Hilary C. Tompkins

Dartmouth College disagreed, and after being admitted to the school--with its historic program for Native Americans"--Tompkins found a community of other Native students, developing an interest in her roots. A year after she graduated in 1990, she took a job with the Navajo Department of Justice, moved to Arizona, and finally began to connect with the culture into which she was born. "I remember seeing little kids and a grandma in the bed of a pickup truck and thinking, 'that could have been me,'" she said.

Tompkins passed the Navajo Bar Exam and worked in the tribal courts before leaving for Stanford Law. By this time, her birth parents had gotten wind of her progress, and they were reunited after she graduated in 1996-just in time for her to take a job at the federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. After three years, however, Tompkins was recruited by a private firm specializing in Indian law, and headed back out West to represent tribes at a new branch office in Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico Chief Counsel

In 2002, government came calling again. Newly elected Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M) asked her to become his deputy counsel-along with a record number of other Native appointees-and Tompkins accepted. In that capacity and later as chief counsel, she advised the governor on a broad range of legal issues. In particular, she took the lead in negotiations between tribal casinos and the governor's office, which resulted in the tribes contributing more of their profits to the state in exchange for limitations on non-tribal gambling facilities.

Interior Department Nomination

Tompkins' record itself went largely unchallenged during her confirmation proceedings before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in April 2009, and she was confirmed by a vote of 20 to three. But later, senators raised speedbumps over pet issues: First, Robert Bennett (R-Utah) held up the vote over a 2003 settlement that prohibits Interior from designating land as wilderness study areas. Then, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) placed another hold on Tompkin's confirmation, demanding to know whether Tompkins would abide by 2009 legislation that prohibits the Interior Department from banning firearms in parks and wildlife refuges. Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) defended Tompkins vigorously and expressed impatience at Republican tactics-which had earlier held up the nomination of fellow Interior nominee David Hayes, whom Republicans filibustered over the cancellation of oil and gas leases.

After reassurances by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and undisclosed responses from Tompkins, Bennett and Coburn dropped their objections and Tompkins was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on June 17, 2009.

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