April 2021: Virtual EWN Meeting featuring Rebecca St. George

A Conversation with the City Attorney

Rebecca St. George will be joining us to share her empowering story and lessons learned during her journey as an advocate, staff attorney for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and now the City of Duluth’s first female City Attorney. Ms. St. George has advocated for public policy to address violence against Native American women and led a project that led to award-winning changes to Duluth’s police response to sexual violence. She is a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the White Earth Nation.

About Our Speaker:

Rebecca was appointed to be the City Attorney for Duluth, MN, in July 2020. As the City Attorney, Rebecca serves as the legal advisor and attorney for Duluth’s Mayor, City Council, and all city departments; she works with and directs a staff of nine assistant city attorneys, four paralegals, a victim-witness specialist, and an insurance adjustor.

Prior to working for the city, Rebecca was the staff attorney for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. While working for the Band, she represented and advised the tribal government on all legal matters affecting the reservation and its members, including natural resources, economic development, education, health law, Indian gaming, law enforcement, child protection, and housing.

While she was in law school, Rebecca coordinated the Racial Justice Improvement Project (RJIP) for St. Louis County, a team of county criminal justice practitioners committed to reducing racial disparities in the state’s criminal justice system, particularly in the Sixth Judicial District. Before becoming a lawyer, Rebecca worked for ten years with Mending the Sacred Hoop, an organization out of Duluth, Minnesota, that works to end violence against Native women and children while restoring the safety, sovereignty, and sacredness of Native women in their communities. In her role, Rebecca trained practitioners in tribal justice systems around the country, worked within the St. Louis County criminal justice system, and worked with victims and perpetrators of crime both on- and off-reservation.

Rebecca has also been involved with numerous non-profit organizations over her years in Duluth, serving on the Board of Directors for the YWCA, American Indian Community Housing Organization, the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, and CHUM (a homeless shelter and food shelf).

Rebecca has two children who are no longer children and is a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the White Earth Nation.