Walter Echo-Hawk will speak about his path toward his Pawnee ancestors in Nebraska in a talk titled “Roots: My Journey to Indigenous Nebraska.”

He is the author of “In The Light Of Justice: The Rise of Human Rights in Native America and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” “In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided,” and “Battlefields and Burial Grounds.” He is a Pawnee Indian with a degree in political science from Oklahoma State University and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico.

In his home state of Oklahoma, Echo-Hawk wears three hats: (1) Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Kickapoo Tribe; (2) Counsel, Crowe & Dunlevy, Oklahoma’s oldest and largest law firm; and (3) Adjunct Professor, University of Tulsa College of Law.

As a staff attorney of the Native American Rights Fund from 1973-2009, he represented Indian Tribes, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians on significant legal issues in the modern era of federal Indian law during the rise of modern Indian Nations in the tribal sovereignty movement. He litigated indigenous rights pertaining to religious freedom, prisoner rights, water rights, treaty rights, and reburial/repatriation rights.