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From Diverse: Issues in Higher Education:
Melissa Velky, a third-year law student at Michigan State University’s College of Law, is not waiting until graduation to immerse herself in a serious legal confrontation. With the livelihood of her native tribe at stake, Velky, daughter of Schaghticoke Nation Chief Richard Velky, is working now to help restore her tribe’s federal recognition.
Velky and nearly 300 others were members of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation until their federal recognition was revoked in 2005. Velky, an indigenous law major, plans to launch an Internet-based campaign titled “Students for Justice” that will utilize social networks like Facebook and MySpace to garner support for her tribe.
“I am Schaghticoke, and I will always be,” says Velky, denouncing the notion that her identity and the history of her people can be revoked with the stroke of a pen.
Turtle Talk 