Let's Chat Rebels October 31, 2024

What is Let's Chat Rebels?

Let’s Chat Rebels with Star is your inside look at the diverse and fascinating lives of UNLV students, professors, faculty, and alumni. Join me, Star, as I host engaging conversations with guests from all corners of campus—whether they're exploring unique majors, pursuing exciting careers, or sharing interesting hobbies. It's a fun, insightful way to get to know the amazing people that make up the UNLV community.

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This is a Kun V studios original program.

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The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Unknown Speaker 0:14
Hello and welcome to Let's chat rebels the podcast. Mates get to know your fellow students and faculty through fun and intriguing conversation. My name is star, your host of this podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I hope you all are ready to hear from one of the amazing guests that I have for you this week. Okay, today I'm interviewing a cool professor. She's not a regular professor, she's a cool professor. I hope everyone knows what that reference is from we've already talked about her a few times on this podcast, so I thought it was about time she introduces herself. So guest, whenever you're ready, please introduce yourself by saying your name and what you do here at UNLV.

Unknown Speaker 0:50
Woo. Thank you so much. Sorry for having me on. I'm going to introduce myself in my indigenous language. Is that okay? Yes. Go ahead. Great. Hamitapi, chante Washington, hello, my relative, I greet you with a good heart and a handshake. I am from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. I am Professor Finn here at UNLV. I am the director of the Indian Nation scheme and governance program, and I am at the law school and and I'm really excited to be here. I'm like, super excited this is gonna be a good day. Yeah, I'm

Unknown Speaker 1:36
so glad you came and thank you for doing that. That was really, really cool.

Unknown Speaker 1:39
Thank you. So

Unknown Speaker 1:41
I have a few questions for you. We're going to start off a little light. I did this the last podcast with Makai, actually. So I thought, why not ask you? Because I'm sure this will be a very interesting answer. What is your go to song right now?

Unknown Speaker 1:55
Oh, that's a great question. Can I look on my phone, because I don't want to get it wrong, but it is because it's like my recently added and it is no one dies from love the extended version. Okay? By TUV Lo,

Unknown Speaker 2:12
okay, cute. I love that.

Unknown Speaker 2:15
It's got, like, an 80s kind of, like retro vibe, but it's like, poppier, but it's like, you know, it's like a love ballad, like she's like, No one dies from love, but maybe I am going to, and I'm like, Yes, I don't know why I'm in my feels right now, but I love that sound

Unknown Speaker 2:29
same I love that I only know that one song by Tableau,

Unknown Speaker 2:33
yeah. Do you have it? Yeah, that's

Unknown Speaker 2:36
the only one I know. I'm sure she has more good songs, but that's the only one that I know. I feel like I stay closer to, like the mainstream stuff. But for

Unknown Speaker 2:43
sure, new album, it was like 2023 or 2022

Unknown Speaker 2:47
it's good. I love that. Love that. Where are you from? Professor Ben, yes.

Unknown Speaker 2:52
Where am I from? So, as a native person, I'll say I'm from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. I'm Lakota, Dakota, Nakota. But I grew up in predominantly North and South Dakota. So I was born in the Black Hills of South Dakota, like the traditional homelands in Rapid City. But then I moved around to like Denver, Colorado area when I was, like three years old. And then I did like first grade there. And then I moved to North Dakota, where I grew up, for, like, most of elementary, middle school and high school. Yeah, North Dakota. There's not many of us from North

Unknown Speaker 3:32
Dakota, so what brought you out here? Then, oh,

Unknown Speaker 3:35
this fantastic job, and the great weather and the cool people, yeah, like, so North Dakota is not really known for its diversity. There's like, not a whole lot going on up there. Like, in fact, like, the first sushi restaurant that we ever got in the like, Bismarck, which is the capital of North Dakota, was, like, after I graduated from high school, and so, yeah, like, there wasn't, like a whole lot like at all in diversity. It's just a very American plane kind of atmosphere. And so like UNLV is like the second most diverse campus in the United States, like Las Vegas is extremely diverse. And they're they're people, cultures, foods. I'm always about the foods. That's kind of why I came here. Is because this job was like, you know, open for an indigenous law professor. And I was like, Hey, I could do this. Please pick me.

