2025 Bush Foundation Fellowship recognizes Leech Lake Nation's Megan Treuer
member Megan Treuer is in good company given the recent announcement that she would join 28 other community leaders as part of the 2025 Bush Foundation Fellowship.
Awarded to those with a track record of leading change and seeking to expand their community impact, the Fellowship will allow Treuer to pursue her professional goals as the country's first known female Native American judge and daughter of one of Minnesota's first Native attorneys.
"I was thrilled and excited, but also humbled," Treuer recalled upon hearing the news of her award. "I had been looking for a way to scale back my caseload and really focus on immersing myself in the Ojibwe language. I know less than I did when I was a kid, so the Bush Fellowship came to my attention that way."
Treuer noted personal connections to other recipients in prior years, allowing her to garner some background information on the award.
With the Bush Foundation receiving around 1,000 applications for the 2025 cohort, each fellow receives up to $150,000 over a two-year period to support a self-designed leadership plan. Treuer plans to leverage her award with distinct goals in mind.
"My No. 1 priority is becoming more proficient in the language, taking Ojibwe language courses and attending ceremonies connected to the language," Treuer said.
Her second priority includes taking a step back from contract work with tribal courts as a tribal court judge but continuing her role as chief judge for Bois Forte Tribal Court. She also plans to connect with Indigenous legal mentors, scholars and spiritual leaders.
"I really want to focus on what Anishinaabe justice used to be and really incorporate that into our modern-day Anishinaabe tribal justice systems," she added.
Treuer also hopes to "recharge" during the two-year stint, aiming to spend quality time with her spouse and children.
Attending school in Bemidji, Treuer continued her studies as a history major at the University of California Berkeley before attending law school at Hamline University. She soon secured a job at Anishinaabe Legal Services where she represented Red Lake members.
"I had always wanted to come back and advocate for my community in some capacity," Treuer said. "I didn't necessarily know that I would become a lawyer, but that's how it worked out."
The next step in her career journey involved criminal defense at Regional Native Defense where she represented Leech Lake and White Earth members in criminal cases throughout the region. Come 2013, she took the bench as a tribal court judge with Leech Lake, allowing her to live out a childhood desire.
"I remember having a strong passion, feeling that things were not as they should be and wanting to advocate for my people and my community," Treuer mentioned. "That's fueled me."
Treuer noted how skin color played a role in shaping her and her family members' experiences growing up.
"Having a lighter complexion, I saw how even my siblings and close family members who are darker-complected were treated and seeing those differences. I remember being keenly aware of that even as a really young child," she said. "I found my calling for justice and equality that way."
Through her work, Treuer aims to be a good ancestor for younger generations as well as the generations yet to come.
"My predecessors, first, were surviving colonization and now we've maintained our teachings, our language, our ceremonies, our way of life," Treuer left off. "Not only did my predecessors survive, but they preserved all of that for us in the generations to come.
"That's what I'm all about, making our way of life and teachings a part of our government infrastructure so those who are struggling the most don't have to look for who they are anymore because it'll all be right here."
Information for the 2026 Bush Fellowship will become available at
bushfoundation.org/bush-fellowship.
The Fellowship is open to anyone 24 years and older who live in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or one of the 23 tribal nations that share the same geography.
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