[Federal Register: December 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 68942-68944]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10de03-101]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Office of Federal Acknowledgment; Final Determination Against
Federal Acknowledgment of the Snohomish Tribe of Indians
AGENCY: Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of final determination.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 83.10(m), notice is hereby given that the
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs (AS-IA) declines to acknowledge a
group known as the Snohomish Tribe of Indians (STI), c/o Mr. William
Matheson, Suite 201, 144 Railroad Avenue, Edmunds, Washington 98020, as
an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based
on a determination that the petitioning group does not satisfy all
seven of the criteria set forth in part 83 of title 25 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (25 CFR part 83), specifically criteria 83.7(a),
(b), (c), and (e), and therefore does not meet the requirements for a
government-to-government relationship with the United States.
DATES: This determination is final and will become effective March 9,
2004, pursuant to section 83.10(l)(4), unless a request for
reconsideration is filed pursuant to section 83.11.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Lee Fleming, Director, Office of
Federal Acknowledgment, (202) 513-7650.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published in the exercise of
authority delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the AS-IA by
209 DM 8.
A notice of the proposed finding (PF) to decline to acknowledge the
STI was published in the Federal Register on April 11, 1983 (48 FR
15540-1).
This final determination (FD) is made following a review of the
STI's response to the PF, the public comments on the PF, and the STI's
response to the public comments. It reaches conclusions based on a
review and analysis of the existing record, incorporating the evidence
considered for the PF, and new evidence in the form of documentation
and arguments received from the petitioner and third parties. This
notice is based on a determination that the group does not satisfy all
seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment at sections 83.7 (a)-(g).
Criterion 83.7(a): Criterion 83.7(a) requires that the petitioner
be identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially
continuous basis since 1900. The petitioner has not demonstrated that
it meets the requirements before 1950. The petitioner claims that its
mostly off-reservation ancestors were part of the historical Snohomish
tribe primarily based at the Tulalip Reservation and remained so until
1935, when the historical Snohomish tribe and other tribes at this
reservation reorganized as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip
Reservation under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). Available
evidence, however, shows that the petitioner's ancestors were not part
of the historical Snohomish tribe. Thus, identifications of the
historical Snohomish tribe on the Tulalip Reservation before 1935 did
not constitute identifications for the petitioner. In addition, there
was no identification of an off-reservation group of STI ancestors
between 1900 and 1935.
References to a claims organization called the ``Snohomish Tribe of
Indians,'' which included a few of the STI's off-reservation ancestors,
occurred in the available evidence only in 1917. The organization was
referred to as a Snohomish Indian entity only by a few of its members
and a lawyer hired as its spokesperson, which is not evidence within
the meaning of 83.7(a). External observers did not identify this group
as an American Indian entity. Some of the petitioner's off-reservation
ancestors were part of another claims organization called the
``Snohomish Tribe of Indians'' that existed from 1926 to 1935. This
organization's membership included reservation Snohomish, off-
reservation ancestors of the petitioning group, and other non-
reservation Snohomish descendants. External observers identified this
group mainly in its capacity as a claims organization that represented
individuals with Indian ancestry. Thus identifications of the 1926
Snohomish claims organization did not constitute identifications of a
predecessor group of the petitioner. The 1926 Snohomish claims
organization ceased to exist in 1935.
There are no available identifications as an entity of a separate
group of the petitioner's ancestors from 1935 to 1949, when the
petitioner claims such an entity existed following the reorganization
of the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation under the IRA. The
evidence shows that the petitioner has not been identified as an
American
[[Page 68943]]
Indian entity from 1900 to 1949 (49 years) and has been identified as
an American Indian entity only since 1950, when it originally formed to
pursue claims before the Indian Claims Commission (ICC). Therefore, the
petitioner does not meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(a).
Criterion 83.7(b): The petitioner has not demonstrated that it
meets the requirements of criterion 83.7(b), which requires that a
predominant portion of the petitioning group comprises a distinct
community and has existed as a community from first sustained contact
with non-Indians until the present. In its response to the PF, the
petitioner submitted documents pertaining to activities from 1855 until
1999. The newly-submitted documents demonstrated some additional
informal social relationships among the petitioner's ancestors on the
Quimper Peninsula in Washington State, as well as some additional
interaction between some STI ancestors and non-STI Indian households in
the Sultan, Washington, area in the late 19th century. However, the
evidence submitted by the petitioner, in conjunction with the other
evidence in the record, does not demonstrate community as defined under
criterion 83.7(b) at any time from first sustained contact with non-
Indians to the present.
