Hank Adams facts for kids

Henry Lyle Adams (May 16, 1943 – December 21, 2020) was an important Native rights activist. He was known for being a great planner, strategist, and negotiator. He helped solve many big disagreements between Native Americans and government officials after 1960.

Hank Adams was born on a reservation in Montana. He lived in Washington state for most of his life. He took part in protests and negotiations in places like Washington, D.C., and Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

Adams worked hard to protect Native American fishing and hunting rights. These rights were on lands that traditionally belonged to their tribes. He helped make changes through protests and court cases. A big court decision in 1974, called the Boldt Decision, confirmed these rights. It meant tribes could co-manage fishing resources with the state of Washington. They also got a share of the yearly fish harvest.

Adams was part of the American Indian Movement. He helped negotiate peaceful solutions during important events. These included the occupation of the Department of Interior Building in Washington, D.C., in 1972. He also helped during the 71-day standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973. He continued to work for tribal sovereignty, which means tribes having the right to govern themselves. In 2006, he received the 'American Indian Visionary Award.'

Hank Adams' Early Life and School

Hank Adams was born on May 16, 1943. His family was Assiniboine, and they lived on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. His birthplace was Wolf Point, Montana, also called Poverty Flats.

His father, Louis Adams, was a bronc and bull rider. His mother, Jessie, was a rodeo rider and horsewoman. They divorced when Hank was young. His grandfather, Two Hawk Boy, was sent to an Indian boarding school at age nine. These schools tried to make Native American children live like European-Americans. His grandfather was renamed John Adams, and his family kept that last name. Hank Adams was also known as Yellow Eagle. He had one sister named Lois.

His family moved to Washington State around the end of World War II. They settled in Taholah, Washington. This area is part of the Quinault Indian Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula. As he grew up, Adams often fished and worked picking fruits and vegetables on farms. This taught him to work hard.

Adams was a student-body president in high school. He was also the editor of the school newspaper and yearbook. He played football and basketball at Moclips-Aloha High School in Moclips, Washington. He graduated in 1961. He also worked part-time in a sawmill on the Quinault Reservation.

Adams went to the University of Washington for two years, from 1961 to 1963. He left college in November 1963 after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He then started working full-time on suicide prevention for Native American youth. That same year, he began his long partnership with activist Billy Frank Jr. from the Nisqually people. They worked together to fight for treaty rights.

Hank Adams' Activism and Important Work

Adams joined the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) in 1963. He was the Special Projects Director from 1963 to 1967. During this time, he met actor Marlon Brando. Brando later supported the Native American rights movement.

Protesting for Fishing Rights

Adams organized a protest march on March 3, 1964, in Olympia, Washington's capital. This march aimed to show how the state was trying to limit Indian treaty fishing rights. More than 1,000 Native Americans and their supporters attended. He invited Marlon Brando, and Brando's visit brought national media attention.

The day before the march, a "fish-in" protest happened in Washington state. This was at Franks Landing. It was one of many civil disobedience actions. Native Americans used these actions, like the sit-ins of the African American civil rights movement, to protest. Brando was arrested at the "fish-in" but was quickly released.

In 1964 and 1965, Adams worked as a research secretary for the National Congress of American Indians. In April 1964, he refused to join the military. He said he would not serve unless traditional Indian treaty rights were honored by the federal government. This act got media attention. He later served two years in the Army from 1965 to 1967.

In 1968, Adams became the leader of the Survival of American Indians Association (SAIA). This group of 200 members worked to protect traditional Indian fishing rights. These rights were being challenged by sports and commercial fishermen and local governments. Native Americans said their treaty rights to fish were more important than state rules.

Near the end of 1968, Adams became deeply involved in this fight. He protested against state fishing rules for Native Americans on the Nisqually River in Washington. This river was traditional Nisqually territory. Adams was arrested many times for his protest actions between 1968 and 1971. In 1971, he was shot in the stomach by a gunman during the Northwest Fish Wars. Some sports fishermen were very angry that Native Americans were fighting for their fishing rights.

Working with the Poor People's Campaign

In 1968, Adams was on the national committee for the Poor People's Campaign. This campaign was organized by Martin Luther King Jr.. Adams was among the Native Americans who occupied the National Mall in Washington D.C. in April 1968. They joined with other poor people to work for common goals.

Adams led a group of over 100 people from Resurrection City. This included Native Americans in traditional clothing. They went to the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on May 29, 1968. He helped 25 tribal leaders get inside the building. They chanted and drummed while waiting for hours. They wanted to give their complaints directly to the justices, but the justices did not meet with them.

