Professor Ann Tweedy brings a distinctive combination of scholarship, legal practice and judicial service to the study of Native American law. A nationally recognized expert on Tribal law and jurisdiction, she draws on years of experience representing Tribal governments, litigating significant treaty rights cases and serving on Tribal appellate courts. Her teaching and research explore the intersection of Indigenous sovereignty, civil rights and natural resources law, while her work as a writer and poet reflects a broader commitment to understanding law, identity and human experience.
Research Interests
- Tribal jurisdiction
- Federalism and Indian Law
- Tribal law
- Bisexuality and the law
- Polyamory and the law
Biography
Ann E. Tweedy serves as a Professor of Law. Prior to her arrival at Ole Miss Law, Tweedy was Professor of Law at University of South Dakota School of Law ("USD").During Spring semester 2025, she served as a Visiting Professor at Boston University School of Law. At USD, she founded the Indian Law Certificate, which was USD's first certificate program.
Professor Tweedy previously served as an in-house attorney for Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and for Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and in an Of Counsel role at Kanji & Katzen, PLLC. She currently serves as a judge for both the Suquamish Court of Appeals and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals. Her work in practice focused primarily on natural resources law and environmental law in the context of protection of Tribal treaty resources. She played an integral role in treaty rights cases that were heard by the Ninth Circuit, the District of Columbia Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court, including the subproceeding of United States v. Washington known as the Culverts Case.
Tweedy is a noted scholar on Tribal jurisdiction and Tribal civil rights law, as well as on bisexuality and the law. Her scholarship has been cited in federal, state, and Tribal court opinions, as well as in treatises such as Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law. She has been invited to present at many conferences in the United States and abroad. Professor Tweedy has taught at Michigan State University College of Law, California Western School of Law, and Hamline University School of Law (now Mitchell Hamline), where she served as an Associate Professor. She has also served as an adjunct professor in University of Tulsa College of Law’s online Masters of Jurisprudence Program in Indian Law.
After graduating from University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif, Professor Tweedy clerked for the Honorable Ronald M. Gould of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Honorable Rex Armstrong (retired) of the Oregon Court of Appeals. She previously served as Chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Section, and as a Chair of the Washington State Bar Association’s Indian Law Section, and she formerly served as a volunteer Hearing Officer for the Disciplinary Board of the Washington State Bar Association.
Professor Tweedy is also an award-winning poet. She is the author of one full-length poetry book and three chapbooks. She holds an M.F.A. In Creative Writing from Hamline University.
Education
MFA Creative Writing, Hamline University (2018)
J.D. , University of California-Berkeley (1999)
Bachelor's Philosophy, Bryn Mawr College (1993)