The petitioner's members largely descend from a number of mid- and
late-19th century marriages between Indian women and non-Indian men.
Few subsequent marriages have occurred either among members of STI or
between members of STI and other groups with Indian ancestry, and thus
the group lacks the kinship ties that such marriages create.
The petitioner has not demonstrated that a significant number of
its ancestors maintained relationships with the historical Snohomish
tribe located on the Tulalip Reservation, or with other Snohomish
descendants living off the Tulalip Reservation prior to the formation
of the 1926 Snohomish claims organization. This claims organization
also included non-Snohomish Indian descendants who are ancestors of
many of the current petitioner's members.
Interviews and affidavits submitted by the petitioner provide no
evidence for community among the petitioner's members from 1935 to
1999. Interviews conducted by the Department in 2003 indicate that most
current members do not regularly interact with each other outside of
events sponsored by the formal STI organization. The evidence does not
demonstrate that the petitioner has existed as a community historically
or presently. Therefore, the petitioner has not met criterion 83.7(b).
Criterion 83.7(c): Criterion 83.7(c) requires that the petitioner
has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an
autonomous entity from first sustained contact with non-Indians to the
present. A review of the available evidence does not demonstrate that
the petitioner has met the requirements of this criterion at any time.
The petitioner claims that its off-reservation ancestors were part of
the historical Snohomish tribe until 1935, and that reservation and
off-reservation Snohomish leaders worked with each other until that
year. The available evidence does not show that such political
cooperation took place between the petitioner's off-reservation
ancestors and the reservation Snohomish before 1926. In addition, the
evidence does not demonstrate any separate political leadership, formal
or informal, existed for any separate off-reservation group of the
petitioner's ancestors before 1917. Some of the petitioner's ancestors
were part of a 1917 claims organization called the ``Snohomish Tribe of
Indians,'' which was described in the available evidence for that year
only and had no connection to the reservation Snohomish. The available
evidence does not demonstrate that this 1917 organization exercised
political leadership or authority over petitioner's ancestors.
Many of the petitioner's ancestors also were part of the 1926
Snohomish claims organization, which included both reservation and non-
reservation Snohomish, including some of the STI ancestors. This
organization had few functions beyond seeking claims for Indians of
Snohomish descent, and did not represent a formalization of the tribal
political structure for the historical Snohomish tribe. During the time
the 1926 Snohomish claims group existed, the reservation Snohomish
continued to have their own political organization and authority. There
is no available evidence that this 1926 Snohomish claims organization
exerted any political influence over an actual off-reservation entity
of the petitioner's ancestors. The 1926 Snohomish claims organization
ceased to appear in the available evidence in 1935, after the group
lost its claims suit. Therefore, the available evidence does not
demonstrate that the petitioner has met the requirements of 83.7(c)
from first sustained contact with non-Indians to 1935.
There is no evidence in the record to demonstrate that the 1926
Snohomish claims organization continued after 1935. From 1935 until
1950, there is no available evidence to demonstrate that the petitioner
maintained any type of political organization, formal or informal. In
1950, the petitioner formed the ``Snohomish Tribe of Indians'' in order
to pursue claims before the ICC. There is no available evidence to
support the petitioner's contention that the 1950 organization was a
continuance of the 1926 Snohomish claims organization. Unlike the
earlier organization, the 1950 organization was composed almost
entirely of off-reservation STI ancestors. The group's leadership
concentrated their energy on the claims lawsuit, with some additional
discussion and concern over hunting and fishing rights. The group's
leadership also joined some ``intertribal'' organizations. The group
continued to pursue the claims issue, which was eventually settled in
the late 1960's. The leadership pursued obtaining land for a
reservation in 1970, and filed a petition for Federal acknowledgment in
1975. Between 1983 and 2003, the group's leaders have continued to
pursue Federal acknowledgment and appear to have become somewhat more
active in advocating on behalf of some members. However, the evidence
presented by the petitioner has not demonstrated that the leadership
maintained a bilateral relationship with the majority of the group, or
that most of the members were involved in or knowledgeable about the
group's political processes. The evidence does not demonstrate that the
actions taken by the leadership were of importance to the majority of
the group. The available evidence does not demonstrate that the
petitioner maintained political authority or influence over its members
since its formation in 1950. Therefore, the petitioner does not meet
the requirements of criterion 83.7(c).
