Duwamish denied (Washington state, U.S.)
David Burlingame (davidb@spl.lib.wa.us)
Wed, 3 Jul 1996 08:56:50 -0800 (PST)
[Federal Register: June 28, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 126)] [Notices] [Page
33762-33764] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov] DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Indian Affairs
Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Duwamish Tribal
Organization AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. ACTION: Notice
of proposed finding. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Assistant
Secretary--Indian Affairs (Assistant Secretary) proposes to decline to
acknowledge that the Duwamish Tribal Organization, 107 Ranier Ave. So.,
Renton, WA 98055, exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal
law. This notice is based on a determination that the Duwamish Tribal
Organization does not satisfy three of the seven criteria set forth in 25
CFR 83.7 and, therefore, does not meet the requirements for a
government-to- [[Page 33763]] government relationship with the United
States. DATES: Any individual or organization wishing to challenge the
proposed finding may submit factual or legal arguments and evidence to
rebut the evidence relied upon. This material must be submitted within 120
calendar days from the date of publication of this notice. Interested and
informed parties who submit arguments and evidence to the Assistant
Secretary should also provide copies of their submissions to the
petitioner. ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed finding and requests for
a copy of the report which summarizes the evidence and analyses that are
the basis for the proposed decision should be addressed to the Office of
the Assistant Secretary, 1849 C Street N.W., Washington, DC 20240,
Attention: Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, Mailstop: 4641-MIB. FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly Reckord, Chief, Branch of
Acknowledgment and Research, (202) 208-3592. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
This notice is published in accordance with authority delegated by the
Secretary of the Interior to the Assistant Secretary by 209 DM 8 and
pursuant to 25 CFR 83.9(f) of the previous acknowledgment regulations.
Although revised acknowledgment regulations became effective March 28,
1994, the Duwamish Tribal Organization chose, as provided in 25 CFR
83.3(g) of the revised regulations, to complete their petitioning process
under the previous acknowledgment regulations.
The petitioner, the Duwamish Tribal Organization, is an organization
of Duwamish descendants that has existed since 1925. While the
petitioner's individual members can trace their ancestry back to a
historical Duwamish tribe, the petitioner has not existed as a tribal
entity continuously since the time of first sustained contact between the
historical Duwamish tribe and non-Indians. The petitioner has been
identified by external observers as an Indian entity, but only since about
1940. The petitioner does not form, and has not formed, a distinct social
or geographical community in western Washington. Its organization has
functioned for limited purposes since 1925 and has exercised no meaningful
political influence or authority over its members. Of the seven mandatory
criteria for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe, the petitioner has
met criteria (d), (e), (f), and (g), but has failed to meet criteria (a),
(b), and (c).
A historical Duwamish tribe was described as consisting of the Indians
living at the confluence of the Black, Cedar, and Duwamish Rivers south of
Lake Washington, as well as along the Green and White Rivers, around Lake
Washington, and along the eastern shore of Puget Sound in the area of
Elliott Bay. Federal negotiators combined the Duwamish with other tribes
and bands into confederated ``treaty tribes'' for the purpose of making a
treaty in 1855, and continued to deal with treaty-reservation Indians as
the ``Duwamish and allied tribes.'' The evidence indicates that a distinct
Duwamish community has not existed since about 1900 and that political
activity linked to residents of traditional settlements has not occurred
since about 1916. The petitioner's organization came into existence in
1925 when eight men announced their ``intention of forming'' an
organization. No contemporary evidence indicates that this new
organization continued the activities of a previous group, and its
membership was substantially different from the membership of a Duwamish
organization which had been formed in 1915.
The petitioner has satisfied criterion (e), because the available
evidence demonstrates that 386 out of the 390 members on the petitioner's
1992 membership roll clearly descend from historical Duwamish Indians. The
petitioner has met criterion (d) by providing copies of the constitution
and by-laws of the Duwamish Tribal Organization which were adopted in 1925
and are still in effect today. These governing documents also describe
the petitioner's membership criteria. There is no evidence that a
significant percentage of the petitioner's members belong to any
federally-recognized tribe, or that the petitioner was subject to
legislation terminating or forbidding a Federal relationship. Thus, the
petitioner has met criteria (f) and (g).
The petitioner's current members do not maintain a community that is
distinct from the surrounding non-Indian population. No geographical area
of concentrated settlement provides them with a social core. The group's
geographical dispersion is consistent with other evidence showing that
members do not maintain, and have not maintained, significant social
contact with each other. Before 1925, the petitioner's ancestors,
primarily descendants of marriages between Duwamish Indians and pioneer
settlers, had little or no interaction either with the Indians of the
historical Duwamish settlements or with those Duwamish who moved to
reservations. Since 1925, the social activities of the petitioner's
members with other members, outside the organization's annual meetings,
took place within their own extended families, but not with members
outside their own family lines. Because the petitioner has not maintained
a cohesive community that is socially distinct from other populations in
the area, it has not met the requirements of criterion (b).
The Duwamish Tribal Organization has not exercised political influence
or authority over its members. Instead, it has limited itself to pursuing
Federal acknowledgment and claims against the United States for its
dues-paying members. The organization's annual meetings have generally
consisted of a presentation by the chairman or chairwoman, a report by the
group's claims attorney, and motions only to elect officers, accept new
members, or endorse attorney contracts. No evidence shows that members
were involved actively in making decisions for the group or resolving
disputes among themselves. A decision to intervene in an important fishing
rights case was made by a single individual, the chairman. Later, no
members participated in completing the paperwork in that case which would
have allowed members to utilize fishing rights temporarily. The available
evidence shows that this organization has played a very limited role in
the lives of its members, and there is no evidence of the existence of
informal leadership or political influence within the group outside of the
formal organization. Because the petitioner has not maintained tribal
political influence or authority over its members throughout history, it
has not met the requirements of criterion (c).
The petitioner has been identified intermittently since 1940 as an
Indian organization by Federal officials. A historical Duwamish tribe,
which existed at the time of first sustained contact with non-Indians, was
identified by contemporary Government officials and American settlers, and
by later ethnographers, historians, and the Indian Claims Commission. The
existence of a Duwamish community at a traditional location near the
junction of the Black and Cedar Rivers was identified by external
observers as late as 1900. These various identifications of Duwamish
entities before 1900 and after 1940, however, do not identify the same
entity and do not link the modern petitioner to the historical tribe as an
Indian entity which has continued to exist over time. Because the
petitioner has not been identified as having a substantially continuous
Indian identity from historical times to the present, it [[Page 33764]]
has not met the requirements of criterion (a).
Based on these factual determinations, we conclude that the Duwamish
Tribal Organization should not be granted Federal acknowledgment under 25
CFR part 83.
After consideration of the comments on this proposed finding, th
Assistant Secretary will publish the final determination of the
petitioner's status in the Federal Register as provided in 25 CFR 83.9(h)
of the previous acknowledgment regulations.
Dated: June 18, 1996. Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary--Indian
Affairs. [FR Doc. 96-16503 Filed 6-27-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-02-P