Saza Osawa Offers Experience, Passion as ILC’s New Fellow  

When Saza Osawa learned that the Michigan State University College of Law was hiring for a position with their new Tribal Appellate Clerk Project in the school’s well regarded Indian Law Clinic (ILC) – she knew it was something special. And she wanted to be part of it.

Ms. Osawa was drawn in by the uniqueness of the project’s purpose, the good reputation of the ILC, and she also held the Director of the ILC, Kathryn Fort, in high regard. A Seattle native and daughter of two documentary filmmakers who focus on Native American issues, Ms. Osawa gained insight on the legal needs of tribes and tribal people throughout Indian Country.  She added that this is an ideal opportunity to take what she’s learned and expand on it.

A Makah tribal member, Ms. Osawa is a 2009 University of Washington School of Law graduate. While a law student, she was part of the UW’s Indian Law Clinic, where she helped to provide public defender services in the Tulalip Tribal Court. After law school, she returned to the Tulalip Tribes to work as in-house counsel in their Office of Reservation Attorney (ORA).

Starting as a prosecutor, Ms. Osawa handled all aspects of criminal cases as well as civil forfeitures, fishing violations, environmental infractions, traffic, and animal control cases.  She later worked in the court services division and the general counsel division of the ORA. Ms. Osawa spent nearly 13 years with the Tulalip Tribes, culminating with a promotion as the first woman to be appointed to the position of Managing Attorney for Tulalip’s 12-attorney member legal staff.

For Professor Kathryn Fort, Director of MSU’s Indian Law Clinic, it was an ideal combination. “I’ve known of Saza for a long time,” Professor Fort said. “She practiced over at the Tulalip Tribes for years and it’s a well-established tribal court. I was very pleased and surprised when her application came in. I knew she’d be extremely qualified and an absolute asset to our program.”

The stars aligned and now she joins the MSU College of Law’s ILC. Her new role was established thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to fund a Tribal Clerk Project for the next 18 months.

For the upcoming academic year, Professor Fort and Ms. Osawa will assist five students as they gain valuable experience clerking in tribal appellate courts. Students will be given a trial court record and be responsible for identifying issues, researching, and writing briefs. 

Ms. Osawa hopes her experience working with tribes can help smooth that journey. But she made it clear that it will be the students who will handle the primary bulk of the duties. “It will be hands-on for the students. Kate and I can help guide them. We can edit their briefs. But we want them to develop those skills that are real-world for any attorney while we provide one-on-one supervision and attention.”

The clinic already has a client as it moves forward with its new approach – the Blackfeet Nation of Montana. Professor Fort says when the tribe learned what MSU had put in place, they were anxious to be a part of it.

Ms. Osawa plans to spend one week a month on campus working one-on-one with students and the rest of the month she will work remotely from her home outside Seattle. “I was thinking, this is a big change,” she said. “But this is a valuable opportunity to help provide legal services to tribal courts that have been underserved by the legal community. It’s going to be a very unique situation. Hopefully, students will expand their legal skills while also experiencing the greater satisfaction of seeing their work contribute to promoting justice within tribal court systems.”