Eric Treisman

ERIC TREISMAN INTREPID ACTIVIST FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, IS DEAD by Kathelin Gray Governor Bill Richardson observes of Eric Treisman, "His reputation is a man who would always do the right thing." Treisman enacted the vision of his generation, fighting for ecology, social justice and personal freedom. As attorney, one-time U.S. Senate candidate and explorer, his work directly impacted Native American and Tibetan peoples. Though an avid athlete and outdoorsman, Treisman, 64, waged a private battle with the genetic heart disease that claimed his life in a massive heart attack. He died in on April 3, 2009 in Santa Fe, surrounded by friends and family. Co-founder and legal council to Project Tibet in Santa Fe, Treisman's personal philosophy resonated with Tibetan Buddhism's tenets of compassion and the sacredness of all life. He introduced politicians to the Dalai Lama in 1991. Senator Domenici said of this meeting: "I've never held hands with a man before, but I'm very impressed with the Dalai Lama and am going to recommend his cause to President Bush." Treisman facilitated the first immigration of 500 Tibetan refugees into the U.S., later growing to 2000. A natural anthropologist, Treisman was passionately interested in people and human impact on ecology. He insisted on accountability in human interchange, making him an exceptional friend and father. His eldest son Zack comments "He never treated me as a child, but as a collaborator and adventurer, even in unusual situations such as an expedition deep into the Yucatan jungle, when I was seven." To Treisman, interpersonal relations were all-important. Sociologist Richard Sennett might have been writing of him when he said the one value that would instantly change politics and society, if taught, is respect. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1944, he was raised on both East and West Coasts. He graduated from Dartmouth, where studies under sociologist Kalman Silvert (Expectant Peoples) affected the course of his life, then graduated from Stanford Law School during the Vietnam War. Treisman's legal career began in Crownpoint, NM, as attorney for Navaho legal services (DNA) which introduced him to issues of indigenous peoples. He was recruited to Micronesian Legal Services as staff attorney on the island of Yap, still a traditional society. He moved to Alaska Legal Services, heading the litigation unit in Fairbanks, then General Counsel for Bristol Bay Native Corporation in Dillingham, a corporation set up under Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act. Settling in Santa Fe in 1978, Treisman opened his own law practice, working on Native American, Tibetan, and other local and international cases. At the time of his death, Treisman and colleague Mike Gross were in the final stages of a class action suit for 320 Native American tribes against the BIA, seeking control over funds guaranteed in the 1970 Indian Self-Determination Act. Earlier stages of the suit had won the greatest amount from the government for Indian tribes in U.S. history. An intrepid adventurer, he typically found himself at important historical junctures: in Bosnia the week before the war; hitchhiking 1500 miles from Chengdu to Lhasa during the 1992 Chinese crackdown; in tennis shoes trekking with his son over a 18,500 foot Himalayan pass; flying a biplane from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. Treisman conversed in nine languages including: Yupik Eskimo, Navaho and Tibetan. This passion for life created a diverse circle of friends spanning the globe. A sought-after raconteur, he also documented his encounters in video diaries and photographs. Treisman wrote for Ramparts, Harpers, Rolling Stone and the Wall Street Journal, and appeared in Milagro Beanfield War. A celebration of Eric's life will be held Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 2 pm, at St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art, followed by a reception at Project Tibet, 403 Canyon Road. Treisman is survived by sons: Zack, 32, of Vancouver, Alex, 8, and Aaron, 4, of Santa Fe; mother, Doris; and sisters: Ruth and Naomi Treisman of Oakland California; and cousins: Diane Henderson of Los Angeles and Geoffrey Henderson of Denver.