Attorney and former Badger basketball player Jessie Stomski Seim ’02 calls shots and makes them, too.
Seim is general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota, and she serves as a supreme court justice for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. She’s also a member of the Indigenous Athletics Advancement Council, which is dedicated to educating and promoting Indigenous peoples in athletics.
When she looks back on her journey from Badger basketball player to supreme court justice, Seim says the UW holds special meaning.
“I’m really grateful. When I think about Wisconsin and my time there, I have so much gratitude, because without that stop there, I don’t think I would have realized my full potential of doing what I do now.”
How did you know you wanted to be a lawyer?
I didn’t know any lawyers; it wasn’t something I was exposed to. But when I was young, my dad would drive me to what is now Mitchell Hamline School of Law. He would stop, and we’d look at it, and he would be like, “I think you would make a good lawyer, and I think you could go here and get a law degree.” So, those seeds were planted, and I love to write. I wasn’t sure which path I would take after the UW. I was playing basketball professionally overseas and just decided to give law school a try.
How did your time as an athlete shape your career in tribal law?
My freshman year at Wisconsin, I averaged over four fouls a game. I fouled out of, like, almost every game because I was so aggressive, because I had this fight in me. I realized, though, that was taking me out of the game when it was time to win. I wasn’t there when it was really important. By my senior year, my foul average was much lower because I learned to hone that. I think it’s the same in what I do now with tribes. We have so much fight in us as tribes and American Indian people, but what are we looking to win? Do you want to fight, or do you want to win? It’s important for us to focus on our passion and on all the things that have been taken, like land, our ancestors, our children were taken, our tribal rights. Everything’s been taken. As we fight to get them back, how do we do it in a way that keeps us in the game, keeps us focused on the win, and having successes as communities?
How would you describe the importance of the Indigenous Athletics Advancement Council?
We work to increase the opportunities for Native American athletes in collegiate sports and professional sports, and we work with other organizations that are more on the ground in Native communities. There’s so much talent in Indian country, but less than half a percent of NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] athletes are American Indian, tribal members, or of Native descent. So, there’s a disconnect, and it’s not a lack of talent.
In fact, sports are huge in Indian country, and there’s huge passion around it. There are remote reservations, and it can become an issue when your community is not close to a metro area where sports are centralized and where recruiters are. So, we’re trying to gain awareness in the institutions and support these kiddos as they go through their path.
What do you find most rewarding about your work with tribal law and athletics?
I’ve learned how to take the things that I’m doing and connect to them on more of a spiritual level, which has more meaning for me, and it’s because the work I do is so connected to who I am and what I want to contribute. It has allowed me to do the work that I do in a way that reaffirms that this is who I was created to be.
What advice would you have for young people interested in pursuing collegiate sports?
It’s the little decisions every day. You look at a professional athlete, or you look at a collegiate athlete, and you see them on that big stage. But really, it’s the little, tiny decisions and habits that build that. It’s the little things every day, and those add up. It’s not the glamorous work that leads to the glamorous moments, to the big games, the awards, all of that. It’s all of the stuff that isn’t glamorous that gets you there. I think girls, in particular, can get so discouraged by not being good at something before they even let themselves practice enough to get good. Don’t cut off opportunities for yourself before giving it a chance and giving it time.
