Heather Dawn Thompson is a Lakota attorney from the

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey ...

. Thompson serves as the Director of the Office of Tribal Relations for the United States Department of Agriculture in the

Joe Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory i ...

. She focuses her practice on American Indian law, federal Indian policy and advocacy, tribal sovereignty, and tribal economic development including e-commerce, international trade, energy, finance, and telecom. In addition, she concentrates on local tribal

community economic development Community economic development (CED) is a field of study that actively elicits community involvement when working with government, and private sectors to build strong communities, industries, and markets. It includes collaborative and participatory ...

, tribal nation building (including constitutions, codes, and courts), criminal law, and homeland security. She works with corporations doing business in Indian Country, individual tribes, tribal and Indian-owned businesses, and intertribal associations. Thompson is a graduate of

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, where she graduated cum laude.

Career

Prior to joining the firm, Thompson was an

Assistant U.S. Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Dakota's Indian Country Section. There, she was an Indian Country Federal Prosecutor that covered violent sex crimes and violence against women. Thompson is recognized for her work while serving as the Director of Government Affairs for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the nation's oldest and largest intertribal organization. She also served as a Policy Advisor for Judiciary and Indian Affairs in the U.S. Senate. She also had extensive international experience, having lived on four different continents and traveled and worked in over 40 countries. Thompson frequently speaks on indigenous law and issues. Heather is the former president of the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) and the DC Native American Bar Association (NABA-DC), and is the current president the South Dakota Indian Country Bar Association (SDICBA).

Personal life

Thompson lives in the Black Hills in South Dakota and in Washington, D.C. She is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, and speaks English, Spanish, and Lakota.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Heather Dawn Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century Native Americans Native American lawyers Cheyenne River Sioux people Biden administration personnel American women lawyers United States Department of Agriculture people Native American women in politics 21st-century Native American women Harvard Law School alumni Lakota women