As U.S. senators across the country prepare to nominate their choices for top federal law enforcement positions, they should keep qualified American Indian 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 Indian 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 Indian populations.

Here's the U.S. attorney list: Terry Pechota, Phil Hogen and Diane Humetewa. As U.S. marshals go, the only known Indian 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 Indian person now working as a U.S. attorney.

It's a short list and one that begs the question: Where is the Indian 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 Indian, 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.

After a recent conversation with Pechota, Hogen and Ecoffey, I realized the incredible odds these men represent in having ever been selected. Their rise depended solely upon a political appointment. As the decades slip away, we remain with precious few examples of Indian law enforcement role models.

When I spoke with Pechota, Hogen and Ecoffey, they all stressed the need for political appointments who understand the daily law enforcement crises and jurisdictional quandaries that permeate in Indian Country lands, including lack of police officers, lack of jails and lack of federal prosecutions for major crimes committed on reservations.

Pechota said states like South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico all share similar law enforcement issues because of their significant Indian populations.

Hogen said crimes on tribal lands can dominate a U.S. attorney's time when there are tens of thousands of Indian people whose cases require federal jurisdiction oversight.

"We were so impacted by the crimes of violence that unfortunately occurred on the reservations," Hogen said. "The main thing I did as U.S. attorney in South Dakota every day along with my assistant was prosecute those crimes of violence. All of that stemmed from the economic plight on the reservations. There was stark poverty and not much opportunity."

I hope U.S. senators around the country are paying attention to tribal law enforcement experience as they get ready to present their nomination to President Barack Obama. These are critically significant jobs, with the U.S. attorney serving as the top law enforcement officer in 93 respective districts across the country. And U.S. marshals carry a heavy load for the federal court system while enforcing judicial orders.

In 2009, it's incomprehensible that senatorial delegations have thus far failed to adequately represent the face of Indian Country at the highest levels of law enforcement. Only three senior senators have stepped forward to nominate Indian law enforcement role models in recent decades.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., supported the successful presidential appointment of Humetewa, a job she's held for the last year and a half. Former Sen. George McGovern nominated Pechota, now a lawyer in Rapid City, S.D., while former South Dakota Sen. James Abdnor successfully nominated Hogen, now chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. And the only U.S. marshal from Indian Country, Ecoffey, was nominated by former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle.

Scores of qualified Indian candidates exist throughout the country. They deserve an opportunity to serve their state and country. The odds of doing so shouldn't be one in a million.

(Reach reporter Jodi Rave at 800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@;lee.net, or read her blog at http://buffalopost.net.)