Crowe & Dunlevy to co-sponsor Listening Conference with Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk
Participants will discuss important tribal issues in Oklahoma and Kansas

PAWNEE, Okla. – On Friday, Oct. 23, Native American leaders from Oklahoma and Kansas will gather for a Listening Conference with Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior Larry Echo Hawk at the Pawnee Nation Wellness Center, located on the Pawnee Nation Reserve in Pawnee, Okla.

During the conference, tribal leaders from each of the Oklahoma and Kansas tribes will meet with the assistant secretary to discuss core issues important to the Indian nation. In addition, the president of the Pawnee Nation, mayor of Pawnee, a representative of the Native American Rights Fund and several representatives from Crowe & Dunlevy, a co-sponsor of the event, will participate in the conference. The Pawnee Nation College, which is co-sponsoring the free public service event, has sent invitations to each tribal chairperson for every Indian tribe in Oklahoma and Kansas to attend and participate.

"Crowe & Dunlevy is proud to co-sponsor this public service event," said Walter Echo-Hawk, a Crowe & Dunlevy attorney involved in planning the event. "Under the Obama administration, tribal leaders have a rare opportunity to forge an agenda that will chart the course for the future. Perhaps the groundwork for that agenda can begin with this Listening Conference."

The conference will provide tribal leaders with an opportunity to join an open and candid dialogue with the assistant secretary. They will also have an opportunity to make oral presentations at the evening dialogue session and can submit written tribal statements to him. Presentation topics will focus on tribal issues such as water rights, higher education, youth, gaming and land into trust.

"Such an event will provide an opportunity for tribal leaders from Kansas and Oklahoma to voice their concerns in a collegiate, academic environment that takes as its mission the sovereign rights of all Indian people," said Todd Fuller, president of Pawnee Nation College.

“The hope for a new direction between the tribes and the United States can start the consultation process for all to benefit," said Andrew E. Gray, professor at Pawnee Nation College.

The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, with the opening and closing address by Echo Hawk.

Echo Hawk will be honored on Saturday, Oct. 24 with a Pawnee Honor Dance, a traditional ceremonial war dance to honor outstanding individuals for their accomplishments in life. The dance will include traditional Indian singing, special family songs, tribal dancing, feasting and prayers and will take place at the wellness center.

"Secretary Echo Hawk's appearance at Pawnee Nation is a great opportunity for tribal leaders from Oklahoma and Kansas tribes to express our views on federal policy," said Michael McBride III, chair of Crowe & Dunlevy's Indian Law & Gaming Practice Group and Pawnee Nation Supreme Court Justice. "We are delighted to honor him on Saturday with a traditional Pawnee Honor Dance.  It will be a great homecoming and a great way to recognize the Pawnee Nation College. Pawnee people are very proud of Larry and his significant accomplishments."  

About the Pawnee Nation College
The Pawnee Nation College is an academic institution that seeks to meet the cultural and educational needs of the Pawnee Nation, other surrounding Indian Nations and all those who have the desire and ability to learn.

About Crowe & Dunlevy
With offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman, Crowe & Dunlevy represents clients in all aspects of commercial law practice, including complex business transactions, litigation and regulatory practice in both state and federal courts and agencies, energy law and all types of alternative dispute resolution.