Unknown Speaker 4:32
So how long have you been at UNLV? Then, since August

Unknown Speaker 4:34
of last year? So it's been, like, a little bit over a year. Okay,

Unknown Speaker 4:38
still very, very new. Yes, we're happy to have you here, though. Thank you. I'm new too. Yeah, just came here this year, and that's how I met you, literally. So what made you get into law school specifically? Ooh,

Unknown Speaker 4:57
that's a great question. Okay, so I thought about this. And I was like, how am I gonna break this down? So when I was like, younger, I really enjoyed watching, like, the TV shows, like cops and like law and order. I just really loved that vibe. I was like, you know, bad boys, what you want? I was like, Yes, I'm going to go check out. What's the latest crime, like, what's happening. And then I went for college into criminal justice because I actually thought I was gonna be a police officer. My father was a police officer for the Rapid City Police Department for a short time, and he he was in the military. So I just grew up like, thinking like I was gonna, like, and I was always following rules and guidelines. And so I really thought, like, maybe that was my my calling. But like, my family knows me as, like, the small because all of my, my my family is very tall and I'm the short, fun size one. And so they were like, imagine if you Danielle, were chasing down, you know, some bad guys and, like, your little, tiny legs, I could, yeah, I would just be doing it with a smile, you know, and no one's gonna listen to me if I'm like, Hey, stop. They're gonna be like, No way. We'll outrun you lady. So I was like, I did an internship with a United States senator, and I was her first ever Native American intern she took and she really inspired me to go to law school. She was like, hey, like, I know you like criminal justice. And I think, like, once you get done with school, I think you should consider law school. And I was like, No, that's more school. I don't want to keep going to school. And she was like, no, but it'll go by so fast, and you'll do great. And then I was like, okay, so I took the LSAT the law school admissions test. I did. I only take it once, because I was like, one and done. I'm never doing this again. And I did okay, you know, like, probably average. And then after that, I applied, and I got in a bunch of places, and I was like, oh my god, I could do this. People think I can do this, yes, and so. But really, what inspired me was like, I just always, like, I gravitated to those types of, like, TV shows, and then I really liked, like, public policy when I worked for the US senator, and I was just like, You know what? I could, I could do this. It's a vibe, you know? And he look at me now,

Unknown Speaker 7:07
look at where you are. Now, trying to, like, get everyone to go to law school.

Unknown Speaker 7:11
I was gonna try to get started go to law school. Did you know some of the best journalists are also attorneys? Really? Yeah. Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show, she's an attorney and a journalist, and the best journalists are also attorneys.

Unknown Speaker 7:27
Okay,

Unknown Speaker 7:28
there you go, star. Maybe, Maybe

Unknown Speaker 7:29
we shall see. Yeah, that's

Unknown Speaker 7:31
not too convincing, not yet.

Unknown Speaker 7:35
Maybe towards the end, you can convince me. But right now, more school doesn't sound too appealing,

Unknown Speaker 7:42
so I get you, I get you.

Unknown Speaker 7:44
So where did you go to your undergrad? Or where did you do your undergrad? So

Unknown Speaker 7:48
all over the place. I mean, I feel like this is like the most Lakota thing. But we always are like, so Lakota traditionally are, like, very migratory. We go with the buffalo, like we just go with the flow, like it's the cycle of life, like we're constantly traveling. My grandpa, on my non native side, he always said, like, it's your gypsy spirit, like, because you just kind of pack up everything with you, and kind of just like, travel and go and so I never stayed for college in one place at one time. So I went to community college, I went to tribal college. I ended up graduating from Minot State University, but I went to college, like, everywhere. I was all over the place, and I had like, a million transcripts that I had to submit for law school. And they were like, We need to see every institution you went to. And I was like, I think there was, like, eight or nine, wow. Like, I studied abroad, so I'd get those transcripts so, like, it's just, wow, yeah, I

Unknown Speaker 8:42
changed schools a lot. But eight schools, how many times did you change? I went to a few different community colleges back when I was in LA. So I went to, first I went to West LA College. And luckily, it was still like, within the, like, Los Angeles Community College, like, the same community college district. That's good, yeah. So it's still like, I could easily get the like records, I guess, yes, but it was like, I transferred from there, and then I transferred to Los Angeles City College and Santa Monica College, and then I found no, I got my Associates from Santa Monica College. And then now, so it's

Unknown Speaker 9:15
like, four, yeah, it's never too late. Yeah, we want you to stay here? I know.

