Quinaults File Suit Over Issue Of Status

ASTORIA, Ore. - The Quinault Indian Nation has filed a lawsuit against two federal agencies and two other tribes challenging the way the U.S. government gives tribal status.

The lawsuit, filed this month in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, asks Judge Robert Bryan to halt recognition proceedings for the Cowlitz and Chinook tribes until the Quinault Nation can evaluate government records of the decision-making process.

The Quinault tribe also asked the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs to change the recognition process for tribes because the current procedures unfairly favor the tribe under consideration.

The Quinault tribe fears that recognition could allow the Cowlitz and Chinook tribes to make legal claims to ancestral lands and fishing grounds in the 200,000-acre Quinault reservation.

The reservation spreads across the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state from Pacific beaches to forested mountains. Under terms of an 1855 treaty, the reservation houses six tribes - the Quinault, Queets, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook and Cowlitz.

The Cowlitz received preliminary approval last February for federal recognition. In August, the Interior Department told the Chinook that the tribe's bid was denied, but the decision was preliminary and could be changed.

Seven percent to 8 percent of the 2,000-member Chinook tribe hold dual registry with the Quinault Indian Nation. A smaller percentage of the members of the Cowlitz tribe hold dual registry.

If the Cowlitz or Chinook gain official tribal status, those with dual membership could gain valuable hunting, fishing or other rights on the Quinault reservation, said Tim Tarabochia, Chinook tribal chairman.

Members of the Chinook tribe say the Quinault are trying to protect their interests.

"In a nutshell, it's a jealousy lawsuit," said Tarabochia. "It's really unfortunate because the Quinault, they've always had this huge scare about other tribes having interest in the Quinault reservation because that reservation was allotted for numerous tribes."