Hank Adams

Hank Adams
Born
Henry Lyle Adams

(1943-05-16)May 16, 1943
Wolf Point, Montana, U.S.
DiedDecember 21, 2020(2020-12-21) (aged 77)
Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Other namesYellow Eagle
Alma materUniversity of Washington
OccupationNative American rights activist
Years active1960–2020[1]
Known forTactician, strategist, and negotiator of several key events including the Boldt Decision
MovementAmerican Indian Movement
AwardsAmerican Indian Visionary Award, 2006
Jefferson Award for Public Service, 1981

Henry Lyle Adams (May 16, 1943 – December 21, 2020) was an American Native rights activist known as a successful strategist,[2][3] tactician,[4][5] and negotiator.[2][6] He was instrumental in resolving several key conflicts between Native Americans and state and federal government officials after 1960. Born on a reservation in Montana and based in Washington state for much of his life, he participated in protests and negotiations in Washington, DC and Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

Adams was instrumental in working to assert and protect Native American fishing and hunting rights on traditional territories free of state restrictions. He fostered change through protests and court challenges. The ruling in United States v. Washington (1974), known as the Boldt Decision, upheld by the United States Supreme Court (1979), reaffirmed native treaty fishing rights on ceded territory. It resulted in tribes becoming the co-managers of salmon and other fishing resources with the state of Washington and reserving a portion of the annual harvest for them.

Adams participated in the American Indian Movement, including its occupation of the Department of Interior Building in Washington, DC in 1972 and in the 71-day standoff of the Wounded Knee incident in 1973. In both cases Adams played important roles in negotiating peaceful resolutions of volatile situations. He continued his work to press for tribal sovereignty, as well as with tribes to restore the role of their elders. In 2006 he was honored with the 'American Indian Visionary Award' by Indian Country Today.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  4. ^ Cobb, Daniel M.; Barger, Sarah; Skopp, Lily (2020). ""A Sickness which has Grown to Epidemic Proportions": American Indian Anti-and Decolonial Thought During the Long 1960s". Comparative American Studies. 17 (2: Red Power at 50: Re-Evaluations and Memory): 199–223. doi:10.1080/14775700.2020.1735921. S2CID 216222993 – via Taylor & Francis Online. A skilled strategist and tactician, Adams effectively combined . . .
  5. ^ Carson, Rob (February 15, 2014). "Boldt decision has rippling effects 40 years later" (PDF). The News Tribune. Retrieved January 5, 2021. Hank Adams, who had served as the tribes' unofficial tactician and political organizer . . .
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trahant20201225 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).