Unknown Speaker 9:25
Yeah. No, no, I'm staying I'm staying Good. Did you have any other careers or majors in mind before you decided on law?

Unknown Speaker 9:32
Oh, my goodness. Honestly, when I first went to college, I really thought I was going to be a medical doctor. I was like, both of my parents are in the medical field, so I really thought I was going to be in the medical field in some capacity. And I really was, like, a go getter. I was like, I'm going to go get my MD. I'm going to be a doctor. But I learned very quickly that I did not like math and science and so, yeah. I was like, Yeah, I took chemistry, like, general chemistry, and I was like, barely surviving with a C. And I was like, I can't do more. They're like, yeah, you have to do organic chemistry next. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I barely survived. You know? I was like, maybe medicine is not my calling, but I really enjoyed like, again, like the criminal justice classes, some of the more, like social sciences, I was more into that. I was like, anthropology loved that. Sociology loved that, you know, philosophy loved that. I was like, Yeah, I just can't medicine's not my class. Did you know you were gonna do journalism right away?

Unknown Speaker 10:39
No, I changed my major a few times, too, on top of that. So I was actually originally a Spanish major, wow, Spanish major with the intention to study abroad. That's like, why I did it. Okay? And so I was like, a Spanish major for maybe, like, two semesters, and then it was, like, I decided to go to school when I was like, 19, that's like, the like, right, when the pandemic happened. Oh, my God. And so I did that. And then, like, by the second semester, I was like, I don't even know if we're gonna be able to travel, like, so I just I decided. I was like, You know what? Let me do something I'm more interested in, and we'll see where that takes me. So I changed to being a music major, actually, and then I was a music major for, I think, the same amount, like, two, three semesters. And I actually got the opportunity to study abroad in Spain when I was a music major, and so I studied abroad in Spain for a whole month, which was really cool. You're kidding. Like very little. I feel like I understand more than I can speak, yeah, for sure, but yeah, I definitely know some not, not very well. I feel like I can't really hold the conversation too well. But I feel too well, but I feel like I can make my way around if

Unknown Speaker 11:44
needed to. Yeah, yeah. You could respond with See, or no, yeah,

Unknown Speaker 11:50
yeah, literally, and then. But after I was a music major, I think I was just having a really hard time with the music classes. Actually, it's actually like the harmony classes, or, like, the music theory classes, those were like, I don't know, they were discouraging me, because I was, like, failing those classes, but everything else, I was having a good time in like, I got the opportunity to perform a lot because of that. And that's kind of what struck my, like, songwriting journey and like, yeah, and got, I kind of got over my fear of stage right because of that too, because they, like, I performed in front of, like, my classmates and stuff, which was really cool, yeah,

Unknown Speaker 12:25
but got you better at, like, writing and like feeling things out, yeah?

Unknown Speaker 12:29
No, I never wrote a song up until, like, I decided to, I think I took a songwriting class. I forget, but I remember there I had a lot of friends who were songwriting, and that kind of encouraged me to start doing that. This is cool, yeah, but yeah. And then I because I was, like, failing my classes, I got discouraged a little bit with being a music major, and so I just got my Associates in, like, a liberal arts like degree, like just a general one, because I was like, I'm over school. I don't want to do this anymore. I honestly didn't think I was gonna go for like, my bachelor's degree at all. I thought I was gonna be done. And so after I got my Associates, I was like, yeah, no, I think that's it. And then randomly, I decided to, kind of, thanks to, like, my friend that I was living with at the time, she was like, I don't know it might be a good idea to, like, go back for your bachelor's, because I was just kind of, I took a year kind of off, or like, a few months off, just to, like, figure things out, just to figure things out. And then I just was working, and I think I was, I started getting a little depressed because I was like, I don't know what to do with my life. And then it was because my friend, she's like, maybe you should go back to school and do, like, journalism. And then I looked into that. And yeah, that's kind of a problem here.

