- Archives

Two national organizations -- including a locally based group that emerged 15 years ago in a shellfish dispute with Western Washington tribes -- have joined forces to push for reform of what they call the nation's flawed and fractured policy on Native people. Redmond-based United Property Owners has merged with One Nation of Oklahoma, which includes oil producers and farm interests, and in its two years has aggressively challenged American Indian sovereignty. The merger, effective Jan. 1, will form a megagroup called One Nation United, with 300,000 members in 50 states. The combined group has taken aim at federal Indian policies, including tax allowances, which they say erode state and local tax bases and undermine free enterprise. They contend that a century and a half after many Indian treaties were negotiated, they are in need of review. "We know that we've got truth, justice and the American way on our side and that ultimately reforms will happen," said Barbara Lindsay, executive director of United Property Owners and national director of the combined group. Tribal leaders across Washington say organizations such as Lindsay's are emerging just as wealth from gaming and other businesses is, for the first time, giving some of the nation's poorest citizens a shot at economic independence. "These groups are trying to get more organized to counter the fact that tribes have become more organized -- and they see themselves losing this battle," said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Council in Sequim. "We are making progress, and people like these want to undermine us. They'll say that is not their intent, but if their agenda is accepted as political policy, we would set back the conditions of Indian Country by decades." [more]