West Virginia University - News and Information Services
Internationally known tribal lawyer to preside at WVU's Peace Tree ceremony
Germaine Tremmel, an American Indian lawyer and peace activist who has worked with the U.S. State Department on solutions to hostage situations, will preside over West Virginia University’s Peace Tree rededication ceremony Tuesday (Oct. 16).
The event will be from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the tree, located between Elizabeth Moore and Martin halls on the Downtown Campus. It will also feature native drumming and an appearance by “Thunder,” a bald eagle from the West Virginia Raptor Rehabilitation Center.
WVU’s Native American Studies program is sponsoring the ceremony, which is part of the University’s annual Diversity Week observances.
Tremmel, who has an international law degree from Cambridge University, is a member of South Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Her Lakota name translates to “Lady Seen By Her Nation.”
She is part of a U.S. Department think tank that works on solutions to hostage situations, and she said a model she helped develop based on the Lakota warrior tradition was successfully applied to the recent release of a group of Korean hostages in the Middle East.
She’ll discuss other ways Lakota principles can be used in the peace process in her talk, “Cultural Leadership for Peace,” which will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Oglebay Hall, G21, on the Downtown Campus.
Tremmel is a recipient of the Indigenous United Nations Peacemaker Award and a judge with the U.N. International Genocide Commission and International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
WVU’s Peace Tree was planted Sept. 12, 1992, to commemorate the University’s commitment to the rediscovery of America’s Indian heritage. In 1996, vandals cut down the tree, but a second tree – planted Oct. 19, 1996 – stands today on campus as a visible symbol to the power of peace.
Visit www.wvu.edu/~nas/peacetree/about for more on the history and symbolism of the tree.
Co-sponsors of Tuesday’s events are the Carolyn Reyer Endowment for Native American Studies, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, President’s Office for Social Justice, NOVA Institute in the Division of Social Work, Center for Women’s Studies and Department of History.
For more on Native American Studies at WVU, contact program coordinator Bonnie M. Brown at bonniem.brown@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-4626. The program’s Web site is located at www.wvu.edu/~nas/.
Office: (304) 293-6997