Chase Iron Eyes

Chase Iron Eyes
Born Chase A. Iron Eyes
Nationality United States
Ethnicity Standing Rock Sioux
Alma mater University of North Dakota (A.B.)
University of Denver Sturm College of Law (J.D.)
Occupation Lawyer
Indigenous Activist
Writer
Years active 2011–present
Organization Lakota People's Law Project
Spouse(s) Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle[1]
Children 3 children[1]
Website Last Real Indians
Pe Sla is a part of the Black Hills, pictured here, that is sacred to the Lakota.

Chase Iron Eyes is an American Indian activist and attorney. He is perhaps best known for his work in the Lakota People's Law Project and for pioneering the Native American news website, Last Real Indians.[2]

Personal life

Chase was raised on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Iron Eyes is currently married to pediatrician[3] Sara Jumping Eagle.[4] The married couple currently has three children together.[1]

Career

Chase Iron Eyes graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor's degree in political science and American Indian studies.[5] In 2007, he graduated from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, with a Juris Doctor in law (with an emphasis in Federal Indian law).[6] Iron Eyes was also the president of the Native American Law Student Association during his academic career in law school.[7] Iron Eyes is licensed to practice law within the state of South Dakota as well as in the federal courts both North Dakota and South Dakota[5] in addition to several tribal court systems.[8] Chase Iron Eyes is also representing Vern Traversie, a blind 69-year-old Lakota man who was found to have the initials of the Ku Klux Klan, KKK, carved into his stomach after having surgery at Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City, filing a lawsuit on the man's behalf.[9]

Activism

Iron Eyes has used his career as an attorney to advocate for Native American civil rights. He has actively engaged in the protection of sacred sites. He was instrumental in raising awareness of Pe'Sla,[10] a high mountain prairie situated within the heart of the Black Hills, located north of Deerfield Lake and west of Harney Peak, a sacred site related to the Lakota Creation beliefs where annual ceremonies, village gatherings, and the area where renowned Lakota visionary Black Elk sought his vision.[11] Another of the sacred sites Iron Eyes has drawn attention to is Bear Butte.[5] Chase is also a member of the Bush Foundation’s Native Nation Rebuilders program, which is a leadership development program designed to promote the development of innovative tribal governance practices and how these ideas can be suitably implemented within the American Indian nations covered by the program in order to effect positive change.[12] He has continued to voice opposition against the drilling of oil wells within the area.[13] Iron Eyes also serves as counsel to the Lakota People's Law Project,[14] an initiative founded in 2005 to end the unlawful removal of Lakota children from their families, their subsequent placement in foster care and other institutionalized systems of substitute care, and return them to their Native families.[15]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2014 Mitakeoyashin Himself Documentary

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Our Team Chase Iron Eyes South Dakota Counsel". Lakota People's Law Project. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Saint Thomas, Sophie (22 March 2015). "Let Them Tell Their Story: An Interview with Chase Iron Eyes, Co-Founder of 'Last Real Indians'". Intercontinental Cry. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Jumping Eagle, Sara (23 October 2012). "North Dakota "Personhood" Laws Direct Attack on Women’s Rights -Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle". LRI. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "LastRealIndians a Ripple Effect of AIM". JPWade. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Chase Iron Eyes". Intercontinental Cry. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Chase Iron Eyes". LinkedIn. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bush Foundation Announces Fourth Cohort of Native Nation Rebuilders". Minnesota Council on Foundations. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Chase Iron Eyes". LRInspire. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Glionna, John M. (17 July 2012). "Doctors carved ‘KKK’ into Lakota man’s skin, lawsuit claims". Seattle Times. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Rose, Christina (21 December 2012). "Chase Iron Eyes". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Black Hills - America's Sacred Site". Geometry of Place. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Chase Iron Eyes". Bush Foundation. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "SD commission cuts number of wells allowed at oil field near Bear Butte". Protect Bear Butte. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  14. ↑ Sullivan, Laura (29 August 2014). "Justice Department Supports Native Americans In Child Welfare Case". NPR. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "They come for the young ones.". Lakota Law People's Project. Retrieved 13 June 2015.

External links

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