What do you think this will mean for hunting and fishing?

[url=]http://cowlitz.org/index.php/announcements/266-cowlitz-reservation[/url]

that old fat white guy in the headband and raccoon shirt it cracking me up.

I thought they didnt like it when we the white devil put them on reservations.. now they are all happy about it.

It's because they want the white man to dump his devil dollars at their casino that will be built on that measly 152 acres lot in about 1.5 years.

Book it.

A good question is to ask where they got the money to buy 152 acres of land to put into trust. Follow the money and a lot of questions will probably be answered.

The fact that they have a reservation will mean some things, including "new" benefits. But, if they don't have Treaty Rights that specifically guarantee hunting and fishing rights they may be essentially confined to the reservation like the Chehalis.

The details will be interesting, as well as what the State and Feds choose to negotiate.

Pretty sure you and I are paying for that parcel.

Where is the reservation located? Just curious.

La Center Exit 16 for future casino and probably smoke shop for now.

I think this means nothing in regards to hunting and fishing because the Cowlitz are not a treaty Tribe. Having a reservation gives the Tribe access to a variety of potential benefits, including a housing project on reservation lands along with the utilities necessary for such development. If the location is suitable, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tribe builds a casino. They have expressed interest in that previously. I would be surprised if the reservation land doesn't have convenient access to I-5.

The Tribal members look like a light complexioned group, like maybe they could use some sun.

The Cowlitz already have hunting and fishing rights. They were (by the Federal Government) made part of the Quinault reservation. I believe they are one of 5 tribes in that group. Roy Wilson (a native) is a past chief and spiritual advisor has written several books on the history of the tribe. The Cowlitz tribal areas were very large when the white man arrived here. They were not granted a reservation at the time primarily because they were a peaceful nation and just allowed themselves to be pushed off the land by settlers. The approximate boundary of the native lands was from the Columbia to Mt. Rainier and from the coast to the lands bordering the Yakima reservation just over the pass . They numbered over 50000 members when the whites first made contact. After the intentional/unintentual arrival of new diseases not natural to them the number dropped to around 2400.
After they were put into the Quinault unit, they began petitioning the government to be given their status as a tribe . The biggest opponent to this was the Quinault Nation. They were granted status only recently and have been trying to establish a reservation once again. There was a land settlement deal in which they gave up rights to any land claims to around 2 million acres for less than 1 dollar an acre. This money was put into a trust (as is the case with most tribal awards because of the language in the treaties describe the Indian people as wards of the government) this had not been used until they aquired the land by LaCenter.
Mr. Wilson's book on the history of the tribe is a very informational read.

There will be some changes that will be good for the tribe, but fishing and hunting rights or changes to our fishing/hunting will not be among them. You can't buy treaty rights, and they don't have any as the "Cowlitz Tribe".

Fish on...

Todd

So the "Gill Net" I saw on the Cowlitz a couple run's below bear rug and a couple run's above Nolan's bluff this past Sunday afternoon has nothing to do with the tribes???????. Just sayin................there's one in a stump. Good luck,

SZ

Driftfishnw, that old white guy is Roy Wilson, full blood Cowlitz native.

Gotta love them lamp shades............

“After 160 years of longing for a Reservation within our aboriginal lands, I welcome all Cowlitz people to come home. We are no longer a landless tribe. The injustices done to the Cowlitz people and the lack of federal services afforded other federally recognized tribes will be ending soon. The Cowlitz Reservation offers new opportunities in our aboriginal land and the community which the Tribe will deliver for generations to come.” says Chairman Bill Iyall.

Longing for this resevation for 160 years.
Maybe they will be Grandfathered fishing/hunting rights.

Not sure why all the hate here. I have worked with several Cowlitz tribal bios on some legitimate habitat issues ( e.g. fish collection facility and dam on the Toutle) and they have been reasonable and working in a science based manner toward improvement in fish resources. Comments about skin color, traditional headgear, and choice of clothing seem a bit racist, dont you think? So what if they build a casino? Dont go there if you dont like it.

The Cowlitz tribe was the biggest opponent to putting dams on the Cowlitz. Tacoma City light pushed the "fact" that the region needed the power. To date, all the power from the dams has been sold on the open market. Ask someone from T.P. how many hundred million $ they have in the reserve account from this. Lewis county renegotiated with them for lost tax revenue and now gets well over $1,000,000 yearly.
Very interesting read on the dam licensing process and how they "hired" a retired State official to push it thru then paid him off for his Lobbying efforts. All this can be verified.

Milt,

No hate here, just an observation that most of them appear rather light complexioned as Indians go. Racism requires an implicit superiority-inferiority relationship based on race. I meant nothing of the sort. It's good to point out that they have been involved in some habitat improvement projects, particularly when there is no assurance that they will get any direct benefit out of it.

Laterun,

I don't know what the Cowlitz Tribe did when Tacoma first proposed the Cowlitz hydro dams. Because the dams violated state law, It was the State of WA that took the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost all three times because the Federal Power Act trumps state laws. Since the Cowlitz Tribe was not organized nor existed officially at the time, if they so much as filed a brief in any of the lawsuits, I never heard of it, nor did any Tribal official make such a claim during Tacoma's relicensing proceeding between 1995 and 2001.

Further, there is no reserve account that Tacoma Power deposits money from the Cowlitz Project in. The City of Tacoma is a non-profit municipality, and all revenue - of which there is much - simply goes into the City's general fund, where it can be used to subsidize the costs of police, fire, libraries, etc.

The power from the project goes onto the regional power grid, where energy from numerous sources is mixed. From that grid, power goes to Tacoma and everywhere throughout the region. Tacoma both buys and sells power. Claiming it's all sold on the open market is disingenuous when some is wheeled to Tacoma and some is wheeled to various customers.

Who was the retired state official? Tacoma didn't really need a lobbyist back in the days when Tacoma and Pierce Country were known as Little Sicily. It's safe to say that Tacoma owned political influence, judges, and others who were needed to get things done the old Tacoma way: "We stole it fair and square!"

Sg

Salmo, I will look up the source of my info on that statement and get back to you. It may have been in one of Mr. Wilsons books or another source. It had to do with TP and some rather shady dealings at the time. On Wikapedia there is an article about the suit by the Cowlitz tribe because the dam at Mayfield covered some burial sites of the tribe.

Racism can be funny at times. Last week my slightly disabled son summed it up real well. I was waiting for his bus when one that looked the same started to pull by. When he said it wasn't his, I noticed it was a bus for Chief Leschi Schools, which is about a 10 mile commute. I said something like, "Oh you're right, that's for the Indian School." He looked puzzled and then said, "I would never make them go to a different school." I told him that they wanted to go there. He looked up looking more puzzled and asked , "why do they want to go to a different school?'