Unknown Speaker 13:35
You feel passionate about it, right? Yeah, I've

Unknown Speaker 13:37
been really enjoying my journalism classes. So far good. Yeah, they've been really cool. And just yeah, it's kind of what got me to do, the podcasting thing too, now, which is something I've always talked about doing. I remember I post like, little Instagram stories like, yeah, I want to start a podcast one day. And so I guess I manifested it a little bit.

Unknown Speaker 13:55
Yes, it's working out really good, but positive stuff about this experience. Oh my gosh, you're next. You're gonna love it.

Unknown Speaker 14:03
I know everyone's so scared, but, like, I don't know, it's just a conversation. Yeah, yeah, and we

Unknown Speaker 14:10
talk all the time, so yeah,

Unknown Speaker 14:13
it should be pretty easy, yeah. So Okay, now we're gonna move more into law directed question. Okay, yes. Okay. So what was it like being in the courtroom for the first time?

Unknown Speaker 14:27
Very scary. Nobody wants to go to court. Like, yeah, honestly, like, and I get that now, like, as being a judge for the shine, river, SiO tribe, right? I understand most people come to court, and that's what's great, is like, I experienced court from their eyes before, and I'm, I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm so scared, like the judge is right there. It's super intimidating. Nobody goes to court for happy things, and I don't perform that many marriages or adoptions. Those are, like, the two positive things. Usually, people come to court because they want to settle. A dispute or conflict, and so I try so hard to put myself in my shoes, like when I first went into court, which was a very scary, nervous, anxious, didn't know what to expect, kind of experience. But thankfully, the more and more you go to court, the more and more you could get. Yeah, like, you just get so desensitized, and you get, like, not in a not, not in a bad way. You just get more relaxed. You're like, Okay, I know what's coming.

Unknown Speaker 15:26
Yeah. Have you seen My Cousin Vinny? Yes,

Unknown Speaker 15:30
I love, I love that movie. That's my favorite. Like, I

Unknown Speaker 15:33
would be like, the one guy that you know, like, that stutters, like, really on public defender. No

Unknown Speaker 15:38
way, no way. You'd be Marissa Tomei. You'd be like, let me tell you about those, those wheels in that car.

Unknown Speaker 15:44
I could get there. But I feel like, at first I'd be that guy, and be like, yeah, that's

Unknown Speaker 15:49
okay. Sometimes I feel like My Cousin Vinny. I feel like Vinnie, and I'm like, What am I doing here? And then he's just like, up there, just doing it. Yeah, I love that movie you're meant for law school,

Unknown Speaker 16:00
I will, yeah, that's one of my favorite movies, along with, like, Legally Blonde. I feel like I talked about that, yes, a lot with Mackay, too. I was like, yeah, if law school is like, Legally Blonde, I love to do it.

Unknown Speaker 16:10
There you go. Not too far off. It's pretty it's somewhat accurate.

Unknown Speaker 16:14
Yeah, I don't know. She just makes it seem so, like glamorous with her little orange computer and, like, her pink clothes,

Unknown Speaker 16:21
her fluffy pens, yeah, but,

Unknown Speaker 16:25
yeah, that was a really cute movie. So again, we shall see if it's like that. Then maybe. So how was your experience in native like being a native in law? Yeah?

Unknown Speaker 16:34
Well, there's not many of us. There's like less than 3000 native attorneys in the United States. And in the United States, there's already, like, I think it the statistic, and I'll probably don't want to butcher this, but we can correct it if I'm wrong, maybe later. But it's like, about, it's over 1 million attorneys in the United States, over 1 million, and of that, only 3000 are Native American. So it's like a very small group, which is why I'm always trying to get other natives into law with me, because there's so many attorneys and then there's so many native ones. But it, it really does match the population reflection. We talked about this earlier today, when we say there's only 2% Nate or there's only 2% of the overall population United

Unknown Speaker 17:18
States. Yeah, I just found that out today. That was crazy. So

