Ugh. We suck.

Sorry, Duwamish people.

There's also longstanding reports that the Muckleshoots do not accept the distinctness of the Duwamish and see the Duwamish as a subtribe of the Muckleshoot nation. Whether or not this is related to the Muckleshoots' desire to not have a casino open in Seattle and compete with their facility in Auburn is of course for you all to decide...

And the genocide goes on. @1 WORD!!!

@2 is right. Muckleshoot, Suquamish and Tulalip see Duwamish as an indistinct sub-entity of their tribes and see the split of their tribes as a creation of whites who divided Indians into fishing and farming tribes based on arbitrary reasoning. Establishment of a Duwamish tribe now would muddy tribal fishing rights in Elliott Bay which currently are granted to Muckleshoot and Suquamish. The problem is less racism today than it is how to equitably undo racist divisions created 150 years ago.

@1 No, we don't suck. Without us Indians wouldn't have clothes on their backs or free medical care to keep them alive.

@5 like the pox infested blankets we used to give them out of "charity" (early biological warfare)

I nominate @5 for the dick comment of the day.

On the other hand, the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia (q.v. Pocahontas), part of the Powhatan Confederacy, was recognized even though they were opposed by MGM Resorts.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.co…

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2…

@6 Even if that wasn't a bullshit myth it was 150 years ago. So it's a 150 year old bullshit myth.

@7 Truth hurts but it's the only way they're going to get their act together on their own.

the Duwamish are right there on the treaty of point Elliot, but I think the theory is that they're subsumed by the Suquamish on the Port Madison Rez now.

the Duwamish lady spoke at my stepson's Medical School convocation. she can ramble pointlessly at length with the best of them.

We should split Washington into 3 states and name them after the non recognized tribes just to make a point.

@ Teckal & Max Solomon: What's your point Max Solomon? Do you speak publicaly? That's what I thought! This isn't an article about how the "Duwamish lady" spoke at your stepson's Medical School. She has a name chump change. Her name is Cecile Hansen. Have some respect for your elders! Also, the Duwamish were here, and they did help the first pioneers SURVIVE the first winter. It's well documented that the Settlers would have STARVED that first winter if it wasn't for the so called "no clothes" Indians. They didn't need clothing, or MEDICAL attention. They had lived for thousands of years in this area. They had their own traditional clothing. They were one of the most ABUNDANT tribes in this nation as far as resources are concerned and they were surviving just fine before the first pioneers landed.

Thanks for the article. Maybe the comments could stop bickering amongst themselves and instead discuss how to apply pressure to the BIA.

Sydney... Could you add an e-mail address at BIA where we can demand that federal tribal recognition law be revised, and humanized, and have at least some level of historic and cultural sensitivity?!!!! or should we write to our federal legislative caucus?

@15 I wrote to the Department of the Interior on their website, expressing my disappointment in the decision and asking them to reverse it. I received a noncommittal reply.
You can send feedback to feedback@bia.gov with subject line "Federal Acknowledgement Feedback".

@12: I didn't have Ms. Hansen's name on the tip of my tongue. My apologies, but it's an internet comment board.

I have spoken publically, so maybe that's what you meant? You thought I did have public speaking experience, so I then had the right to an opinion on her speech? Elders are not infallible. The federal bureaucrats who rejected the Duwamish' application are probably my elders.

The Duwamish would have been well-advised to let the settlers starve.

The Chinooks, who were among the native people who helped Lewis & Clark 'round these parts, are also not federally recognized, and for many of the same bullshit reasons. If I remember correctly, both the Duwamish and the Chinooks attained federal recognition in about 2001, right at the tail end of Clinton's administration, but Bush's administration quickly overturned the decision, and Obama has clearly sided with Bush. Pretty fucking shameful.

I covered a speech by Congressman Jim McDermott in 2010 he gave in the Duwamish Longhouse. Cecile Hansen was there. He promised her Duwamish recognition within half a year. Nuthin.