Larry Echo Hawk

Echo Hawk was born into the federally recognized Pawnee Nation in Cody, Wyoming, in 1948 to Ernest and Emma Jane Echo Hawk, where his father worked with the oil and gas industry. He is 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. His family joined the LDS Church when he was 14. Echo Hawk attended Brigham Young University on a football scholarship. After earning a degree in physical education and zoology, Echo Hawk served for two years in the United States Marine Corps. He earned his JD in 1973 from the University of Utah. He then earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. ==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. Echo Hawk was elected attorney general of Idaho in 1990, the first Native American elected to this position in Idaho. 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. 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 of a student stake on the BYU campus, a bishop, and high councilor. At the time he was elected attorney general of Idaho, he was serving as a member of the board of trustees of LDS Social Services. He was accepted by church membership as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy 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. 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 ==

Echo Hawk married Teresa "Terry" Pries in 1968 in the Salt Lake Temple; their sealing was performed by Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The couple have six children. ==References==