Unknown Speaker 17:21
it's a small group, but there's not many of us, and the community is so small that I feel like we know most of each other. So yeah, usually when I go to dinner and I meet someone new, they're like, Hey, do you know so and so, so and so? I'm like, I do know. I was talking to the president of the Nevada State bars, Tribal Law Section, Maria Diaz and she was, we were, I was like, Hey, do you know so and so, so and so? She's like, long time friend. I know so and so, so and so, because it's another native attorney, it's someone else that's in the community. So, yeah, we kind of all know each other. Yeah, close, cool, close family. But for me, I think as a young native legal professional. It's been interesting. It's been an interesting journey. It has I face a lot of obstacles in my life because I'm not just a woman of color, but I'm also young, but I'm also in positions where I have to be extremely responsible and professional, and it's, it's always very an interesting field to navigate, but I'm, like, super, super proud of my my journey in life. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 18:35
okay. Love that. My bad. We were just seeing how much time we have left. Yeah. So for the last 10 minutes, I actually like to play a game with my guests. Okay, so this one, I wanted to do something kind of like obviously fun, but kind of law related, obviously because you're a law student, okay, so I have some laws that are either a myth or a fact?

Unknown Speaker 19:01
Oh my gosh. Okay, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 19:03
So some of them, yeah, are fact, and some of them are just, like, not true. They're just made up. Again, I use chat GBT for these. Love chat GBT. So okay, are you ready for the first one? Ready? So it's illegal to own more than 50 cats in California, Is that myth or fact? Do you think, oh

Unknown Speaker 19:23
my gosh, that's wild. It should be. It should definitely be a fact. Let's say fact.

Unknown Speaker 19:27
It's myth. It's myth. What is it? Yeah, do

Unknown Speaker 19:30
they have a limit on cats? No one. Small apartment cats. And I'm like, that should be a lot. It's

Unknown Speaker 19:40
actually only 48

Unknown Speaker 19:44
I was like, what? That's a good one. Got me Okay, okay,

Unknown Speaker 19:49
ready for this one? I guess in Ohio, it's illegal to get a fish drunk.

Unknown Speaker 19:54
How would you get it drunk? Would you kill it first? If you gave it i. Yeah, we're gonna say fact.

Unknown Speaker 20:02
That one is a fact. Oh

Unknown Speaker 20:03
my gosh, because it's wild, the opposite, right now? Oh my goodness, okay, yeah,

Unknown Speaker 20:08
that one is a fact.

Unknown Speaker 20:09
You know, what's crazy is laws are created because, like, public policy is driven by public perception. So there means there was a point in time somebody got a fish drunk. That's how that law was created. That's how it happens. Laws are created because, like, something crazy happens, yeah?

Unknown Speaker 20:26
So literally, always on my phone. Yeah, you're good. It was a scam. Okay, so in the third one, it's in Massachusetts, it's illegal to snore unless all the bedroom windows are locked. Oh

Unknown Speaker 20:41
my gosh. Who's regulating these laws? No way. So if I is that one with their fact, we'll say fact, because that's wild.

Unknown Speaker 20:49
That one is fact

Unknown Speaker 20:52
opposite. Dave. I'm like, why would they do this? And then it's like, yeah, they would. Oh, man, okay,

Unknown Speaker 20:57
I got two more. Are you ready for that? Uh huh, okay, you can sue a fast food restaurant for making their coffee too hot.

Unknown Speaker 21:06
That's true. I mean, the McDonald's game,

Unknown Speaker 21:07
yeah? No, literally, yeah. Sounds bad product liability. And

Unknown Speaker 21:12
yeah, that, that poor lady, that was some really hot coffee in the document. No, yes, girl, it's on YouTube. I think it's free. You can watch the documentary, but it is, like, the saddest thing to see this lady's like, like, burn marks. And I'm just like, man, like, yeah, they shouldn't make coffee that bad, like that, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 21:29
I always thought, I don't know, because I just assumed maybe she was overreacting or something. No, she actually got, dang girl was really burned. Yeah, bad. Yeah. That's why they gotta put, like, too hot, or like, caution on the cups. Now that's

Unknown Speaker 21:42
crazy, poor lady.

Unknown Speaker 21:45
Okay? And the last and final one is in the US, you can't legally send someone a surprise pizza delivery without their consent. Fact or myth.

