4 JANUARY 15, 2001
Smoke Signals
Mm Eto ragga Emm mag Gteraa
Chinook Tribe of Washington Gains Federal Recognition
6
It's just a shame that history happened the way it did. We are not a terminated
Tribe. All we did was sign one treaty in good faith and (then) refused to sign a
second one which asked us to move out of our own country. Because of that, we
ended up staying in our country and slowly over time
losing rights. By the 1980s, they (the federal
government) finally took away our right to fish
and hunt as Indians.
V & I . .
'-, m ' '
f ' ...
Tony Johnson works for the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde as the Language
Specialist and Acting Director of the Tribe's
Museum program.
It is a sad thing to me, and all of our Elders, that
all these great uncles and aunties of mine have
passed away and not seen this (federal recognition).
In turn, of course, it's just a really great day to be
able to look forward to our future generations not
ever really understanding what it is to not be
Indians. Tony Johnson, ChinookTribal member and
son of Chinook Tribal Chairman Gary Johnson
WILLAPA BAY, WA. - One
Tribe's 22-year journey through the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) pro
cess for federal recognition ended
recently when Assistant Secretary of
Indian Affairs Kevin Gover signed
the final determination in favor of
federal acknowledgement for the
Chinook Indian Tribe of Washing
ton State in a ceremony at the De
partment of the Interior's main build
ing in Washington, D.C.
"Today, we have the opportunity
to address directly a historical injus
tice lasting many years," said Gover.
"The Chinook rejoin the family of
Tribal Nations acknowledged by the
United States."
Present at the signing were Chi
nook Chairman Gary Johnson and
a delegation of Tribal Council repre
sentatives and Tribal members.
"This is a great day for the Chinook
people," said Johnson. "We are grate
ful to everyone who supported our
recognition. Throw out the books
that say the Chinook do not exist."
The signing of the Chinook Tribe's
federal recognition was Gover's last
official act on his final day with the
Interior Department.
The Chinook Tribe is located in
Southwestern Washington with sig
nificant portions of the approxi
mately 2,000-member Tribal popu
lation having lived along the shores
of Willapa Bay and the Columbia
River 25 to 45 miles to the south and
southeast of Bay Center.
The Tribe first signed treaties with
the United States in 1851. Despite
suffering through decades of neglect
by the federal government, Tribal
members maintained their cultural
traditions. In 1979, the Tribe noti
fied the BIA of its intent to submit a
petition for federal recognition to the
agency's Branch of Federal
Acknowledgement and Research.
Gover made his final determination
based on documentary and interview
evidence, which in 1997 formed the
basis for a proposed finding not to
acknowledge the Chinook Indian
Tribe, and an analysis of informa
tion and comments received in re
sponse to the proposed finding from
third parties and the Tribe itself. He
reached additional factual conclu
sions after conducting a review and
analysis of the existing record in light
of the additional evidence.
A review of the 1997 proposed find
ing and information submitted by
the Chinook Indian Tribe and third
parties established that the Tribe had
met all seven mandatory criteria from
first contact to the present under
1978 regulations on recognition.
Gover also concluded the Chinook
Tribe had been acknowledged by
Congress in 1925, thus meeting 1994
regulations requiring that a petitioner
demonstrate historical continuity for
the period commencing from the time
of previous acknowledgement to the
present. The Chinook Tribe was
therefore determined to have met the
criteria under both the 1978 and 1994
regulations.
The full text of Gover's remarks
can be accessed via the BIA's web
site at http:www.doi.govbu-reau-indian-affairs.html.
Gover Reaffirms Federal Trust Relationship
Due to administrative error,
the BIA had for several years
failed to place the
three Tribes on the list of
federally recognized Tribes...
Assistant Secretary of Indian Af
fairs Kevin Gover has reaf
firmed the federal trust relationship
between the United States and the
King Salmon Tribe and the Shoonaq'
Tribe in Alaska and the Lower Lake
Rancheria in California after find
ing that their government-to-government
relationship with the U.S. has
never been severed.
"The King Salmon Tribe, the
Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak, and the
Lower Lake Rancheria have been
officially overlooked for many years
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs even
though their government-to-government
relationship with the United
States was never terminated," Gover
stated in his finding dated Decem
ber 29, 2000. "I am pleased to cor
rect this egregious oversight."
Due to administrative error, the
BIA had for several years failed to
place the three Tribes on the list of
federally recognized Tribes it is re
quired to publish annually in the
Federal Register under the Federally
O ''M 2j!lfrtwi 'Mils slHii Ctfititmrslt 'Hiiifc-iT'l&iitffcir.
Recognized Indian Tribes List Act
(Pub. L. 103-454, 108 Stat. 4791,
4792). The list, entitled "Indian En
tities Recognized and Eligible to Re
ceive Services from the United States
Bureau of Indian Affairs," was last
published on March 13, 2000.
The Assistant Secretary found that
the King Salmon Tribe of Alaska has
existed and maintained a continuous
Indian community from historic
times, and that present-day Tribal
members are descendants of a group
that had been forced to leave an ear
lier homesite destroyed during an
eruption of Mount Katmai.
The Assistant Secretary also found
that the Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak,
Alaska, has maintained a continu
ous political organization since Eu
ropean contact, that the Council of
the Shoonaq' Tribe of Alaska has
governed the historical Native com
munity in and around the contem
porary community of Kodiak, and
that no other Tribe has claimed the
territory or the Tribe's membership.
Congress acknowledged Kodiak as an
historic Native village possessing
claims to aboriginal title in the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act
(ANCSA). In 1987, the Kodiak
Tribal Council learned it had not
been included on a list of federally
recognized Tribes published by the
BIA in the Federal Reprjster an(j re
quested the Secretary of the Interior
to correct the list.
In the case of the Lower Lake
Rancheria of California, the Assis
tant Secretary found that the Tribe
had not been made subject to the
Rancheria Act (Pub. L. 85-671, 72
Stat. 619, as amended by Pub. L. 88
419, 78 Stat. 390), by which Con
gress terminated the federal
government's trust responsibility for
dozens of California Tribes during
the 1950s, and that its Tribal status
has been continuously maintained by
Tribal members to the present day.
With the Assistant Secretary's ac
tion, the number of federally recog
nized Tribes now stands at 561.
Mi wok Indians
Regain
Federal Status
PETALUMA, CA. (AP) - Af
ter nine years of pushing for rec
ognition by the federal govern
ment, President Clinton signed
legislation restoring status to the
Coastal Miwoks. .
The legislation gives the 400
Tribal members in Sonoma and
Marin Counties access to federal
health, housing and educational
benefits.
The status also allows the U.S.
government to hold land in trust
for members as a reservation and
make it easier to rebury ances
tral remains.
Congress stripped the Tribe,
now called the Federated Indians
of the Graton Rancheria, of its
federal recognition in 1958 in an
effort to assimilate members into
American society. The policy
scattered the Tribe's members.
The Tribe has no plans for a ca
sino or other gambling opera
tions, but it is considering busi
ness proposals such as a cheese
factory, said Tribal Chairman
Greg Sarris.