UM Rhodes scholar wins Charles Bair scholarship

A UM Rhodes scholar has won the Charles M. Bair Family Trust Native American Law School Scholarship.

Scott Bear Don’t Walk of Billings, an enrolled member of the Crow tribe, received the scholarship, which covers tuition, fees, books and some living expenses.

Bear Don’t Walk was named a Rhodes scholar in 1993, after earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at UM. His Crow tribal clan grandfather, Alex LaForge, gave him the name “Outstanding Warbonnet” in the ceremony honoring his accomplishment. “You don’t choose your own name; you become it,” LaForge told him.

After attending Oxford University, where he studied modern history, Bear Don’t Walk worked as a journalist. He earned a master’s of fine arts in creative writing from New York University in 2007. While at NYU he was an Opportunity Fellow for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and helped found the Native People’s Forum and the American Indian Student Club.

Bear Don’t Walk said he is returning to Montana to study law with the goal of making a positive impact on how American Indians live today. Bair is remembered for his fair dealings with the Crow tribe and his friendship with Chief Plenty Coups.