Duwamish Tribe sues again for federal recognition
SEATTLE (AP) — A lawsuit was filed Wednesday seeking federal recognition for the Duwamish Tribe, whose forebears include Chief Seattle for whom the city of Seattle was named.
The Seattle Times reports the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for Western Washington marks a continuing battle for recognition by the Duwamish through multiple presidential administrations for more than 40 years.
“Beginning in 1859 through at least the 1970s, dozens of acts of Congress and two U.S. courts have recognized the Duwamish Tribe as an Indian tribe and the successor in interest to the Tribe that signed the Treaty of Point Elliott,” the suit contends.
The suit also contends the federal government has illegally discriminated against the matriarchal tribe, by discounting its members, largely descended from marriages by Duwamish women with non-Indian men — a violation of the federal equal protection clause under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/duwamish-tribe-sues-again-for-federal-recognition/ar-AAXa4XZ
