Florence & Dutch FINAL

FLORENCE JAMES KINLEY, LUMMI, 1916 - 2003

" A Life's Unwritten Chapter "

[Text Reflection on Oral Eulogies by Billy Frank]

January 12 and January 13, 2003

FLORENCE KINLEY, beloved wife and widow of FORREST

KINLEY, has left us, her family, her friends, her relatives, to

rejoin her husband in a shared home of the Spirit World. In

that ever expected Journey of Joy, they now walk together.

FLORENCE has been too long without DUTCH, who died

nearly 20 years ago in 1983, the same year my father died at

the age of 104. I mention this, because DUTCH's father had

a similar long life. GRAMPA KINLEY died in 1952 at the age of

102.

That means he was born in 1850. That was before there

was a Washington Territory and before there was any Indian

treaties here. He lived the last half of that century, and

beyond both World Wars in the first half of the next.

DUTCH, of course, was born just before World War I - in

1914. FLORENCE was born two years later - in 1916.

1 Florence Kinley, 1916 - 2003 'Life's Unwritten Chapter' Billy Frank Eulogies - Oral/Text Jan. 12 & 13, 2003

Another birth took place in 1914 that deserves mention.

That was the creation of the Northwest Federation of

American Indians, or NFAI. It was the joining together of

tribes in Western Washington to make a fight for Indian

rights - or to lead the Indian cause.

FLORENCE's father and uncle - two of the JAMES

brothers, NORBERT JAMES and PETER JAMES - were in the

middle of that from LUMMI.

Photographs from 1913 show them at both ends of the

interest process in the Fall fishery. One is in a dugout canoe

to spear a big King, or Chinook. The other is in a Carlisle

cannery crew, surrounded by the 50,000 salmon delivered in

the day's catch - in a now unimaginable August harvest.

Among other notable names in the NFAI were JAMES

TOBIN of Olympia, my mother Angeline's brother; and

ROLAND CHARLEY from Tokeland or Shoalwater, who several

years later became mom's brother-in-law. He married

KATHERINE McCLOUD, sister to my mom's husband ANDREW

McCLOUD.


Now, this is all happening years before I was born in

1931. Some of it happened before FLORENCE was born - the

same year as my oldest sister ROSE, or FRITZ, in 1916.

But, let me tell you, FLORENCE was so very proud of

what her family had done through the NFAI. And two of the

major issues or undertakings they were involved with also

involved my family.

One was protesting the State of Washington's effort to

halt Nisqually Indian fishing on Muck Creek inside my dad

WILLIE FRANK's allotment. The other was acting to prevent

the State and Pierce County from taking two-thirds of the

Nisqually Indian Reservation in 1917 and 1918 to make it

part of the Fort Lewis U.S. Army Military Reserve.

The NFAI succeeded in protecting our Muck Creek

village and fishery in the first instance. But, with my dad and

the Nisqually leaders, they failed in preventing its later

condemnation and loss - along with 3,500 other Nisqually

acres in April 1918.

However, the NFAI's petitions to the President and to

the Congress of the United States in support of the


dispossessed Nisqually helped assure that some families got

replacement lands under terms of the MEDICINE CREEK

TREATY. One result was that my dad - who lost 205 acres

with his sister LIZZIE - got his 6-acre treaty lieu land on the

lower Nisqually River in 1918 and 1919: the home for our

continuing community: FRANKS LANDING.

The Northwest Federation continued its activities

through the 1920's, then helped shape the famed Indian

Reorganization Act legislation of 1934. Most prominently,

NORBERT JAMES' brother, PETER, was a key spokesman for

Puget Sound Indians at the March 1934 congress on "Indian

Self-Government" at CHEMAWA INDIAN SCHOOL in Oregon.

And, after the IRA became law and was accepted by

various tribes, it was NORBERT JAMES' daughter FLORENCE -

then in her early twenty's - who became instrumental "in

drawing up the constitution" adopted by the Lummi tribe.

