Federal justice officials, tribal leaders look to better protect American Indian children

Tribes, justice officials focus on Indian children

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. — The U.S. Interior Department’s assistant secretary for Indian Affairs says the federal government and tribal law enforcement officers cannot simply arrest their way out of the problems that plague Indian country.

Former prosecutor and law professor Larry Echo Hawk says the solution to keeping children safe and tackling the escalating crime rate in Indian communities is the creation of healthy families. He gave the keynote speech Tuesday at the start of a three-day national symposium focused on the protection of children in Indian Country.

He says giving the next generation the tools to avoid avenues of crime will help end the cycle.

Organizers say the symposium is the first of its kind. Some 300 federal and tribal officials are attending the event.