Law Student Division - Student Lawyer September 1999

Just hours before she was due to address the ABA Law Student Division’s Board of Governors at its spring meeting in Las Vegas last April, Leona Colegrove tripped and wrenched her ankle. Undaunted, Colegrove, representing the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA), limped to the podium and stood before the assembled circuit governors despite a fiercely swollen ankle to urge them to grant NNALSA trial affiliate status with the LSD. She refused to seek medical attention until she had said her piece–only then would she allow those present to ease her into a wheelchair.

Colegrove’s determination paid off, as the board voted overwhelmingly to admit NNALSA. (See page 52.) For the now-third-year student at the University of Washington School of Law, a sprained ankle certainly wasn’t going to interfere with her mission. It was just one more example of the perseverance that has made her a successful wife, mother, law student, national student leader, and Hoopa tribe member.

"There are just not enough Indians in law school," Colegrove says. As last year’s NNALSA president and current director of media relations, she hopes to change all of that by encouraging more young Native Americans to attend law school and by fostering a support network for Indian law students and lawyers. "We need the support of the tribes, because the more educated Indians we get, the better off we all will be," she says.

Colegrove has seen how important Native Americans helping one another can be. After growing up in Grace County on Washington state’s west coast, she arrived in 1992 at the Northwest Indian College, a small school in Bellingham run by the Lummi tribe for Native American students. "It was a very nurturing environment, and I appreciated that," she says. Two years later, ready for the challenges of a larger school, Colegrove transferred to the University of Washington. She thrived in the environment, making dean’s list along the way to her graduation in 1996 and meeting and marrying James Greene, a fellow student who now works for the Puyallup tribe in Washington.

When Colegrove decided to continue her education at the University of Washington’s law school, she again received invaluable support from fellow Indians. During the summer of 1996, between graduation and her first day of law school, she attended the Pre-Law Summer Institute at the University of New Mexico, a course for Indian students to prepare them for the rigors of law school.

"I can’t say enough about that program," Colegrove says. "It has definitely been a part of my success at law school." She was so impressed that during her tenure as NNALSA president, she established a scholarship and raised funds so that future incoming law students could attend the course.

In addition to preparing students for their first year of law school, the summer program gives Indians an opportunity to meet fellow students. While attending the session, Leona met Darren Pete, now a third-year law student at Arizona State University and current president of NNALSA.

"Leona is fantastic," says Pete, who succeeded Colegrove as president in April. "She has gotten everyone on track and enthusiastic, and brought NNALSA a long way."

Long before Colegrove attended law school, the Hoopa tribe (the northern California band of Native Americans in which she is a member) figured prominently in her life. Selected as Miss Hoopa Valley in 1994, Colegrove represented her tribe at a competition held by the National Congress of American Indians that same year. Far from a mere beauty pageant, this contest weighed academic achievement, required a carefully prepared oral presentation, and quizzed entrants on every aspect of Native American tradition and culture.

Finally, Colegrove presented herself to the judges in full regalia–a Native American costume owned by extended family and handed down from generation to generation. In addition to participating in activities like the Summer Dance Festival, she promoted a national voter registration project for her tribe and others.

Colegrove traveled to Washington, D.C., this past summer to work as an intern at the National Indian Gaming Commission. Yet her thoughts were never far from NNALSA and her goal of finding the broadest possible membership.

"Wherever there are Indians, we need to be there," Colegrove says. She is encouraged by recent contacts with native Hawaiians at the University of Hawaii School of Law. "Nobody put their hand out to them before," she says.

In addition to all of her work on behalf of NNALSA, Colegrove is also a full-time mother to daughter Bryce Lynn, age 2. Perhaps it is because of her dreams for Bryce that she works so hard to ensure that opportunities for Indians continue to grow.

"I don’t know, maybe she will be a doctor," Colegrove says, laughing. With the hard work of people like her mother, that dream for Bryce is more likely to become a reality. •