Shauna Coons, a citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, has been running for as long as she can remember. She grew up in MN, where she competed in events from state high-school meets, to the North American Indigenous Games, and road races from local 5ks to the Twin Cities Marathon. Shauna has running in her genes. Her great-grandpa, Charlie Coons, was a teammate of Olympic gold medalist, Jim Thorpe, while at Carlisle boarding school. As a training partner of Thorpe’s, Coons also helped Thorpe prepare for the Olympics.
Shauna lives in MN with her husband, Dennis Olson, Jr., a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, their two kids, and her running dog. She is Managing Attorney @kwelawfirm , a Native owned business she created. Kwe Law Firm assists Tribal governments with land management and restoration projects, housing, and other governance matters. “Land management is one of the strongest ways a Tribe can protect its community and assert its sovereignty. The practice of land management requires planning for a community’s future, and that brings hope to the community.”
Shauna recently served as General Counsel to the Lower Sioux Indian Community on the land restoration of the Lower Sioux Agency from the Minnesota Historical Society. This historic project brought the return of 114 acres of land along the Minnesota River bluffs, Cansayapi. The US Government established the Lower Sioux Agency on the site, which eventually led to the beginning of the U.S. Dakota War. In the end, 38 Dakota men were hanged in the largest mass execution in US history, and the Dakota were forced to relocate. This transfer not only restored land, but also brought healing to the Dakota people.
Shauna also assisted her Tribe, Lac Courte Oreilles, with their own historic land restoration projects. In 2017, she obtained a Reservation Proclamation from the Department of the Interior adding over 2,000 acres to the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe’s Reservation. This is the largest known reservation proclamation, to date. For Coons, this means her children, and generations of LCO members will enjoy and care for the land, like so many before them.