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[source: NativeNews; Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:34:09]

sent by PP via nativeamericanlaw list

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/00/02/st021201.html
Oregon Live  [EXCERPTS FOLLOW]
Tribal status for Cowlitz in the works
Federal recognition appears certain Monday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Saturday, February 12, 2000

------------------------------------------------------------

By Courtenay Thompson of The Oregonian staff

After 50 years of legal limbo, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of
Southwest Washington finally may be recognized by the U.S.
government as a sovereign nation eligible for federal
benefits and privileges, tribal representatives say.

"We're just ecstatic," said Carolee Morris, a tribal member
who runs the 1,500-member tribe's office in Longview, Wash.
"It's finally come about. It's taken so many years for this
to come about."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior Kevin Gover is
expected to sign a document Monday in Washington, D.C.,
formally recognizing the tribe, triggering a 90-day waiting
period during which the decision can be challenged.

Once the decision is final, the Cowlitz would become the
closest tribe in proximity to the Portland area....

The signing ceremony, scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday in
Interior Department offices, will nearly end the Cowlitz
tribe's 21-year struggle to gain federal recognition and
join the nation's other 557 federally recognized tribes.

The tribe still must get through the three-month waiting
period, during which an appeal may be made to the Interior
Board of Indian Appeals, Whittlesey said. The Quinault
Indian Tribe of Washington previously has challenged the
Cowlitz's bid to receive federal recognition, but officials
there could not be reached for comment Friday. Early this
century, Cowlitz tribal members received individual allotted
parcels on the Quinault reservation, making up nearly 16
percent of the 200,000-acre reservation's land area.

If successful, the Cowlitz will become one of only 15 tribes
to receive federal acknowledgment through an administrative
process under the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; the last
tribe was the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington, which was
acknowledged last fall. Other tribes, including several
in Oregon, were restored to federal status by Congress.
 

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