Larry Echohawk

Larry EchoHawk
Assistant Secretary of the interior
for Indian Affairs

Age 61

Birthplace Cody, Wyoming

Family Married, with six children and 22 grandchildren

Professional He graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1973; studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business; started practicing law in Salt Lake City in 1975; and began representing the Shoshone-Bannock Indian tribes (based in Fort Hall, Idaho) in 1977. In 1982, he won a seat in the Idaho State House of Representatives for Bannock County and went on to become the Bannock County prosecuting attorney. He was elected Idaho Attorney General in 1990, the first Native American to be elected to a state constitutional office. After a failed run for governor of Idaho in 1994, Echohawk began teaching at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.

Viewpoint EchoHawk identifies as a Democrat but seems to straddle the line between Democrat and Republican. A member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, he’s fought for Native American autonomy from states, but also fought on behalf of states against Indian casinos, causing some Native Americans to protest his appointment. He’s pro-life, but didn’t alter Idaho’s existing laws permitting abortion. He supported state legislation to restrict classroom discussions and library access to gay and lesbian topics, and to prevent gay and lesbian groups from receiving state funding. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (Carey Jackson)