Now, this is very difficult to know. It is set forth by an

unrelated elder Indian man in an Oral History recorded in

1973 for the Western Washington State University here in

Bellingham. Does he say that our AUNTIE FLORENCE here

did that? No. Her name doesn't appear anywhere. What he


says is that: "FORREST KINLEY's wife" was "responsible" for

that accomplishment.

So, let me say a little about how that works - or doesn't

work for Indian women. I'll go 'cross the mountains for that.

There's a book called "Great Documents in American

History," put together by the famous scholar CHARLES VAN

DOREN and another writer, plus introductory comments by

the late "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" author, DEE

BROWN.

It presents a number of the most eloquent expressions

of Indian thought recorded over the past two centuries.

Rightfully included is "The Testimony During a 1915 Trial for

Violating a Washington State Code on Salmon Fishing" by the

defendant CHIEFS MENINOCK and WALLAHEE of the Yakama.

That trial settled nothing in the brutal conflict over

treaty fishing rights at Priest's Rapids on the Columbia. The

State kept the Indians in courts, prohibiting their fishing. A

bill, however, was entered and passed by The Legislature to

protect the Yakama rights. It was vetoed by the Governor.


In one of the most magic moments in Washington's

legislative history, CHIEF MENINOCK was invited and allowed

to address the Senate and House, while the protesting Chief

Executive of the State was locked out of their chambers. In

the stirring aftermath of MENINOCK's speech, the popular

veto by the Governor was promptly overridden.

Newspapers of the day carried front page photos of the

Yakama delegation to Olympia. The News Tribune of

Tacoma, extolling the unmatched eloquence of CHIEF

MENINOCK, took care to print the complete text of the

speech.

The fact is, however, that in no instance did MENINOCK

nor WALLAHEE speak a word of English. At the trial and in

the legislature their native language words and phrases were

translated by their magnificent interpreter, a Yakama tribal

woman - mother and grandmother - who even today remains

scarcely identified. The words we actually read in English are

hers: the linguist, MRS. CECIL WASHINGTON.

No news texts referring to her provide any more than

her husband's name. We know not her maiden origins, nor


her first name. In photo caption, she is simply "interpreter"

or: "and wife."

Is it any more difficult to say, "FLORENCE KINLEY," than

it is to say, "FORREST KINLEY's wife"? For many men, it

probably is. For even more news media, it seems perhaps

impossible - judging from available texts.

In historical accounts of the Northwest fishing rights

controversy - one can also note: as much as it is obligatory

to fit DICK GREGORY into the story, apparently it is as much

obligatory to leave LILLIAN GREGORY out. Yet, in 1966, it

was she - not he - who spent full time in jail for fishing with us

on the Nisqually. DICK bailed after two days, but left LILLIAN

in for twelve.

Thus, under rule of thumb that "The Lady Vanishes;"

FLORENCE KINLEY stands in good stead in the company of

'MRS. CECIL WASHINGTON' and 'LILLIAN GREGORY': 'wife,'

'wife of' or 'wives,' unmentioned, unidentified, or forever

publicly unknown.


I had the good fortune of knowing, and entering into my

friendship and work relationships with FLORENCE and

FORREST just about forty (40) years ago.

Of course, when we play Indian ball on fields or courts,

or attend different tribes' celebrations like the Lummi's

'Stommish,' we often gain an awareness of one another in

advance of meeting or working together.

So, officially, we came together on March 10, 1962,

when delegated by our tribes to try forming an inter-tribal

fish commission. In January, the State had arrested six

Indian fishermen on the lower Nisqually River.

Those arrested were my brother-in-law AL BRIDGES;

MELVIN IYALL, my nephew; ERNIE GLEASON, our baseball

coach; JACK SIMMONS, first husband of EDNA LANE EBLING,

who is JOE DeLaCRUZ's Quinault mother; tribal secretary

ELEANOR KOVER's brother-in-law RALEIGH and nephew

DOUG. After the Nisqually arrests, the tribes began to act.

