The Chinook Indian Nation has been fighting a long time to be restored to recognition by the federal government. Last week it went to before U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton in Tacoma to pursue that fight.
The Chinook Indian Nation is composed of five tribes who were distributed along the most western part of the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington State.
Attorneys for the Department of the Interior and the tribe made oral arguments before the judge for two. The tribe had urged supporters to attend, and they packed the courtroom. Both sides also petitioned for summary judgement.
The tribe seeks to invalidate the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) regulation which says that tribes whose recognition was previously revoked may not repetition for recognition through the bureau. It also seeks a judgment that it is entitled to funds that Congress appropriated and which were awarded by the U.S. Court of Claims.
The BIA denied the tribe’s reconsideration petition in 2002. It has declined to reconsider that petition even after federal rules were changed in 2015 that would have made recognition more likely. But the new rules also do not allow reconsideration after denial.
The judge in the case appeared to sympathize with the tribe, calling the issue in the case about “fundamental fairness” and saying the case must be construed “liberally in favor of the tribe.” He added that previous mistreatment of Indians “compels me to give the benefit of the doubt to the Chinook Indian Nation.”
The judge promised to issue a final decision within two weeks.
