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Content provided by the American Bar Association Division for Public Education. Visit the Division for Public Education's website to learn more about the law and its role in society (www.abanet.org/publiced). For more profiles of pioneers in the legal profession, visit the Division for Public Education's Raising the Bar: Pioneers in the Legal Profession website at www.abanet.org/publiced/raisingthebar.html.

John E. Echohawk

As co-founder and Executive Director since 1977 of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), John Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, has worked over 30 years for justice for Indian tribes and to find ways to correct centuries-old injustices. NARF was organized in 1970 to provide legal assistance to Native Americans on cases of national significance. It is a non-profit organization headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, that hires experts in Indian law who provide counsel to tribes, Indian organizations, and individuals that lack such resources.

With NARF recognized as one of the foremost advocates in the areas of tribal sovereignty and the safeguarding of natural resources and ancestral burial grounds, John Echohawk has been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal since 1988. At any given time, he may be overseeing 50 different cases that fall within the purview of NARF's five priorities: preservation of tribal existence, protection of tribal natural resources, promotion of Native American human rights, accountability of governments to Native Americans, and development of Indian law. He is also responsible for raising the millions of dollars that are necessary to finance the operations of NARF annually.

Echohawk's statement that "We never give up" is reflected in the cases that NARF handles, many of which go on for up to 20 years. Examples of NARF's work include:

NARF's tenacious efforts to defend treaty and aboriginal water rights, including work on the 55,356 acre Tule Reservation in California, which led to John Echohawk's presidential appointment in 1995 to the Western Water Policy Review Commission.
NARF's commitment to preserving tribal existence wherever it is threatened. NARF defended a native village in Venetie, Alaska, against a challenge to its tribal sovereignty by the state of Alaska. The village's claims were recognized by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but were ultimately struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A class action lawsuit filed by NARF on behalf of more than 300,000 Indians after the failure of the federal government to implement the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act. The act was designed to address the issue of mismanaged revenues from resources existing on land held by the federal government in trust for individual Indians. NARF's complaint alleges the federal government's breach of trust and the matter remains in federal court.

Born and raised in New Mexico, John Echohawk has five siblings, and is one of three who have chosen to pursue careers as attorneys. In 1967 he graduated from the University of New Mexico, and with a scholarship he attended University of New Mexico School of Law in a federal program designed to increase the number of Indian lawyers. He was the first Indian graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1970. While a student, he co-founded the American Indian Law Students Association and began his legendary career of addressing the rights of American Indians.

John Echohawk serves on many boards and organizations that address his lifelong commitment to the rights of American Indians, including the American Indian Resources Institute, the Association on American Indian Affairs, the National Resources Defense Council, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Married for over 37 years, he and wife Kathryn have two children-a son who is a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a daughter who is a fundraiser for the American Indian College Fund. They are also proud grandparents of three.

As Echohawk has noted, "Tribes are rebuilding their nations-forcefully and successfully." Success in this area is due in large part to the work that John Echohawk performs on behalf of the Native American Rights Fund. The United States and Indian nations alike benefit from John Echohawk's efforts to guarantee human rights and dignity for all.

(Originally published in 2002)