Sherri Mitchell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sherri Mitchell
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| Born | 1969 (age 54–55) |
| Education | University of Maine (BS) James E. Rogers College of Law (JD) |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Sherri L. Mitchell - Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset (born 1969) is a Penobscot lawyer, author, teacher and activist from Maine. Mitchell is the author of Sacred Instructions; Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change, a narrative of 'Indigenous Wisdom' that provides "a road map for the spirit and a compass of compassion for humanity."
Early life and education
Mitchell grew up on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (Indian Island). She is the granddaughter of Theodore N. Mitchell, who founded the Native American Studies Program and the Wabanaki Center at the University of Maine. She graduated from the University of Maine magna cum laude before studying law at the University of Arizona's Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program led by Robert A. Williams Jr.
Career
Mitchell is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador program, and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship program. She worked as a law clerk with the United States Department of the Interior's Division of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. as well as with the Native American law firm Frederick Peebles Morgan in Boulder, Colorado. She was the Native American Unit Attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance and a Civil Rights Educator for the Maine Attorney General's Civil Rights Division. She is currently on the Board of the American Indian Institute and the Advisory Board of Nia Tero.
She is an Indigenous Rights attorney and the executive director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection of Indigenous land and water rights and the Indigenous way of life. Mitchell has been actively involved with Indigenous rights in the U.S., Canada and abroad for more than 25 years.
Mitchell has been a longtime advisor to the American Indian Institute’s Healing the Future Program and she currently serves as a helper and advisor to the Indigenous Elders and Medicine People’s Council of North and South America. Mitchell is also the organizer of "Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island," a global healing ceremony that rises out of the Wabanaki Prophecy of Reopening of the Eastern Gate. The ceremony began in 2017 and was attended by individuals from six continents. The ceremony continues for 21 years, and will move in four year cycles until it travels to all four corners of the United States. Her work is featured in the documentary film Dancing with the Cannibal Giant by BALE (Building A Local Economy).
Recognition
Mitchell was the recipient of the 2010 Mahoney Dunn International Human Rights and Humanitarian Award for research into Nation/State complicity in human rights violations against Indigenous Populations. In 2015, she received the Spirit of Maine Award for commitment and excellence in the field of International Human Rights. In 2016, Mitchell’s portrait was added to the esteemed portrait series, Americans Who Tell the Truth, by artist Robert Shetterly. She is also the recipient of the 2017 Hands of Hope award from the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine.