The State Supreme Court had not yet made its 1963

McCOY DECISION to overrule JUDGE STAFFORD in a Tulalip

case in Everett. The Game Department, however, was taking


cues from - and cueing - the Legislature, which was actively

trying to take Steelhead away from the Tribes. It was also

seeking to influence their high court.

That didn't take much. McCOY ended the indecision of

its 1957 SATIACUM CASE which had deadlocked on a 4-4 tie

among the State Justices. And before the McCoy ink was dry,

the State had initiated its Civil Injunctions Strategy that kept

us in court for the next fifteen years - including three (3) trips

to the U.S. Supreme Court for decisions.

But in 1962, DUTCH KINLEY was elected chairman of an

interim commission. Area districts were designated. Elected

as representatives were JAMES 'JUG' JACKSON, HAL GEORGE,

JIM WILLIAMS, MARTIN SAMPSON, FRANK WRIGHT, BENNETT

COOPER, CHARLIE PETERSON and me. I was then vice chair

of the Nisqually General Council.

For all the usual reasons, that inter-tribal commission

never really got off the ground and didn't get anywhere

beyond production of a few proposal documents.

But, perhaps it wasn't the best time to proceed. Three

months earlier, in December 1961, FORREST's mother, MAY


PLASTER KINLEY was fatally injured in an accident and had

died at age 84.

MAY KINLEY had been born in 1877, and was one of nine

siblings surviving into adulthood. That circumstance alone

created the strong possibility of many cousins for her five

KINLEY sons: GEORGE, STANLEY, FORREST, FRANCIS and

JOHN. They all survived her, as did three of her brothers and

one sister, CHRISTINA LANE.

Two of her sons, FORREST and FRANCIS, brothers, were

to marry the daughters of CLARA and NORBERT JAMES:

these being FLORENCE JAMES and MARY JAMES. The couples

would be double aunts and double uncles, both by blood and

by marriage, to any children born.

As it were, FORREST and FLORENCE remained childless.

But, FRANCIS and MARY KINLEY were to have four sons and

six daughters, assuring that DUTCH and FLORENCE were

double aunt and double uncle to ten, among all other nieces

and nephews born to the other KINLEY and JAMES siblings.

I'll not go further into the spreading branches of your

family tree, nor produce a family chart. Otherwise, I'll have


to start explaining how various LAPLET's and LESCHI's, and

even one HILLAIRE, got to Lummi from Nisqually when we

lost our Reservation in 1918. You - FLORENCE's kin - know

who you are and to whom, for grammar's sake, you are

related.

Going back to the 1961 death of FORREST's mother, it

was noted that MAY KINLEY had 22 grandchildren, 23 great

grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

When MARY JAMES KINLEY, wife of FRANCIS, mother to

ten, and sister to FLORENCE and brothers HAROLD and

NORBERT JR., died at the young age of 60 in 1979, she had a

count of 12 grandchildren.

This all goes to say that FLORENCE and FORREST had a

treasure of family for giving, sharing, and receiving love.

The love they had for each other was apparent to all

who came into their company - particularly to all of us who

worked with them inter-tribally and on the road.

They were a working couple, who functioned best in

each other's presence or known near proximity. Two other


couples, in their politically active years, were very much like

them: TANDY and LAURA WILBUR of Swinomish, and 'JUG'

and MARY JACKSON of the Quinault Nation.

LAURA, perhaps, was more like FLORENCE as a working

person, who acted to make the most out of any situation.

While traveling with TANDY, LAURA continually surveyed

resources which might be brought back to her community,

especially in educational opportunities for Indian students of

all grades and ages.

