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US withdraws recognition of 3d tribe

Move undoes OK's granted by Clinton administration

By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff, 11/8/2001

he Chinook tribe, officially, is no more.

The descendants of the native Americans who met and ministered to Lewis and Clark when the explorers came staggering to the Pacific coast in 1804 are no longer recognized by the federal government as a sovereign Indian nation.

That status was stripped away yesterday by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who found fault in the way the Chinook gained recognition 10 months ago in a decision by Kevin Gover, the former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In his three-year tenure, Gover favored an expansion of the $12 billion Indian gaming industry. Three tribes gained recognition, the key hurdle to overcome before opening a casino, in the last days of the Clinton administration.

On Jan. 19, with only hours left in the Clinton administration, two other tribes also won recognition: the Nipmuc Nation of Central Massachusetts, which had plans for a casino and resort in Sturbridge, and the Duwamish tribe of Seattle.

In March, the Globe reported that all three tribes won recognition despite confidential recommendations to the contrary by the bureau's professional staff of historians, genealogists, and anthropologists.

Gover and his top deputy, Michael J. Anderson, resumed careers as Indian gaming lawyers and lobbyists immediately after leaving office. They were appointed to their positions by President Clinton after years of Democratic fund-raising among Native Americans.

In the last five years, Indian gaming interests have spent at least $40 million on political contributions to Washington politicians, most of them Democrats, and for lobbyists.

For example, the Nipmuc are represented by two powerful Indian gaming law firms, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi and Dorsey & Whitney, both of which have political action committees that give heavily to Democrats.

Gover's successor as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs overturned the Nipmuc and Duwamish findings in September, though each now has the chance to submit new evidence.

In her letter overturning the Chinook decision, Norton said Gover failed to support his conclusion that the Chinook have continuously existed as a cohesive political and social entity.

She sent the matter back to the bureau's Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, which concluded last year that, as a matter of historical record, the tribe had ceased to exist more than 100 years ago.

A Norton spokesman declined to comment, saying, ''The letter speaks for itself.''

Gary Johnson, chairman of the Chinook Tribal Council in Chinook, Wash., said he was disappointed by Norton's decision. He said the tribe's casino plans are vague and distant.

''The story of groups seeking recognition for gaming is not us,'' he said.

Gover, too, said he was disappointed. ''The news media has raised questions that led Secretary Norton to want the matter reconsidered,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released a report this week concluding that the recognition process is weak and susceptible to financial and political influence. Under current conditions, the report says, whether a group wins recognition has ''less to do with the qualities and attributes of a tribe'' and ''more to do with the resources'' tribes and their financial backers ''can marshal to develop a successful political and legal strategy.''

Sean P. Murphy can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

This story ran on page A9 of the Boston Globe on 11/8/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.