Cowlitz Tribe affirmed despite Quinault protest

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Interior Department has affirmed the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s legal existence, the tribe’s chairman says.

Last June, an Interior appeals board upheld federal recognition, rejecting a challenge from the Quinault Indian Nation.

The Interior Board of Indian Appeals referred three issues to Interior Secretary Gale Norton for further consideration. Tribal chairman John Barnett of Aberdeen said Assistant Interior Secretary Neal McCaleb told him Wednesday in a phone call that those issues had been set aside.

With tribal status, Cowlitz members gain the right to federal health and education benefits and, if they desire, to open a casino. The Longview-based tribe has no plan for a casino, Barnett said.

The Cowlitz people used to live in a broad swath of southwest Washington. Late in the 1800s, the U.S. government created a single reservation for eight Western Washington tribes: Cowlitz, Chinook, Quinault, Hoh, Chehalis, Quilcene, Queets and Quileute. It named the reservation for the Quinault.

The Cowlitz and Chinook each have been attempting to reassert their tribal status for more than 20 years.

"It’s been a 23-year walk for our people to get to this point," said Barnett. "We’ve jumped through a million hoops and gone down a million blind alleys.

"I have to give credit to the Cowlitz people for their patience. There’ll probably be a celebration down the line, but not immediately. We’ll have a meeting or two first."

The tribe, with 2,400 members scattered through Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis and Thurston counties, was first recognized in February 2000. But the Quinault protested, arguing the Upper and Lower Cowlitz bands ceased to exist as functioning tribes in the late 19th century.

The Quinault continue to resist tribal status for the Chinook. In November, partly at Quinault urging, Norton ordered a review of the Chinook tribe’s recognition, granted by the Clinton administration. Officials have until March to complete that review.