Proposing Changes for Native Americans

In 1971, Adams wrote a 15-point plan for national changes. His goal was to create a "system of relationships between Indian tribes and the federal government." This plan became the basis for the Twenty Point Proposal. The American Indian Movement (AIM) and other groups later gave this proposal to federal officials in 1972. This happened during the Trail of Broken Treaties events in Washington, D.C.

The Boldt Decision and Fishing Rights

Adams continued to work on the fishing rights issue. He also talked to lawmakers in Washington. He gathered and presented important information for the legal case about Native American fishing rights. This case was called United States v. Washington. It was decided in 1974 and is known as the Boldt Decision.

During the trial, Adams had a special role. He acted as a "lay-lawyer," meaning he represented tribal fishermen directly in front of Judge Boldt. This happened at the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The Supreme Court of the United States later confirmed that Native Americans in the Northwest had the right to keep fishing in their traditional areas. They could also use traditional methods without state restrictions. This included fishing at traditional spots off the reservations. Adams was a key strategist on this issue and worked closely with Billy Frank Jr..

The courts upheld the fishing rights protected by treaties. They allowed tribes to work with the state of Washington to manage salmon and other fishing resources together. Adams continued to work on issues related to the Boldt Decision throughout his life.

The Trail of Broken Treaties

Adams was active in the American Indian Movement (AIM). He joined AIM members on their 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties protest caravan. This caravan traveled across the country. The protesters asked for more sovereignty for Native American tribes. This means tribes having more control over their own affairs.

The caravan stopped in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, Adams wrote a proposal of Twenty Points. This list included many demands. The Nixon administration refused to meet with them. Because of this, protesters unexpectedly occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices. These offices were at the Department of Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The group asked for new treaty negotiations. They also asked for federal courts to accept the Native American right to understand treaties. They wanted to get rid of laws that threatened Indian sovereignty and life. Even though Nixon's representatives did not accept this list, it set goals for Native American sovereignty and self-determination. Adams's leadership helped change government policy over time. Since then, federally recognized tribes have gained more self-governance. Congress has also passed laws to support this.

Helping During Protests

Adams was important in keeping Native Americans safe during two major Red Power protests in the early 1970s. During the occupation of Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in the Main Interior Building in 1972, Adams was the main negotiator for the Native Americans. He was key to getting protesters amnesty, meaning they would not be charged for what happened during the takeover.

Months later, Adams took part in the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee. He helped end the Wounded Knee incident peacefully. This was a 71-day protest within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Adams was the go-between for Frank Fools Crow, the leader of the Lakota occupation, and representatives from President Richard Nixon's White House.

Leonard Garment, a White House aide who helped solve both the Interior building takeover and the Wounded Knee incident, said: "Hank Adams' role in the peaceful resolution of some very difficult problems is still vividly clear in my mind." Adams often worked behind the scenes on these issues. Adams said about his work: "Some of the things you prevent from happening are as important as many of the things you are able concretely to achieve."

Documentary Film Work

To raise awareness about the treaty fishing disputes in the Pacific Northwest, Adams produced a documentary film. It was called As Long as the Rivers Run. Filmed between 1968 and 1970, this movie showed the struggles between Native Americans and government officials during the Fish Wars. These were a series of actions where Native Americans tried to protect their fishing rights. The film was shown in 1972 to the people occupying the Main Interior Building, the BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

As Long as the Rivers Run was later made available to the public. It was digitally improved after the nonprofit organization Salmon Defense got it.

Hank Adams' Legacy and Impact

Many people in the Native American community saw Adams as one of the most important people in the movement. Leonard Garment, the White House aide who helped solve the BIA occupation and Wounded Knee incident, said: "Hank Adams' role in the peaceful resolution of some very difficult problems is still vividly clear in my mind."

Vine Deloria Jr., a historian, writer, and rights activist from the Standing Rock Sioux, said Adams was one of the most important Native Americans of the last 60 years.

Adams was a member of the Franks Landing Indian Community of the Nisqually people. He passed away on December 21, 2020, in Olympia, Washington.

Honors and Awards

• The American Institute for Public Service honored Adams in 1981 with a Jefferson Award for Public Service.
• Adams received an Abraham Lincoln Award from the National Education Association in 1971. This was for his "courageous actions in support of equal opportunity" and his "tireless activism."
• In 2006, he received the American Indian Visionary Award from Indian Country Today. He was only the third person to get this award.