Chinook Nation Lawsuit Update!

August 29, 2018 / Sarah Salcedo

Chinook Nation citizens gather in Tacoma to celebrate a successful day in court. // Photo by Sarah Salcedo, 2018. — Chinook Nation citizens gather in Tacoma to celebrate a successful day in court. *// Photo by Sarah Salcedo, 2018.*

Since the debut of our film, a wonderful thing has happened for the Chinook Nation: a team of lawyers has offered to represent their case pro-bono.

They filed suit in August 2017, and in May of 2018, was heard by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton. The courthouse was packed with Chinook Nation members, allies from the community, and representatives from other Pacific Northwest nations such Puyallup, Grand Ronde, Duwamish, and others.

Seven out of eight claims made by the lawyers for the Chinook in this case have been allowed to proceed, and the BIA's initial call to dismiss was rejected by the Judge.

Journalist Natalie St. John gives an excellent summation of the legal victory and what comes next for the tribe that you can read here in the Chinook Observer.

Comment 0 Likes

tags / chinook nation, chinook indian nation, chinook tribe, chinook resilience, chinook justice, chinook documentary, pacific northwest tribes, Judge Ronald Leighton, BIA, indigenous sovereignty, bureau of indian affairs, Natalie St. John

From ICTMN: Federal Recognition Reform Moves Forward

May 31, 2014 / Sarah Salcedo / Source

Reposting from IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork.com:

BREAKING: Federal Recognition Reform Moves Forward

Gale Courey Toensing, 5/22/14

Proposed regulations to reform the cumbersome, opaque and sluggish process to federally recognize Indian nations have been published in the Federal Register, kicking off a 60-day comment period that will ultimately lead to final regulations being put in place.

Interior’s Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn announced the publication of the proposed regulations Thursday. The proposed regulations follow up on a draft proposal he issued last June that was widely applauded in Indian country as the best thing to happen in decades to a system that’s been described as “broken, long, expensive, burdensome, intrusive, unfair, arbitrary and capricious, less than transparent, unpredictable, and subject to undue political influence and manipulation.”

Comment 0 Likes

tags / federal recognition, kevin washburn, tribal sovereignty, federally recognized tribes, treaty rights, bia, bureau of indian affairs, part 83, duwamish tribe, chinook nation, promised land documentary, Gale Courey Toensing

Promised Land

Filtering by Tag: bureau of indian affairs

Chinook Nation Lawsuit Update!

From ICTMN: Federal Recognition Reform Moves Forward

BREAKING: Federal Recognition Reform Moves Forward