Larry J. Echo Hawk (born August 2, 1948) is an American attorney, legal scholar, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Echo Hawk served under U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs from 2009 to 2012. He previously served as the

Attorney General of Idaho The Attorney General of Idaho is an elected office that assists local law enforcement agencies in the state of Idaho. They provide legal representation for state agencies, state corporations and any persons holding ownership of property, as well as ...

from 1991 to 1995, the first Native American elected to the position,"Profile: Larry Echo Hawk"
, Department of the Interior Profile and spent two terms in the

Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate se ...

. In 2012, he was called as a general authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). As of 2022, Echo Hawk is the last Democrat to have served as Attorney General of Idaho.

Early life and education

Echo Hawk was born into the federally-recognized Pawnee Nation in

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at th ...

, in 1948 to Ernest and Emma Jane Echo Hawk, where his father worked with the oil and gas industry. He was enrolled as a member of the tribe, whose reservation is in Oklahoma. Before Echo Hawk started first grade, his family moved to

Farmington, New Mexico Farmington is a city in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census the city had a total population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and surrounding San Juan County) makes up one of the four Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

. His family joined the LDS Church when he was 14. Echo Hawk attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

on a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

scholarship.Larry EchoHawk Athlete Profile , The Official Site of BYU Athletics
(accessed 18 October 2013) After earning a degree in physical education and zoology, Echo Hawk served for two years in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

in 1973 from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He then earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

Career

Echo Hawk began his legal career working with California Indian Legal Services. In 1975, he started his own law practice in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

. In 1977, he became general legal counsel for the Fort Hall, Idaho-based Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. He also served as a special prosecutor for the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...

in 1985. He later settled in Idaho, becoming active in the Democratic Party. In 1982 Echo Hawk was elected to a seat in the

from Bannock County, where he served two terms. He was later elected Bannock County prosecuting attorney in 1986. Echo Hawk was elected Attorney General of Idaho in 1990, the first Native American elected to this position in Idaho. Echo Hawk served as national co-chair for Native Americans for the

Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign The 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, was announced on October 3, 1991, at the Old State House in Little Rock, Arkansas. After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 1992, the ca ...

. He was a principal speaker at that year's

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

and led the Idaho delegation as chair at the convention. In 1994 Echo Hawk announced his candidacy to succeed fellow Democrat

Cecil D. Andrus Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served 26th and 28th governor of Idaho, for total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981 during th ...

, who was retiring as Governor of Idaho. Echo Hawk decisively defeated former state senator Ron Beitelspacher and an unknown candidate in the Democratic primary, fueling speculation that he could be the nation's first Native American governor. But, he was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Phil Batt. Echo Hawk has not been a candidate for public office since. Shortly after the 1994 election defeat, Echo Hawk accepted a faculty position at BYU's

J. Reuben Clark Law School The J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law or JRCLS) is the graduate law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, a former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and ...

and returned to Utah. In that capacity he taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure and federal Indian law. He has also published several scholarly papers. Echo Hawk is admitted to the bar in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Native American issues

Echo Hawk has served on the American Indian Services National Advisory Board and Board of Trustees. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice, a leading group on justice policy development. He has also served on the board of the American Indian Community Resource Center. John Echo Hawk, director of the Native American Rights Fund, is his brother. Echo Hawk was appointed by President Obama as the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs in 2009. During his tenure, the government increased the amount of land held in trust for federally recognized Native American tribes by 158,000 acres, supporting their efforts to be self-supportive and to reconnect fragmented reservations. He also oversaw several water agreements made with Native American tribes. He directed implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act. While leading Indian Affairs, he oversaw the formation of the Tribal Leadership Conference, which provides for an annual meeting between leaders or other representatives of the 566 federally recognized tribes, the U.S. president and all members of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. He resigned his position at Interior on April 27, 2012. In February 2019, Echo Hawk joined the administration of Utah governor Gary Herbert as special counsel on Native American affairs.

LDS Church service

In the LDS Church, Echo Hawk has served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of a student stake on the BYU campus, a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

, and

high councilor A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine h ...

. At the time he was elected State Attorney General in Idaho, he was serving as a member of the board of trustees of LDS Social Services. He was

accepted ''Accepted'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink (in his directorial debut) and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Mark Perez. The plot follows a group of high school graduates who create their own fake college after bei ...

by church membership as a general authority and member of the

First Quorum of the Seventy First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

on March 31, 2012. During his first year as a general authority he made multiple trips throughout the southwest US, often meeting with groups of Latter-day Saint Native Americans. From 2013 to 2015, Echo Hawk served as second counselor in the presidency of the church's Philippines

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

."LDS First Presidency announces area leadership assignments"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is t ...

'', 2 May 2015. From 2015 to 2018, Echo Hawk served as an assistant executive director of the church's Correlation Department. He was also a member of the LDS Church's Boundary and Leadership Change Committee. On October 6, 2018, Echo Hawk was released and designated an emeritus general authority.

Personal life

He later baptized Teresa "Terry" Pries, whom he had been dating for several years. In 1968, their marriage in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

was performed by

Spencer W. Kimball Spencer Woolley Kimball (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was an American business, civic, and religious leader who was the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The grandson of early Latter-day ...

, then a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

. The couple have had six children together.

References

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Larry Echo Hawk

"Profile: Larry Echo Hawk"
Department of the Interior Profile
Echo Hawk Law Offices

Larry Jack Echo Hawk Papers, MSS 8050
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Echo Hawk, Larry 1948 births American general authorities (LDS Church) American prosecutors Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University faculty BYU Cougars football players Converts to Mormonism Idaho Attorneys General Idaho lawyers Living people Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Democratic Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Mormonism and Native Americans Native American state legislators Pawnee people People from Farmington, New Mexico People from Cody, Wyoming Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni Stanford University alumni United States Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel Utah lawyers Latter Day Saints from Wyoming Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from New Mexico Native American people from Utah Native American lawyers 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans