Seattletimes.com: Chinooks at White House party, then lose their federal recognition

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Chinooks at White House party, then lose their federal recognition
Full story: 
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=chinook08m&date=20020708

By Linda Shaw
Seattle Times staff reporter

                                                Last Wednesday, Gary Johnson 
traveled to the White House, invited to represent the Chinook tribe at a White 
House luncheon where President Bush spoke.

Two days later, as the tribal chairman and his wife shopped for gifts for 
friends and family back home, he got a call on his cellphone informing him the 
federal government no longer recognized the Chinooks as a tribe.

Federal recognition


"Federally recognized" means tribes and groups have a special, legal 
relationship with the U.S. government. This relationship is referred to as a 
government-to-government relationship.

· How does a Native American become a member of a tribe? Tribes set up their 
own membership criteria, though the U.S. Congress also can establish criteria.
· What benefits and services are available to federally recognized tribes? 
Medical and dental care, grants and programs for education, housing programs, 
aid in developing tribal governments and courts, resource management and other 
services based upon tribal needs and interests. The services are provided 
through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, mainly for 
tribal members who live on or near reservations.

Source: Governor's Office of Indian AffairsIt was the second time in the past 
three months that Bush administration officials have overturned last-minute 
Clinton administration decisions to recognize a Washington tribe. "This is a 
disappointment and an outrage at the same time," said Dennis Whittlesey, 
attorney for the Chinooks.

 In May, the Duwamish tribe, based in Seattle, learned it would not get the 
tribal status approved in January 2001 by outgoing Clinton officials. The 
Interior Department announced it is stripping the Chinook tribe of its 
recognition on Friday, which means its members won't have access to health, 
education, housing and other benefits it sought but had not yet received.

Neal McCaleb, the Interior Department's assistant secretary of Indian affairs, 
said the Chinooks failed to demonstrate three of seven criteria required to be 
acknowledged as a tribe.

He said the Chinooks failed to show they have maintained political influence 
over their members since historical times, that a predominant portion of their 
members comprise a distinct social community, and that outside observers have 
historically identified them as an Indian entity.

The decision came as a huge blow to the tribe, which has fought for nearly a 
quarter-century to gain federal recognition.

"To us, this is a very political decision," said Johnson, who traces his 
ancestors back to the 1850s. "We're just very frustrated and very angry. The 
thousands of pages that we have provided prove, beyond any doubt, the areas 
where they question tribal existence and tribal political authority."

"This is a legendary tribe," said Whittlesey. "It's the tribe that fed and 
clothed and housed the Lewis and Clark expedition and literally kept them alive.

"There is no tribe for which there is a more remarkable historical record than 
that of the Chinook tribe," said Stephen Dow Beckham, a history professor at 
Lewis and Clark College and the tribe's historian.

 The two decisions are worrisome for tribes, said Frederick Ike, second vice 
president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. "We believe the Bush 
administration is not friendly with the tribes," said Ike, of the Yakama Nation.

Beckham said more than 100 tribes nationwide are petitioning for federal 
recognition.

The Chinooks have lived in Southwest Washington along the mouth of the Columbia 
River since before the first European explorers arrived. They met the Lewis and 
Clark expedition in 1804 and are credited with helping the group survive the 
winter. Last week's White House luncheon served to kick off the bicentennial 
celebration of the expedition; the Chinooks were one of several tribes invited 
to attend.

They now have about 2,000 members, though Johnson said that's not nearly the 
number of Chinook descendants who live in the area and would join if the tribe 
was recognized. The tribe owns roughly an acre of land in Southwest Washington, 
donated by a tribal member, and meets in an abandoned schoolhouse in the town 
named for them, Chinook.

Beckham and Whittlesey said the Chinooks' history is almost identical to the 
Cowlitz tribe, based in Longview, which received federal recognition in 2000.

They point to a 1931 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Chinook are named as 
a federally recognized tribe, and the fact that Chinook tribal members have 
land allotments on the Quinault reservation that are maintained to this day.

They have helped prepare thousands of pages of evidence to document the tribe's 
social and governmental continuity, including names of people who attended 
funerals and legal fights the tribe has waged over fishing rights, land claims 
and a criminal case in the 1950s in which an amateur artifact collector was 
found guilty of sacking a Chinook burial ground.

But the staff of the Bureau of Indian Affairs didn't find the record 
convincing. Clinton appointee Kevin Gover granted tribal recognition for the 
Chinook over staff objections.

The Chinook fight for recognition also was opposed by the Quinaults, a 
historical enemy. They argued that the Chinook tribe no longer exists, but the 
Chinooks argue that the Quinaults are threatened by the fact that Chinook 
tribal members were allotted large portions of the Quinault reservation in the 
1800s when the federal government created a single reservation for six 
Southwest Washington tribes.

The Quinaults could not be reached for comment.

Johnson, the tribal chairman, said he has been frustrated with trying to 
document tribal continuity when the federal government has actively tried to 
disrupt it.

"The U.S. military drove our fishermen off our fishing grounds in the 1920s, 
and then they say we didn't maintain those village sites or maintain a tribal 
government there," he said.

"Well, how can you do that when you're pushed out of your territory and then 
they take my grandmother's generation and my father's and they send them off to 
Indian schools, and I think we all know the story of what that was about.

"It's almost a miracle that the Chinook have maintained as well as they have."

Johnson believes the tribe also was hurt by the timing of its application, 
which came as groups based in the eastern United States sought recognition, 
with plans to open casinos.

The Chinooks have never discussed opening a casino, Johnson said. Their goal, 
he said, is tribal survival on traditional lands, which are 100 miles south of 
the Quinault reservation.

 The Chinooks, like the Duwamish, can continue their fight in court, or in 
Congress, which also has the right to recognize tribes. In 1996, the Samish 
tribe successfully sued to gain tribal status after being denied by the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs.

There are 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington state.

The Chinooks will start discussing their options at a meeting next week, 
Johnson said.

"If the government thinks we're going away because they have made this 
decision, they're absolutely wrong," he said.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Ray Rivera and The Associated 
Press is included in this report. Linda Shaw can be reached at 206-464-2359 or 
lshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx






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