Diane J. Humetewa
(Hopi)
Ms. Humetewa is of counsel and principal in the worldwide law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey. She specializes in Native American Affairs and Federal Indian law and supports the firm’s Environment and Natural Resources, Litigation, Corporate and Public Advocacy Practices. Ms. Humetewa recently served as the Arizona United States Attorney from December 2007 through August 2009. She was the first Native American female in U.S. History to be appointed to that position. As the U.S. Attorney, Ms. Humetewa presided over one of the largest U.S. Attorney Offices in the nation with over 300 employees and four offices, and one of the highest caseloads in the nation.
Ms. Humetewa started in the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1986 as one of the first victim-witness advocates in the federal criminal justice system. She left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to attend law school at Arizona State University, graduating in 1993. Before rejoining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1996 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Ms. Humetewa was counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and she also worked as counsel to the Deputy Attorney General for the U.S. Justice Department.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Ms. Humetewa prosecuted a wide variety of federal crimes, and she also worked in the Civil Section. In 2001, Ms. Humetewa was promoted to senior litigation counsel/tribal liaison where she was responsible for managing the Victim Witness Program and fostering relationships between the office and Arizona’s 22 Indian tribal governments. Among other subjects, Ms. Humetewa has instructed national and local tribal, federal and state law enforcement and prosecutors in all areas of federal criminal procedure, Indian Country jurisdiction, Native American Graves Protection and Archeological Resource Protection crimes, child abuse, and federal victim rights laws.
Ms. Humetewa received the Executive Office of U.S. Attorney’s Director’s Award in 1999 for Superior Performance by an Assistant U.S. Attorney. She served as an Ad Hoc Member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission Native American Subcommittee in 2002-2003. Ms. Humetewa was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2006 to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Udall Foundation. She has served as a Hopi Tribal Court Appellate Judge. She is an enrolled member of the Hopi tribe.