By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
TULALIP — Chief Patkanim knew 146 years ago that the land he wanted for his people was valuable. There wasn’t any Wal-Mart or The Gap on the land. But white settlers were there, and that was all the evidence the chief needed.
And he got the land. Too bad he died before the treaty was ratified.
Today, Patkanim’s legacy lies in the balance sheets. Because, by modern-day standards, the Tulalip Tribes rank as an economic powerhouse.
The tribes operate a lucrative casino and own a cablevision company, a marina, a bingo hall and a liquor store.
They bought Baby Island off Whidbey Island near the mouth of Holmes Harbor and Camano Head, which tribal fisherman now use for shellfish harvesting. They own about 60 percent of a 22,000-acre reservation west of Marysville — 18 1/2miles of which is shoreline real estate overlooking Possession Sound and dotted with $500,000 waterfront homes.
"The most valuable property that Marysville has right now is out there," Windermere real estate manager Dan Peterson said.
Tribal leaders are building a $3 million shopping center. That center will go up next to their 2,000-acre business park, anchored by two national chain stores.
A month ago, the Tulalips announced they had turned their business park off I-5 into the city of Quil Ceda Village, and they plan to collect what could be millions of dollars a year in sales taxes.
There’s more.
Quil Ceda Village’s future could mean even greater prosperity for the Tulalips, as high-end retailers such as The Gap and Giorgio Armani think of becoming tenants. The tribes also are planning a convention center for sporting events, another casino and a hotel.
How did the Tulalips acquire such prime real estate when, historically, American Indians were banished to reservation land that whites didn’t want? And how did the Tulalips become such key players in a game where a diversified economy means money in the bank?
The answer is partly a matter of good fortune, but also a matter of good leadership — old and new.
In the mid-1800s, American Indians in Snohomish County were led by Patkanim, a charismatic leader with chiseled features and a fierce stare. Patkanim was an uncanny politician who was "always kind of playing poker with the settlers," Northwest historian David Dilgard said.
Dilgard told the story about how Patkanim ordered his warriors to attack Fort Nisqually, midway between Tacoma and Olympia, in 1849 at the same time the chief was inside the fort. Patkanim’s plan was to catch the white man by surprise.
Though the plan worked, whites took revenge and killed two of his chiefs. When Patkanim realized he couldn’t chase the white man away, he became their friend, Dilgard said.
"It was a matter to maintain some degree of control or power," Dilgard said. "He didn’t have any political cards to play, so he negotiated the only land in his vicinity that had actually been settled by whites."
That land was at Tulalip Bay, where settlers had built a water-powered sawmill.
The sawmill and the surrounding acreage were deeded as reservation land to the allied American Indian bands of the Snohomish, Snoqualmie and Skagit tribes, as well as several others, in the Point Elliott Treaty of Jan. 22, 1855. The settlement was at the "small-mouthed bay" known as "tulalip," a Snohomish Indian word that came to denote the Tulalips.
Though history is unclear, Dilgard credits Patkanim with making that sweet deal.
"Patkanim’s got the cards, he’s keeping them close, but he’s holding nothing, and he’s bluffing," Dilgard said. "The mill was old and primitive, but it was the latest industry at the time. And it went back to the Native Americans, so you go figure."
The treaty was ratified in 1859. Patkanim died the year before.
The Tulalips rode the economic highs and lows of the fishing and logging industries for years. Some believe their turning point came in 1992, when their casino opened.
The casino has always made money. And the installation of video lottery gaming machines in July 1999 solidified that success.
Based on the 2 percent of gross casino revenue that must be reported to the state, the tribes gave $522,710 back to the community as of October 2000. The money goes to pay for community programs such as the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club, and services such as police.
A large part of the casino’s success is its location next to I-5. That spot will continue to play a key role in the economic future of the Tulalips and their newly chartered city, Quil Ceda Village, where Wal-Mart just opened and Home Depot is scheduled to open in July.
The Tulalips intend on having at least seven more tenants at Quil Ceda. And the business park’s proximity to I-5 will help determine who those tenants are, said consultant Chuck Henderson, owner/broker for the Henderson Group in Bellevue. Henderson has been working with the Tulalips for years to help the tribes place tenants.
"The fact that they’re on Interstate 5 with two major offramps — not too many places have that," said Henderson, referring to the I-5 exits at 88th Street and 116th Street.
"We do know it’s got potential for office and high-tech, and there’s a vast amount of land there, and we knew we would have enough follow-up for it to be successful — now and in the future."
Henderson envisions Quil Ceda Village having the potential for about 1 million square feet of retail, including the possibility of factory outlets or The Gap.
That means the Tulalips stand to make millions in sales taxes, estimated at $11 million a year initially. But the issue of whether the Tulalips get to keep all the sales tax generated from their new city or distribute some to the state is still being debated.
Meanwhile, the Tulalips’ new city is on the radar screen of other area American Indian tribes, especially those with a strong economic base.
"We’re currently reviewing our options and watching the Tulalips’ activity with curiosity and interest," Muckleshoot public affairs director Mike Moran said.
The Muckleshoot Tribe in Auburn owns a shopping mall, runs a casino and is building a 23,000-seat amphitheater that the tribe expects to generate $10 million a year.
But economic success for the Muckleshoot Reservation, split by Highways 18 and 164, and that of the Tulalips can’t be based solely on location. Or just on gaming.
Leadership has always played a strong role. And for the Tulalips, that leadership lies in its board of directors.
Through a process of ingenuity and wit, the Tulalips’ leaders saved money, bought back land and made wise investments. The tribes started with $25 in 1936 and 320 of the 22,000 acres held in trust for them by the government. Today, they have bought back more than 13,000 acres and have begun a program to preserve and replenish those natural resources.
The tribe began with two people on the payroll in 1959. Today, more than 1,100 are employed. The tribe’s unemployment rate has dropped from 55 percent in 1991 to 26 percent in 1999 — a 53 percent change, according to 1999 figures.
And the first big economic success came long before the casino. Again, it was a matter of prime real estate.
In the 1930s, the Tulalips began to lease their tidelands to Everett so the city could store logs. In 1939, the tribes extended a water system to the shoreline and began leasing prime waterfront property to whites.
The Tulalips leased more land during World War II and the Korean War so the U.S. Army could store ammunition. That brought in about $21,000 a year, recalled Wayne Williams, who helped run tribal businesses for years.
Much of that money was squirreled away for future land purchases, with 3,000 acres bought in the 1960s.
"The early board members didn’t feel the money should be spent just because it was there," Williams said. "They husbanded the resources."
After their military tenants, land was leased to Boeing under a contract that expires in July.
Gaming actually didn’t begin for the Tulalips until 1983, when the bingo hall opened. The casino opened in 1992 after the Tulalips became the first Washington tribe to sign a gaming compact with the state.
Williams gives credit to all members of the Tulalips for the tribes’ prosperity. Court rulings also helped pave the way for the Tulalips, such as a ruling in Florida that allowed the Seminoles to regulate their own bingo hall.
"Not any one person can claim credit for what we’ve done," Williams said. "Like me, I was just a circus elephant grabbing the tails of others."
Longtime tribal leader Francis Sheldon, executive director of the Tulalips’ Family Services programs, agrees the Tulalips have enjoyed a certain prosperity. But he reminds people that "some of us are still driving secondhand cars."
"I think a person who looks at the front cover and thinks it looks really good, but when you look at the pages behind the front page, all that indicates is we’ve got a ways to go where (the prosperity) reaches people in total," Sheldon said.
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
