Duwamish Tribe excluded from Seattle's Indigenous Advisory Council

Duwamish Tribe sues again for federal recognition

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.

SEATTLE - Seattle is named after Chief Seattle, chief of the Duwamish Tribe from 1840 to 1866, yet the city's inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council has no representatives from the Duwamish Tribe.

In 2021, a city ordinance formed the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) with the goal of advising officials on issues affecting American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people living in Seattle. The council consists of nine members—five appointed by the city council and four appointed by the mayor—and must include elders, youths and delegates of an Indigenous tribe, plus representatives of urban Indian organizations.

The Duwamish Tribe says that, despite Seattle owing its namesake to their distinguished chief, they have no place at the table advising on matters that directly affect them.

Chief Seattle statue at Fifth and Denny, 1936. (Seattle Municipal Archives // CC BY 2.0)

"To deny the Duwamish Tribe any seat at the newly formed Indigenous Advisory Council contradicts its legitimacy and intention to be an inclusive and reparative advisory body," said Duwamish Tribal Chairwoman Cecile Hansen. "This decision is even more astounding because the Duwamish Tribe is the only tribe within the city limits, the city which bears the name and image of our great Chief Seattle."

On Thursday, the city council unanimously approved the nine new members of the IAC, who will be advised on city policies and budgets that affect Indigenous people.

The Duwamish Tribe hoped to be represented on the IAC by Ken Workman, an enrolled member who is also the fifth-generation grandson of Chief Seattle, himself. Workman allegedly applied to several positions on the council but was not selected.

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Hansen penned a letter to the city council in June urging them to reconsider, and to include the Duwamish Tribe on the IAC.

"The absolute exclusion of the Duwamish Tribe from serving in any position on the inaugural IAC smacks of the City’s actions consistent with the 1865 ‘Law #5’ outlawing any ‘Duwamish Nation person’ from the city limits, which in today’s context renders the IAC selection as less than performative efforts at inclusive, reparative justice to address historic harm to the Duwamish Tribe," wrote Hansen.

The tribe said they and their supporters, including Real Rent Duwamish, have testified against their exclusion from the council.

The Duwamish Tribe is not a federally recognized Indigenous tribe.