As the tribal chair of the Duwamish Tribe, my story, and that of my people, has been defined by struggle. I’ve spent years working to restore the rightful status of the Duwamish, which means “People of the Inside,” as we’ve become assimilated into mainstream culture and pushed off our indigenous lands.
This spring, the Duwamish received some good news in our decades-long journey to gain federal recognition: A U.S. district judge vacated a 2001 decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to deny us recognition. Now the department must reexamine our status. ...