Unknown Speaker 21:54
Oh my gosh, that's a great question. I feel like, why would everybody enjoys free pizza, right? Myth,

Unknown Speaker 22:05
that one is myth. Oh, my gosh. I

Unknown Speaker 22:08
was trying to think, Oh, she

Unknown Speaker 22:08
really is a lawyer.

Unknown Speaker 22:11
Okay, cats in California.

Unknown Speaker 22:15
Yeah, no. There isn't really a limit for that. I guess it just depends on where you're living in space, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, that's crazy.

Unknown Speaker 22:24
What other one have you done with other people? Like, what other like, questions? What

Unknown Speaker 22:28
other games with Makai, I just did a, would you rather with Makai? Mostly just because I was the very last minute decision with Anisa, I did a BTS trivia, cool, yeah, cuz she like, That's right, yes, yep. Okay. And then with the one football player that I interviewed, I did, like, I told him to just define some, like, football terms for the people who know, yeah, I like that too. Very cool. Yeah, no. And then with Mateo, what did we do? We did, I think we did. Oh, it was one truth and a lie. Oh, that's right, or two truths and a lie or something like that. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 23:02
I remember that, yeah. So I have a question for you. What is my question? Or what is your question? If you could have one law drafted that applies everywhere in the United States, like a federal law? Oh god, it b and y,

Unknown Speaker 23:14
oh my gosh,

Unknown Speaker 23:15
put you on the spot here.

Unknown Speaker 23:16
Oh my goodness, one law that I would draft if I could,

Unknown Speaker 23:22
I know, see, I'm putting on the spot. You really are. This was my Oprah moment for the tables. I don't know.

Unknown Speaker 23:31
I feel like, see, I'm put on the spot. I really have to be like, I don't know about this. You can't be rude to waiters. That's crazy. That's

Unknown Speaker 23:41
a great one. I love that

Unknown Speaker 23:44
can't be rude to your waiters. I

Unknown Speaker 23:46
like that, yeah? Encouraging kindness.

Unknown Speaker 23:50
I know, as I was a server one time, I feel like there's just so many people who are unnecessarily rude. So I feel like, if I could, yeah, yeah, that would be my law

Unknown Speaker 24:00
that's a good one. Appreciate it.

Unknown Speaker 24:01
Okay, did you want to say anything like, Are you doing anything that you wanted to promote? Just

Unknown Speaker 24:07
that I would love for people to consider law school doesn't matter your background or your age or your style or walk of life. Come to law school because the law school community needs to be diverse. And that means, like, anybody, like, if you are into music, come, you know, learn about music law, or if you're into entertainment, go be an entertainment attorney. And like, be someone's agent, you know. Or, like, there's sports agents, if you're passionate about sports, like, those are all attorneys. And I'm always like, man, like, we just need more diverse attorneys. So I would encourage everybody to come to the William S Boyd School of Law at UNLV. Then I would look into native culture and get involved and learn a lot, because there's over 500 tribal nations in the United States, and every single one of us is different. Right? And yeah, I think if we just learn about each other in the world, a lot more kindness would be spread.

Unknown Speaker 25:07
Would be very important. That's my closing word, yeah. Also, you are the advisor for Yeah, able,

Unknown Speaker 25:19
yeah, are you? And also, and also, yeah, the faculty advisor for the Native American Law Student Association and the American indigenous business leader. I'm really proud to be a professor, a faculty advisor, a director, a judge, an auntie,

Unknown Speaker 25:38
all the things. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 25:39
I'm all over the place. Yeah? Daughter, yep, all the titles, yes. The only one that matters is being a good human so that is true.

Unknown Speaker 25:48
Period, yeah, that's the most important part, yeah, period. Well, thank you so much, Professor Finn, for coming to do this for me. I really appreciate it, and it's very special to me. I'm so honored. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so now I'm gonna do my little outro, and then that'll be it. So thank you so much for listening to the let's chat, rebels. I hope you all enjoyed this episode for this week. Please stay tuned for more future podcasts with me, your host, Star. If you would like to continue supporting me in all my future endeavors, you can find me at Star Posner. That is S T, A R, P, O, S N, E R. Hope you all have a beautiful day, and I'll see you All very soon. You

Unknown Speaker 26:28
Oh,

Transcribed by https://otter.ai