Duwamish will take their case for recognition to Congress

The Duwamish Tribe, consigned to official extinction by the Bush administration, plans to bypass the White House by going directly to Congress to gain federal recognition.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has agreed to introduce such legislation, and the tribe is appealing for political and monetary support in a campaign to get the measure through Congress.

On Friday, the Bush administration also declared that the Chinook -- the native people who helped Lewis and Clark survive a brutal winter on the banks of the Columbia River almost two centuries ago -- no longer exists as a tribe, either.

The people the government calls "Chinook descendants" are reeling from the recent decision and have yet to decide whether to litigate or seek legislation like the Duwamish, said tribal chairman Gary Johnson.

But the Democratic congressman for Southwest Washington, Rep. Brian Baird, made it clear yesterday that he is ready to come to the tribe's aid.

Baird said he will be discussing what steps to take with Chinook leadership soon.

And he said introducing legislation to recognize the tribe is "certainly a possibility."

"You can imagine what a terrible black eye it would be if the tribe that helped save Lewis and Clark is not recognized when we commemorate the bicentennial" of the explorers' trek across America, Baird said.

Both tribes were granted federal recognition in the waning days of the Clinton administration, only to have the actions put on hold when President Bush took office. Both decisions were then overturned.

Such a ruling can be a death blow to a modern-day Indian tribe.

Indians are among the most impoverished ethnic groups in the nation and rely on treaties that give them rights to hunt, fish and live on a reservation to maintain cultural cohesion.

Government aid and the right to open a casino help bring sorely needed dollars to communities where unemployment often soars well above 50 percent.

Attorney Dennis Whittlesey, who represents both the Duwamish and the Chinook, said yesterday that the Bush administration's actions "undermine the integrity of the decision-making process."

"You now have one administration second-guessing the decisions of a previous administration," he said.

The only alternative to congressional action is to file suit in federal court to reverse the decision of the secretary and assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Such a course would take several years and cost money the two tribes would be hard-pressed to raise.

Whittlesey said he will forward draft legislation to recognize the Duwamish to McDermott's office within 10 days.

Baird yesterday took the White House to task for its decision on the Chinook.

"How is it that one administration recognizes the tribe and the next doesn't recognize the tribe? I think it is a terrible precedent and a terrible practice," Baird said.

Baird recalled being in Washington, D.C., when Chinook tribal members came to celebrate the government's acknowledgment of the tribe in January 2001.

"Then they had the rug pulled out from under them by a change of administrations. It's almost too painfully similar ... to this long history of unfair dealings and duplicity with tribes."

On Friday, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Neal McCaleb said although he has a deep appreciation of the legacy of the Chinook Indian tribe in American history, a careful re-evaluation of the evidence shows the tribe does not meet three criteria for federal acknowledgment.

McCaleb ruled that the Chinook did not show a continued political influence over its members from historic times to the present; that a predominant portion of its members constitute a distinct social community; or that the tribe has been continuously identified as an Indian entity by outside observers.

McCaleb said the decision by the Clinton administration to recognize the Chinook was based on improper interpretation of old U.S. laws that name the tribe.

Now, just days after Johnson and his wife were invited by Bush and his wife to a July 3 White House luncheon on the upcoming Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration, the administration has declared the Chinook dead as a tribe.

Johnson calls it a "betrayal."

"Given about 151 years of anti-Indian policy, we're not surprised," he said. "But we are certainly angry and frustrated."

P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com

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