First Native American female United States Attorney
Diane Humetewa: one of our nation's intriguing women.
Hopi tribe member, Diane Humetewa (hoo-MEE-tee-wah) was born and reared in Arizona and started school on the Hualapai Reservation. Her father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and often took Diane with him as he traveled throughout Indian country. The trips exposed young Diane to Arizona's tribes at an early age.
Although she attended public high school at a time when many Indian children were sent to boarding schools far from their reservations, her ties to her family and culture kept her close to the Hopi reservation.
She is a two-time graduate of Arizona State University (ASU) where she earned her B.A. degree (1987) and her J.D. degree (1993) from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. She has served on its College of Law Indian Legal Advisory Committee since 1997.
In her early career, Humetewa helped to establish one of the first federal victim services programs in the nation. She represented tribal governments as an attorney specializing in federal Indian, and natural resources law. She was also counsel to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Subcommittee, then chaired by Sen. John McCain.
As Assistant U.S. Attorney, Humetewa prosecuted a wide variety of federal crimes, violent crimes in Indian country, and Native American and archeological resource crimes. She was counsel to the deputy attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department and deputy counsel for the U.S. Senate on Indian Affairs.
In 2011, Humetewa joined the ASU administrative and legal team, and is a professor of practice with the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Humetewa is Special Advisor on American Indian Affairs to ASU President Michael Crow, and Special Counsel for the Office of General Counsel. In addition, she works to build ASU's relationships with Indian tribal governments.
Her duties further include Chairperson of the ASU Tribal Liaison Advisory Committee, service on the Provost's Native American Advisory Council, and promotion of higher education opportunities among Arizona's tribes while continuing the recruitment and retention of new ASU students from Native American communities.
Among her awards, distinctions and achievements, in 2007, Diane Humetewa became the first ever Native American woman in United States history to be presidentially appointed (by George W. Bush) as United States attorney in any state.
She is a member of the Arizona State Bar Association and was Appellate Court Judge for the Hopi Indian Tribe.
In 2009, Humetewa received the President's Award, the highest honorary distinction of Women in Federal Law Enforcement in recognition of her outstanding career achievement as a prosecutor, crime victims' advocate, and her dedication to the training of law enforcement agents to improve their response to crimes committed on tribal lands.
Diane Humetewa is also listed in 48 Intriguing Women of Arizona.
References: Arizona State University Office of General Counsel; Newberg, Julie, Media Relations, ASU; Stern, Ray, Obama squeezes out first female Native American U.S. Attorney, Diane Humetewa submits resignation, Valley Fever, July 28, 2009; Wikipedia
KB Schaller (Cherokee/Seminole heritage) is a journalist, novelist and historical researcher. A version of the above article appears in 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World, winner of a 2014 International Book Award, Women's Issues category, and a Florida Publishers Association 2014 President's Book Award, Biography category. Her debut novel, Gray Rainbow Journey is winner of a National Best Books Award. She is also author of the sequel, Journey by the Sackcloth Moon. Schaller's books are available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, and other bookstores. She lives in South Florida. Email: soaring-eagles@msn.com
