Elizabeth Lohah Homer

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Attorney (DC, NM), Principal

Prior to establishing Homer Law, CHTD., Elizabeth Lohah Homer, a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, completed a three year term of appointment as Vicechairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. A proponent of collaborative rulemaking, Ms. Homer was instrumental in effecting tribal involvement in the Commission’s regulatory processes through the establishment of tribal advisory committees and other consultative activities during her tenure with the Commission.

Ms. Homer has had a distinguished career in public service. She served as the Director of the Office of American Indian Trust at the U.S. Department of the Interior where she worked closely with tribal governments and federal policy makers to advance issues and policies of concern to American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments as well as Native Hawaiians. As the Director of the Office, she supervised the implementation of a number of Administration policy priorities in the areas of tribal natural and cultural resources, consultation, and negotiated rulemaking, including President Clinton’s Executive Orders regarding Sacred Sites and Tribal Consultation. A recognized authority on federal Indian law and policy, she also served on several U.S. diplomatic delegations to the United Nations and the Organization of American States on matters concerning the civil and political rights of indigenous peoples.

She began her legal career with the Office of the District Attorney for the Second Judicial District of New Mexico where she prosecuted violent felony offenses before joining the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. While at the Justice Department, her work to increase the investigation and prosecution of crimes against children in Indian Country earned her one of the Division’s highest awards for special initiative. She also served on the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime and as the Criminal Division’s representative to the Indian Affairs Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys.

Upon completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, Ms. Homer joined the Osage Nation staff. Later, she accepted a position with the policy arm of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, a consortium of energy producing tribes, where her work was primarily focused on environmental issues related to nonrenewable energy resource development. She went on to serve as Deputy Director of Americans for Indian Opportunity, a national organization addressing emerging issues of relevance to tribal governments

Ms. Homer earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of New Mexico and the Bar of the District of Columbia as well as the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, and Native American Bar Association.