As a Colgate student when John F. Kennedy\nwas president, Frank Pommersheim \u201965 was\ninspired by JFK\u2019s famous statement, \u201cAsk not\nwhat your country can do for you \u2014 ask what\nyou can do for your country.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Pommersheim is an appellate\ntribal justice \u2014 the highest position in the\nNative American court system \u2014 staying true\nto that guiding principle.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pommersheim\u2019s work has allowed him not only to help develop the future of Indian law but also to participate in the ongoing struggle to have tribal sovereignty recognized within the U.S. court system. He now serves on four appellate courts in South Dakota and Nebraska. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When friends would ask why he chose to focus his career of nearly five decades on Indian law, Pommersheim had a quick answer: \u201cThis is not a life that I chose, but it\u2019s a life that chose me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A first-generation college student from Queens, N.Y., Pommersheim decided to major in sociology and anthropology at Colgate after taking a class with the late Warren Ramshaw. \u201cHe was a very significant person in terms of believing in me,\u201d Pommersheim reflects. \u201cHe encouraged my writing and my ideals, and that\u2019s what I needed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pommersheim was initially introduced to\nthe Native American community when, after\ngraduating from Columbia Law School, he\nlanded his first job as a lawyer with VISTA\n(Volunteers in Service to America) in rural\nAlaska. Three years later, he was teaching at\nSinte Gleska University, which opened on the\nRosebud Indian Reservation in 1971.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While attending powwows and playing\nbasketball on the reservation (he played\nvarsity at Colgate), Pommersheim quickly\nbecame a participant within tribal culture.\nWhen his mentor, Stanley Red Bird, died,\nPommersheim was adopted by his friend\u2019s\nfamily in a special Lakota ceremony.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt did not make me \u2018Indian\u2019 in any way, legal or otherwise, but it did make me a \u2018relative\u2019 with duties and responsibilities to my \u2018family,\u2019\u201d he wrote in his book, Tribal Justice: Twenty-Five Years as a Tribal Appellate Justice <\/em>(Carolina Academic Press, 2015). <\/p>\n\n\n\n After joining the faculty at the University of South Dakota School of Law, Pommersheim was appointed to the Rosebud Sioux Supreme Court, one of seven tribal courts he would serve on in South Dakota, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Michigan. While hearing cases on the appellate courts, each of which typically meets in person or on videoconference once a quarter, he has ruled on issues ranging from tribal enrollment to judicial authority over non-Indians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of his opinions that was challenged in the federal courts involved a lawsuit over the Heileman Brewing Co.\u2019s use of the name Crazy Horse \u2014 taken from the famous 19th-century Lakota warrior \u2014 on its Crazy Horse Malt Liquor, a marketing ploy that was condemned both inside and outside of the Indian community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Descendants of Crazy Horse sued\nHeileman in tribal court, claiming that the\ncompany had no authority to use the name\nand arguing that the warrior had denounced\nthe introduction of alcohol to American\nIndians. After the Rosebud Supreme Court\nruled in the Indian community\u2019s favor,\nHeileman appealed in federal district court\nand then the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals,\nwhich decided that the tribal appellate court\ndid not have jurisdiction in the case because\nthe malt liquor had not been sold on the\nreservation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the high court\u2019s decision, the\ndescendants of Crazy Horse ultimately\nreached their goal when Heileman\nvoluntarily stopped producing the malt\nliquor. In addition, Heileman made a public\napology and presented traditional gifts of\nPendleton blankets and horses to the Crazy\nHorse family at a public gathering on the\nRosebud reservation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though he retired from teaching in 2019, Pommersheim has continued his tribal appellate work because of his passion for helping Native Americans navigate their way through traditional and modern law. \u201cIt\u2019s a dynamic, ongoing process, and the tribal courts play an important role in that,\u201d he says. \u201cFor me, it just became an honor to serve.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides writing five books on Indian law, Pommersheim is a published poet. Poetry became more of a focus in his writing after he became a father and wanted a way to express the experience of parenting three children, including Kate \u201907. His five poetry collections have touched on subjects such as family, landscape, social justice, and the meaning of life. Writing poetry, he says, \u201cis a necessity with which to search for beauty, truth, wisdom, and generosity in this world and the next.\u201d He shares two pieces here. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddha Writes a Short Poem on <\/strong> Not probable cause equal protection and lethal injection <\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddha Sends a <\/strong> Cut complicity<\/p>\n\n\n\n gather reason show respect pour it <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Frank Pommersheim \u201965 is an appellate tribal justice, the highest position in the Native American court system, helping develop the future of Indian law. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":9302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[354,897,643,894,295,895],"coauthors":[754],"class_list":["post-9182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-news","category-alumni-updates","tag-alumni","tag-court","tag-first-generation","tag-indian","tag-law","tag-native-american"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-2o6","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/05\/20220119-Pommersheim-Frank-8147Optimize.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9182"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9570,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9182\/revisions\/9570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9182"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nPoems by Pommersheim<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What the Constitution Meant <\/strong>
to Breonna Taylor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
But probable death<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of 32 bullets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to the dream<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunter-Gatherer Poem to <\/strong>
Prof. Pomm\u2019s PLSI Indian Law Class<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
seek balance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
find spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n
all out<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n