MARY JACKSON, for her part, was totally non-political

She shied away from any government councils or activity at

home on the reservation, but fully answered JIM's calls for her

presence and support in travel, conventions, and Indian

meetings elsewhere.

JUG had most reluctantly entered tribal government

service, and had done so only because of some very specific

goals in mind. MARY's motivation was to support him in his

accomplishment of them.

Otherwise, MARY was sufficiently content with JIM's

successes, while also encouraging the work of her high-


achieving brothers in the private and public sectors and

aiding her daughter and four sons in that same regard. Her

other interest was in sustaining her mother - the famed

Quileute and Quinault basket weaver, BEATRICE BLACK - in

BEATRICE's goal of reaching age 100 with good health and

no worries - while still weaving as intricately as arthritic

fingers might allow.

FLORENCE reflected MARY in these manners. Without

intention, the three couples served as discrete models for

one another. And the Indian world is better for that.

Quite deliberately, however, JIM JACKSON was one of

the most ardent supporters of FORREST KINLEY in the arena

of inter-tribal proceedings. Records likely show that JIM's

only appearance in minutes of some meetings was for the

purpose of nominating DUTCH KINLEY to be the presiding

officer or to chair an ongoing activity afterwards.

Elsewise, the records might show that JUG had declined

the same positions himself in favor of DUTCH, with an added

smile-aided comment that, "I'll just sit here and listen," after

his own declination or following DUTCH's election.


JAMES 'JUG' JACKSON was absolutely nobody's fool, as

neither was FORREST 'DUTCH' KINLEY. On these occasions,

as well, JACKSON acted with the knowledge that, in electing

DUTCH to any position, the tribes were getting the full

service commitment of a most formidable team: FLORENCE

and FORREST, together.

JIM JACKSON's confidence in DUTCH was continued in

the Quinault Nation's subsequent actions by JIM's successor

as tribal president, JOE DeLaCRUZ, and by GUY McMINDS, the

Quinault's first professionally-trained fishery biologist and

their natural resources specialist. Check the records. You

find them making the 1970s' motions to elect DUTCH.

An underlying fact is that FORREST and FLORENCE were

out there to be supported because of an undiminished

confidence placed in them by the LUMMI INDIAN NATION and

its members.

This nearly brings me to what, perhaps, has been their

most enduring contributions and accomplishments in behalf

of Indian people: their roles in presenting the legal case and

issues of UNITED STATES vs. WASHINGTON leading to THE

BOLDT DECISION of February 12, 1974; in acting on critical


and crucial measures to advance its implementation; and, in

forming the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission as a

viable and ongoing agency of its constituent and governing

tribes.

But not quite.

Through preceding decades, there were several failed

attempts to create an inter-tribal fisheries commission. I

mentioned the effort commenced in early 1962. That went

on in fits and starts, and with changing faces, for several

years. Other attempts were similar - and similarly doomed.

A most significant element was introduced that year

which, ultimately, altered the future course of events and

outcomes. That was the introduction of JIM HECKMAN, a

federal fisheries biologist, into the service of Washington

Indian tribes.

It made a difference who that biologist was - and what

kind of person or man he was, as well. With the levels of

staffing that exist today among the various governments -

tribal, state and federal - its important to remember, and for


our younger people to know, that a different situation

prevailed in times past.

Operating from a small project office in Olympia, JAMES

L. HECKMAN had the most meager support budget, a part-

time typist-secretary, and almost no in-office equipment

beyond typewriter, telephone, and a primitive thermofax 'to

burn' copies on a limited emergency basis.

He was authorized a slightly better allocation for field

work, courtesy of draws upon the GSA or General Services

Administration.

As the sole biologist in the area for the U.S. Fish &

Wildlife Service's Bureau of Sports Fisheries, JIM's work

responsibilities included - not only all the tribes - but also the

military reservations, Olympic National Park, and other

federal entities and installations. Later in the '60's, when the

Fed's moved JIM's office to Vancouver and Portland with

some staff increase, they added the Columbia River and

some Southeast Alaska tribes, notably ANNETTE ISLAND and

METLAKATLA, to his duty and developmental service area.


