Anishinaabe/Chippewa/Ojibwe peoples. The NALS Institute Land Acknowledgment for Mitchell Hamline School of Law records the connection of Indigenous peoples to the lands upon which the law school sits. Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute – Land Acknowledgment We acknowledge our presence in the Tribal and treaty homelands of the Dakota Oyate since time immemorial. These lands are home to the Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota peoples. There are four Tribal Nations who remain in these lands as Tribal governments, the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Prairie Island Indian Community, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and the Upper Sioux Community. We acknowledge and respect the Dakota Oyate as part of the larger Sioux Nation, traditionally known as the Seven Council Fires, the Oceti Sakowin. We also acknowledge the regional territory of the Ojibwe/Chippewa/Anishinaabe peoples in these Tribal homelands. There are seven Tribal Nations who remain in these lands as Tribal governments, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and the White Earth Nation. We also acknowledge the ancestral connection of the Ho-Chunk Nation to this region. In these Tribal lands, Indigenous peoples have joined together in community, stewardship, and spirituality upholding traditional values and legal principles.2 In the urban environment of Minneapolis and St. Paul, known as the Twin Cities, the American Indian Movement has stood in protest against the denial of treaty rights and human rights for This historical background was authored by Professor Angelique EagleWoman, Director of the Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute, with thanks to former program administrators Lani Petrulo and Sara Wells. 2 This Land Acknowledgment is not available for public use and is specific for our institution. Please contact the NALS Institute for permission to use. 1
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