Echo Hawk to Keynote 20th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service

by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Currents. Discussion »

Larry Echo Hawk
- Pawnee

WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will be the keynote speaker at the 20th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service at the Indian Police Academy in Artesia, New Mexico.

The annual event is held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services to honor and commemorate tribal, federal, state and local law enforcement officers working on federal Indian lands and in tribal communities who have given their lives in the line of duty.

This year seven names will be added to the list that will bring the total on the memorial to 96. Those to be added are:

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services will hold the service in conjunction with the International Associations of Chiefs of Police, Indian Country Law Enforcement Section, the National Sheriffs' Association, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the US Border Patrol.

The memorial is located on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center campus at Artesia, New Mexico. The memorial’s design is based on indigenous design concepts. It is comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many American Indians. The memorial also includes four planters filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races and they represent the four directions. The plants are located near the walkway’s entrance.