At the time, many of the tribes had fewer facilities than

Jim for doing their work. Few had any paid employees.

Mostly, tribal offices and officers were unpaid positions.

Small meetings were held in members' or officers' homes,

and larger meetings or general councils were held any place

that might be available or rented for a day or two. We met in

old schools, closed schools, and in our ancient churches.

At Nisqually, we had three main places besides our

homes. There was the old Nisqually Grange Hall in the lower

valley, the Boy Scouts' cabin in Yelm, and the old church on

the Reservation.

At Franks Landing, I remember when the Tulalip's

WAYNE WILLIAMS brought a delegation of tribal leaders down

to ask how they could help after watching my niece SUZETTE

BRIDGES in a quite emotional confrontation with GOVERNOR

DAN EVANS on television in the early seventies.

We had to decide whether to meet in my dad and

mom's little two-room house perched on top an old water

break or at my sister MAISELLE's slightly bigger house next

door. Although both rooms at my dad's were bedrooms and

one contained the kitchen, we met there because it also had


a small outside porch and a slim covered pantry where more

people could stand and listen or participate.

But that was FLORENCE and FORREST's world, too. If

not experienced at Lummi, that's what they found in the

other Indian communities where their work took them.

Now I'm fifteen years younger than AUNTIE FLORENCE,

and so I was born into her world of coarse paper, carbons and

onionskins, which was the best she had when working on the

Lummi constitution in the thirties. That's all we had yet in

the sixties and early seventies, except for the addition of the

mimeograph machine in the fifties and beyond.

FLORENCE could tell you how they hung onto those re-

usable carbons until they were limp, tattered, torn and

impossible to beat another copy from - before they might be

discarded and thrown away.

The mimeograph was a real blessing, if you could afford

the better stencils for typing an original and keeping the

wrinkles out. You had fluids for correcting typing mistakes,

but overuse could either mush or impenetrably seal the

stencil and you'd have to type a whole page over again.


In running copies, you were always confronted with

over-inking or under-inking in trying to get a uniform, legible

copy. Re-inking renewed the problem of wrinkles. which you

sought to stretch out without tearing the stencil - which one

often wanted to save or store for later copies.

Naturally, you had to take time deciding who would get

the good copies and who would get some you might decipher

but, still, hardly read. So, all in all, it took both competence

and courage to do the job. FLORENCE, we know, excelled

and did it well - without a bother of mistakes that others had.

Now, I have to say something about the I-5 corridor that

both FLORENCE and FORREST and the rest of us came to

travel. It used to be Old, then New, U.S. Highway 99. As the

highway whipped around to new routes, our old town of

Nisqually moved around too - just as we used to when the

river channels changed a time or two in a century. When the

Interstate 5 freeway was completed around 1968, '69, and

'70, it went over the postal town of Nisqually and wiped it out

for good.


But the 'Indian business' corridor remained. At one end

was Lummi here in the north, and - from mid-century - the

BIA's Portland Area Office to the south. The federal buildings

or post offices, courthouses and Indian Agency, were in

Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett.

At one time, the CHEMAWA INDIAN SCHOOL was the

southern end. But it was closed to Northwest Indians in the

time I'm talking about, and our Puget Sound Indian schools

closed long before that. Likewise, CUSHMAN INDIAN

HOSPITAL on the Puyallup Indian Reservation closed in 1959

and is set to be torn down this February - without ever having

been replaced as a center place for all the tribes. They were

both on U.S. 99.

Okay. Now, in 2003, we're well into a second century of

paid tribal attorneys. Lummi was in at the beginning of that,

as were the Makah, Quinault and Yakama in the late 1800's.

But from the 1920's into the sixties, we had the constant play

of the claims attorneys. Half that time was in the Court of

Claims and the latter half was before the U.S. Indian Claims

Commission.


