Indigenous Rights Attorney
Penobscot, Maine
Sherri speaks and teaches around the world on issues of Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and spiritual activism.
Sherri Mitchell was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation.
“It was here that I first learned of my place in the world, and my place in creation. One of the things that we learned very early as Pehanwabskek people is that Pehanwabskek is the land, it’s the water, but it’s also the people. We’re all related. We’re all interconnected… What’s important about this time is recognizing that there is an incredible need for us to to change the way that we are living. We are living in a way that has not only separated us from one another but has also separated us from the earth, the very source of our survival.”
She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine, and received her Juris Doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Sherri is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador program, and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship program. In 2010, she received the Mahoney Dunn International Human Rights and Humanitarian Award, for research into Human Rights violations against Indigenous Peoples. In 2015, she received the Spirit of Maine Award, for commitment and excellence in the field of International Human Rights. In 2016, Sherri’s portrait was added to the esteemed portrait series, Americans Who Tell the Truth, by artist Robert Shetterly.
Sherri was a longtime advisor to the American Indian Institute’s Healing the Future Program and currently serves as an advisor to the Indigenous Elders and Medicine People’s Council of North and South America. She is the Founding Director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the global protection of Indigenous rights and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. Prior to forming the Land Peace Foundation, Sherri served as a law clerk to the Solicitor of the United States Department of Interior; as an Associate with Fredericks, Peebles and Morgan Law Firm; and a civil rights educator for the Maine Attorney General’s Office, and; she was the Staff Attorney for the Native American Unit of Pine Tree Legal.
Her broad base of knowledge allows her to synthesize these many subjects into a cohesive whole, weaving together the legal, political, and spiritual aspects surrounding a multitude of complex issues. Sherri is also the co-host of Love (and revolution) Radio, a syndicated radio program that highlights stories of heart-based activism and revolutionary spiritual change. Her work is being featured in an upcoming documentary film on transformational change, by New Story Film, and her book Sacred Instructions; The Heart of Spirit Based Change will be in print in September of 2017.