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Duwamish Tribe
Duwamish Tribal Services
Named afterDuwamish people
Formation1925
Founded atSeattle, Washington
TypeUnrecognized tribal organization
Legal statusNot federally recognized or state recognized
Location
Official language
English
Chairwoman
Cecile Hansen
Websiteduwamishtribe.org

The Duwamish Tribe, officially known as the Duwamish Tribal Organization,[1][2] is a Seattle-based organization of Duwamish people (Lushootseed: dxʷdəwʔabš),[3] and those who identify as their descendants. The organization is currently neither a federally recognized tribe[4] nor a state-recognized tribe.[5]

The Duwamish Tribe has sought federal acknowledgment as the Duwamish Indian Tribe several times. The Bureau of Indian Affairs currently lists the petition as supplementing its documented petition under the 2015 acknowledgment regulations.[1]

In 2022, the Duwamish Tribe filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Interior (DOI) in a US District Court seeking a judicial declaration that they were federally recognized.[6][7] In 2025, the court ordered the DOI to reconsider the Tribe's petition for federal recognition under the 2015 regulations.[8][9]

The Duwamish Tribe has operated the Duwamish Tribal Services since 1983, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the needs of their members.[10][11]

History

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Historical context

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In the mid-nineteenth century, when Euro-American settlers began arriving, the Duwamish Valley and Elliott Bay had at least 17 Duwamish villages.[12]

The Duwamish were one of the signatory tribes of the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Under this treaty, the Duwamish and other peoples ceded their land to the United States. In return, among other things, the Duwamish were promised the creation of a reservation for their people, as well as fishing and hunting rights.[13][14] Although the Suquamish Reservation was established with the expectation that the Duwamish would move there, many Duwamish people chose to remain in their homelands near Seattle.[6]

In 1856, at the Fox Island Council, then-Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens agreed to create the Muckleshoot Reservation, a reservation for all the peoples continuing to live on the Duwamish River watershed (including the Green and White rivers), as part of efforts to relocate the Duwamish and others.[15] Although many did move to the reservation, many Duwamish continued to resist moving.[16]

In 1866, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs proposed the creation of another reservation in Duwamish homelands. Many early Seattle settlers opposed the proposal, including David Denny, Henry Yesler, and David "Doc" Maynard. petitioned against it, writing "such a reservation would do a great injustice" and be "of little value to the Indians." The proposed reservation was not established after settlers objected.[17]

Formation of the modern organization

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In 1925, the Duwamish Tribe drafted a constitution and bylaws for their new organization.[18]The people in the tribe comprised mostly (71%) descendants of marriages between pioneer men and Duwamish women.[19]

Petitions for federal recognition

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Cecile A. Hansen, Chairwoman of the Duwamish Tribe, speaks at the 5th Annual Duwamish River Festival

1977 letter of intent and 1996 proposed finding

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The Duwamish Tribe has petitioned the US Department of the Interior for federal recognition several times. They first submitted their letter of intent in 1977; however, the petition was denied in 1996.[1][20] The 1977 petition was evaluated under the 1978 criteria, rather than the revised 1994 criteria.[14] In the proposed finding, the Department concluded that the petitioner satisfied some acknowledgment criteria but did not satisfy others.[21] The proposed finding treated the Duwamish Tribal Organization as an organization formed in Organization as an organization formed in 1925; it found that the DTO was not a continuation of an earlier Duwamish political entity.[22]

1988 Pioneer Association support petition

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In June 1988, 72 descendants of early Washington settlers reversed their ancestors' petition against a Duwamish Reservation and petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs in support of federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe. The signers were members of the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington, which maintains Pioneer Hall in Madison Park as a meeting hall and archive of pioneer records.[23]

2001 recognition and reversal

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In January 2001, the Duwamish Tribe briefly received federal acknowledgment, but the decision was suspended shortly afterward during the transition to the George W. Bush administration and later reversed.[20]

2013 remand and 2015 final decision

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In March 2013, Federal Judge John C. Coughenour granted summary judgement in Hansen et al v. Salazar ordering the Department of Interior to reconsider or explain the denial of the Tribe's petition;[24] however, they were denied two years later in July, stating that they do not meet the criteria for federal recognition.[25]

Congressional recognition bill

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In 2015, Representative Jim McDermott introduced a bill (HR 2176) to extend federal recognition to the Duwamish Tribe; however, no actions were taken on the bill after its introduction.[26]

2022 lawsuit and 2025 remand

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In May 2022, the Duwamish Tribe and Cecile Hansen filed a federal lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, challenging the Department's handling of the recognition petition.[6][7] The complaint alleged, among other claims, that the federal acknowledgment process had disadvantaged the organization by undervaluing descent through Duwamish women who married non-Native settler men.[27][28]

On January 1, 2025, Federal District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead ordered the DOI to reopen the Tribe's Federal Acknowledgment Process record, reconsider their petition under the 2015 acknowledgment regulations, and accept the Tribe's new and supplemental evidence.[8][9] In the remand order, the district court noted that the 2015 acknowledgment regulations differ from earlier rules by allowing some evidence of self-identification, limiting the community and political-authority review period to 1900 onward, and allowing evidence of patterned out-marriages.[8][29]

