Tribal member Dosa Nappo attends UI Law School
University of Idaho Law student Dosa Nappo. (Danae Lenz photo)
MOSCOW — Dosa Nappo, Shoshone-Bannock, is a University of Idaho Law School student.
He said his time at the UI College of Law is going great, “Learning how to think like a lawyer and understanding how the world works is always enjoyable, which is a daily experience in law school.” Dosa said he enjoys meeting other law school students and getting to know the type of work they aspire to do after graduating. He’s involved in the school’s Native American Law Student Association serving as secretary. He’s a second year student and plans to graduate in spring 2027.
UI Communications Manager Ralph Bartholdt did a feature story on him in late August.
Nappo attended the eight-week American Indian Law Center’s Pre-Law Summer Institute in Albuquerque, N.M. during the summer of 2024 after he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from UI. He acquired valuable skills as a law student and met an amazing group of people who were upcoming law students.
This summer he interned under the Tribes Energy Resources program where his supervisor was Alana Edmo. He participated in reviewing a draft tribal ordinance that would eventually establish a Utility Commission. He also had the opportunity to be involved in upcoming projects handled by the Energy Resource program that is under the Department of Energy.
In the summer of 2023, he interned under the Fort Hall Business Council with then council member Gaylen Edmo as his supervisor. Dosa was a junior in his undergraduate studies and he said Gaylen helped him gain legal experience at the tribal attorney’s office. “I was a lot of fun being assigned work from Gaylen and the tribal attorneys,” he continued. He attended a couple of meetings and the Idaho Council on Indian Affairs meeting in Boise to gain an understanding of the work he’s interested in.
Nappo said in the UI story he found mentorship and new direction at the UI. He enrolled at UI in 2020 and graduated four years later with degrees in criminology and sociology. It was his experience as an intern for the Shoshone-Bannock tribal council and as a member for U of I student senate, however, that made him consider a legal career.
“I wanted to be a law enforcement officer so I could help people,” said Nappo, now a law student at the University of Idaho College of Law said. “As a member of ASUI, I started to see that maybe a career in politics or law would allow me to reach out to more people.”
Nappo said his two semesters as a student body representative, forging bills, collecting signatures for petitions, crafting resolutions and meeting with university and community leaders — as well as his role as a student mentor at the Tribal Nation Student Affairs — motivated him to continue his education.
He said in the UI story, “I was a first-generation college student from the rez,” he said. “I was a quiet and shy student.” Fellow students at the Tribal Nations Student Affairs helped him get involved on campus and encouraged him. Nappo said he had not planned to attend college after high school, but learning about the opportunities at U of I — and then the experience he gained by taking advantage of them — altered his life’s mission.
“U of I really changed my trajectory,” he said.
