MAY 16, 1943

ASSINIBOINE-SIOUX HANK ADAMS BORN–”FISH WARS” ACTIVIST AND TRIAL ADVOCATE

Born on Fort Peck Reservation, Montana, raised in Taholah, Washington (WA), Hank attended University of WA (UW) for 2 years. His activism began with the “Fish Wars” in WA. Arrested multiple times & shot once, he also recruited celebrities to publicize the struggle. In 1966, he got UW Law School to create America’s 1^st Indian law course. Adams helped organize the American Indian Movement’s (AIM) 1972 “Trail of Broken Treaties” march and worked to resolve both AIM’s takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building & 1973 “Siege of Wounded Knee.” In 1974, as a “lay lawyer,” Adams represented tribal fishermen in United States v. Washington (U.S. District Court for the Western District of WA), which reaffirmed tribal rights in WA to co-manage & harvest fish under Federal treaties (Boldt Decision). Honors: Jefferson Award for Public Service (1981); Abraham Lincoln Award (1971); and American Indian Visionary Award, Indian Country Today (2006). Adams died December 21, 2020, in Olympia, WA.

Sources:

Jennifer Davis, “Hank Adams, Activist and Indigenous Law Expert, 1943-2020,” In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, 11/17/2022.  Retrieved 1/26/2023, Hank Adams, Activist and Indigenous Law Expert, 1943-2020 | In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress (loc.gov)

“’The Most Important Indian’—In Memory of Hank Adams (1943–2020),” Smithsonian Voices, National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Magazine, 12/23/2020.  Retrieved 1/26/2023, “The Most Important Indian”—In Memory of Hank Adams (1943–2020) | Smithsonian Voices | National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Magazine

Wikipedia

Photo:  J.W. Thompson, 1955. Men and women hauling a fishing net onto a beach on the Quileute Indian Reservation.  Permissive Use.