Criterion 83.7(d): The petitioner's 1978 constitution and by-laws
and 1978 enrollment ordinance were found sufficient to meet the
requirements of 83.7(d) in the PF. The Department obtained a copy of
the petitioner's governing documents amended and certified on September
18, 1994, which describe its membership criteria and current governing
procedures. Because the petitioner has a constitution and an enrollment
ordinance, certified by its governing body, that describe its
membership criteria and the procedures through which it governs its
affairs and its members, the petitioner meets the requirements of
criterion 83.7(d).
Criterion 83.7(e): The PF found that the STI did not meet criterion
83.7(e)(1) because a significant percentage of STI
[[Page 68944]]
members could not demonstrate Snohomish ancestry. Only 59 percent of
STI's 836 members, descending from about 38 or 39 different family
lines at the time of the PF, had documented descent from the historical
Snohomish tribe.
The PF found that the STI provided an official membership list,
separately certified by the group's governing body, as required by
83.7(e)(2). For the FD, the petitioner submitted a membership list,
dated March 12, 1999, that identified 1,390 members and was virtually
identical with the membership list used for the PF except for the
addition of new members. The petitioner's governing body certified the
updated membership list by resolution as required under criterion
83.7(e)(2). After auditing the petitioner's membership files and
correcting the discrepancies in the 1999 membership list, the current
adjusted STI membership totaled 1,113.
Based on new information submitted by the petitioner and the
Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, or located by the
Department, and other evidence in the record, the Department re-
evaluated the STI family lines for evidence of descent from the
historical Snohomish tribe. Twenty of the STI family lines, identified
as descending from the historical Snohomish tribe in the PF, remain
unchanged. Two family lines not previously determined to demonstrate
Snohomish ancestry now have been sufficiently documented to show
descent from the historical Snohomish tribe, and two ``new'' family
lines, originally considered as part of pre-existing STI family lines,
also were found to demonstrate Snohomish descent.
Based on the analysis described above, the evidence for this
finding shows that 69 percent of the STI membership (763 of 1,113
members) have documented descent from the historical Snohomish tribe.
The petitioner has not demonstrated that the remaining 31 percent of
its membership (350 of 1,113 members) are of Snohomish descent or are
descended from other Indian tribes that had amalgamated with the
petitioner's Snohomish ancestors at some point in history to form a
separate and distinct entity. The evidence does not demonstrate that
the petitioner as a whole descends from the historical Snohomish tribe.
Therefore this FD concludes that the petitioner does not meet criterion
83.7(e).
Criterion 83.7(f): This FD affirms the conclusion of the PF that
the petitioner is not principally composed of members of another
acknowledged North American Indian tribe. Since the PF, the petitioner
obtained enrollment statements from most of its members, who declared
that they did not have membership in any other federally acknowledged
tribe. Examination of the membership lists of federally recognized
tribes in the area did not reveal any names of STI members.
Criterion 83.7(g): This FD affirms the conclusion of the PF that
neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional
legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the Federal
relationship.
Under Section 83.10(m), the AS-IA is required to decline to
acknowledge that a petitioner is an Indian tribe if it fails to satisfy
any one of the criteria in Section 83.7. The petitioner did not submit
evidence sufficient to meet criteria 83.7(a), (b), (c), and (e), and,
therefore, does not satisfy the requirements for acknowledgment.
This determination is final and will become effective 90 days from
publication of this notice, unless a request for reconsideration is
filed pursuant to section 83.11. The petitioner or any interested party
may file a request for reconsideration of this determination with the
Interior Board of Indian Appeals (section 83.11(a)(1)). The
petitioner's or interested party's request must be received no later
than March 9, 2004 of the AS-IA's determination in the Federal Register
(section 83.11(a)(2)).
Dated: December 2, 2003.
Aurene M. Martin,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-30575 Filed 12-9-03; 8:45 am]
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