Current BIA petition status

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As of May 2026, the Bureau of Indian Affairs lists Petition #025 for the Duwamish Indian Tribe as "Supplementing Doc. Petition." The BIA page states that the Department is waiting for the petitioner to supplement its documented petition, that the petitioner chose the 2015 acknowledgment regulations, and that the matter is not currently in litigation.[1]

Duwamish Tribal Services

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The interior of the Chief Si?ahl Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center

The Duwamish Tribal Services was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.[10][11] IRS-derived nonprofit records list the organization's tax-exempt status as beginning in April 1981.[30]

For the fiscal year ending June 2024, Duwamish Tribal Services reported revenue of $4,228,154, expenses of $2,751,088, and net assets of $13,534,836 for Duwamish Tribal Services.[30] The organization previously received grants from institutional sources, including Network for Good and Seattle Pride.[31]

Duwamish Tribal Services owns and operates the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in Seattle, which functions as a public cultural and community space.[32]

In 2017, non-Native fundraisers created a charity campaign, Real Rent Duwamish, to generate support and income for the organization.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Petition #025: Duwamish Indian Tribe, WA". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs.
  2. ↑ "Duwamish Tribal Organization (Washington)". National Indian Law Library. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  3. ↑ Bates, Dawn; Hess, Thom; Hilbert, Vi (1994). Lushootseed Dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-97323-4. OCLC 29877333.
  4. ↑ "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible to Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. Federal Register. January 30, 2026.
  5. ↑ "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mapes, Lynda V. (May 29, 2022). "'Real' Duwamish: Seattle's first people and the bitter fight over federal recognition". Seattle Times. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Duwamish Tribe files lawsuit in bid for federal recognition". The Seattle Times. May 11, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 "Duwamish Tribe et al. v. Deb Haaland et al" (PDF). Courthousenews.com. January 30, 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Robertson, Sebastian (February 4, 2025). "Federal government to reconsider Duwamish Tribe's status". kgw.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Indigenous Communities". UW Combined Fund Drive. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Walker, Richard Arlin (August 4, 2005). "New board for Duwamish Tribal Services; Raising money to support 600 members". ICT. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  12. ↑ Lange, Greg (October 15, 2000). "Seattle and King County's First Non-Native Settlers". www.historylink.org.
  13. ↑ Davey, Stephanie (February 2, 2020). "Point Elliott Treaty returns to tribes here, 165 years later". Herald Net. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  14. 1 2 McCaleb, Neal A. (September 25, 2001). "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination under 25 C.F.R. 83 for the Duwamish Tribal Organization" (PDF). Office of Federal Acknowledgment. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  15. ↑ "spuyaləpabš: syəcəb ʔə tiił ʔiišədčəł". Puyallup Tribe. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ Castro, Hector; Barber, Mike (January 20, 2001). "After decades, Duwamish tribe wins federal recognition: Now they have it, but it doesn't mean fishing rights". Seattle P-I. Archived from the original on December 23, 2001.
  17. ↑ Wilma, David (January 20, 2001). "Seattle pioneers petition against a reservation on the Black River for the Duwamish tribe in 1866". HistoryLink. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  18. ↑ Boxberger, Daniel L. (2014). "Duwamish". Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. London: Taylor & Francis. pp. 172–173. ISBN 9781135638542.
  19. ↑ Deer, Ada E. (June 18, 1996). "Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Acknowledgment of the Duwamish Tribal Organization" (PDF). Office of Federal Acknowledgment. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 27, 2023. p. 8
  20. 1 2 Long, Priscilla (January 20, 2001). "Duwamish Tribe wins federal recognition on January 19, 2001, but loses it again two days later". HistoryLink.
  21. ↑ McCaleb, Neal A. (September 25, 2001). "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination under 25 C.F.R. 83 for the Duwamish Tribal Organization" (PDF). Office of Federal Acknowledgment. U.S. Department of the Interior. pp. 1–2. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  22. ↑ McCaleb, Neal A. (September 25, 2001). "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination under 25 C.F.R. 83 for the Duwamish Tribal Organization" (PDF). Office of Federal Acknowledgment. U.S. Department of the Interior. p. 4. Retrieved December 26, 2023. The PF found that the DTO was a new organization established in 1925 and therefore did not meet criterion (c) at any time before that date, nor did the DTO arise out of an earlier organization.
  23. ↑ Wilma, David (January 29, 2001). "Descendants of pioneers reverse the stand of their ancestors and support federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe on June 18, 1988". www.historylink.org.
  24. ↑ "Hansen et al v. Kempthorne et al, No. 2:2008cv00717 - Document 105 (W.D. Wash. 2013)". Justia Law. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Final Decision on Remand Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Duwamish Tribal Organization". Federal Register. July 8, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  26. ↑ "H.R.2176 - Duwamish Tribal Recognition Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  27. ↑ Oaster, B. ‘Toastie’ (May 19, 2022). "Duwamish Tribe sues Interior in federal court, alleging sex discrimination". High Country News.
  28. ↑ "The Duwamish Tribe et al. v. Deb Haaland et al" (PDF). s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com. May 11, 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes". Federal Register. January 15, 2025.
  30. 1 2 "Duwamish Tribal Services". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica.
  31. ↑ "Duwamish Tribal Services". Cause IQ. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  32. ↑ Blecha, Peter (January 14, 2009). "Seattle's Duwamish Tribe celebrates new Longhouse and Cultural Center". www.historylink.org.
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