Joaqlin Estus
ICT
The Supreme Court of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi has a new associate justice who calls working at the tribal court a “fantastic opportunity.” However, Travis Trueblood, of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said law wasn’t his first career choice. He initially wanted to be a journalist.
He said journalists shine a light on inequality issues but “what’s the next step of that? And that’s what brought me to study law. I wanted to see how I could make a contribution to the world in addressing some of the inequities that I saw around me.”
Trueblood went to Florida State University, which is known for its derogatory and stereotypical Native American mascot. He said, first, as an undergraduate, then as a law school student, he had a front row seat to the controversy.
“I would constantly get asked as a Native student at the school how I felt about it because there weren’t many Native students at the school. And part of that might have been because of the mascot,” Trueblood said.
“However, for me, Florida State was an excellent choice, and it gave me a real opportunity because it was located in Florida’s state capital in Tallahassee. So while I was studying law, I worked in the governor’s office for two Florida governors on Indian affairs while I was a law student. So the bigger opportunities for me were there, despite some of the controversy that revolved around the school,” he said.
He said as Indian gaming grew, around the year 2000, big firms were recruiting Native law students to get diversity on their staff in hopes of landing those clients. “I was part of one of those big hiring pushes. I got picked up by a large law firm and went to D.C. and started working there in pretty complicated Indian affairs-related matters for several different tribes.”
After a year and a half, Trueblood started his own private practice. “I wanted to practice Indian law my way, and I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to do that during my career.” For some 20 years, he handled a wide range of types of cases, from divorces and wills to Indian law in state, tribal and federal courts.
He said thanks to the help of mentors and long experience, “I’m very comfortable in the courtroom. I can handle just about any type of case that you can imagine.”
The video below includes excerpts of an interview with Travis Trueblood.
“I love what I do. I love the clients that I have, and the organizations that I work for. And it’s really been a blessing to have people trust me with things that they’re facing in their lives or organizations, to trust me or tribes to help them with some of the most serious things that they’ve ever faced in their lives,” he said.
Addressing social inequities, bolstering tribal sovereignty, and being involved in a diversity of cases are aspects of being a justice for the Nottawaseppi Supreme Court that appeal to him.
“I think this is a fantastic opportunity and I like what they’re doing, how they have dedicated themselves to really living as a sovereign, setting up an independent and impartial judiciary,” Trueblood said.
He said the court will hear “some of the most sensitive and important issues pertaining to (the Nottawaseppi) as a tribal people. Questions related to their constitution, questions related to their elections, questions related to their boundaries and their property. So that’s what drew me to them, this dedication they have to not only declaring themselves as sovereign, but living as a sovereign.”
Trueblood is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force and serves as a major in the West Virginia Air National Guard. He volunteers mentoring Native attorneys, and as an advocate for children in immigration removal proceedings.
Trueblood was sworn into office as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi in Michigan on June 15.
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