"As U.S. senators across the country prepare to nominate their choices for top federal law enforcement positions, they should keep qualified Native applicants at the top of their list, given the vast knowledge of Indian Country required to do the job.

Over the last 200 years, there have been arguably only four prominent Native people who have been given the nod for a presidential appointment to serve as a federal U.S. attorney or U.S. marshal in states with significant Native populations.

Here's the U.S. attorney list: Terry Pechota, Phil Hogen, and Diane Humetewa. As U.S. marshals go, the only known Native person appointed to that job was Bob Ecoffey. It's even easier to count the states from which these men and women were nominated by their U.S. senators: South Dakota and Arizona. The men, all Lakota, hail from South Dakota and worked within the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations. Humetewa, a Hopi from Arizona, is the only Native person now working as a U.S. attorney. It's a short list and one that begs the question: Where is the Native representation?

Montana senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester are sifting through more than 100 applications for the state's U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal positions. A senatorial spokesman confirmed at least one Native, Steven Juneau, is part of the applicant pool. Juneau earned his federal law enforcement credentials working for the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs."

Get the Story:
Jodi Rave: Nation lacks Natives in top law enforcement posts (The Missoulian 2/8)

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