This kept us moving in the I-5 corridor. In those days,

we were meeting our attorneys - not on the highest floors of

the tallest buildings in Seattle, but in a near basement at The

Smith Tower down by Pioneer Square on First Avenue.

At one point, writers were saying Seattle's history is told

only in terms of Skid Road and Smith Tower. And, how did

Indian people fit in? Our Seattle Indian Center leader, the

Makah's late PEARL WARREN would say: "Indians didn't go to

Skid Row. It was the best part of town when we went there.

We stayed. But the city just fell down around us."

The old attorneys, however, started gaining elevation in

Seattle. It's difficult not think of them when stepping into a

high-speed elevator to reach the office suites or floors of old

and newer tribal attorneys - some of whom we knew at their

street or much lower walk-up levels.

Olympia itself became a magnet drawing us into the I-5

corridor when the Legislature began asserting jurisdiction

over Indians under Public Law 280 of 1953. That body then

quickly took after steelhead when "salmon" fishing was

briefly protected by Washington's own Supreme Court.


Attempts to tax and destroy Indian sales of cigarettes

and tobacco were mounted in every legislature after 1968.

Again, FORREST and FLORENCE KINLEY were in Olympia with

us to fight against all these ongoing assaults.

Returning to JIM HECKMAN's role of that period after

1962: the fact is that he won over tribes by his own winning

personality, but moreso because he fully respected Indian

people, our rights, history, and our own knowledge of our

respective fisheries and natural resources.

Without condescension, JIM argued that doctorates and

master's degrees in fisheries sciences already existed among

the Indian tribes, who had managed the resources properly

and without undue harm for centuries. He insisted that this

was a body of knowledge that should be built upon with new

data and technologies and adaptive scientific practices.

HECKMAN quickly moved with Coastal and Puget Sound

tribes, and those on Hood's Canal, to enhance their resource

management postures and to initiate their own recovery and

production activities. The Quinault and Makah salmon and

steelhead hatcheries were soon in progress, together with


feasibility and option studies for Nisqually, Skokomish and

Muckleshoot Tribes.

By early 1963, major stream clearance projects were

underway on the Quinault Reservation. First reports about

unconscionably destructive forestry practices were soon

prepared by HECKMAN at JIM JACKSON's request. As well,

with paid workers and volunteers, the first re-seeding of

Quinault razor clam beds and beaches was undertaken under

HECKMAN's guidance.

With an encouragement to tribes to "not wait," but to

"do what you can with what you have," HECKMAN prompted

a number of similar 'small projects.' At Muckleshoot with

ANNIE GARRISON, FLORENCE HARNDEN, and BERNICE

WHITE, he engaged tribal fishermen and others in carrying

buckets of fertilized eggs on steep trails through brush and

woods to begin rehabilitation of small stream tributaries of

the White and Green rivers.

Quileute leaders FRED 'WOODY' WOODRUFF, WILLIAM

'BILL' PENN, EARL PENN, CHRIS 'JIGGS' PENN, and PEARL

PENN CONROY were brought into Olympic Peninsula fishery

discussions and plans. Others, like 'CHUBBY' WARD, LILLIAN


PENN PULLEN and other WARDs and WOODRUFFs were early

participants. Likewise, several HOH RIVER tribal families.

After hiring GUY McMINDS at Quinault as a "temp" to

run thermographs and record other data on tribal streams,

he encouraged GUY to get his biology degree at UW's College

of Fisheries. Then, he led BIA's HANS JENSEN into funding a

fisheries technicians training program for young and older,

married and single, Indian students - with family support - at

Peninsula Community College in Port Angeles.

In Vancouver and Hazel Dell, and when returning his

project office to Olympia-Tumwater, JIM HECKMAN carefully

recruited U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff who would share

his commitment to Indian people.

HECKMAN explained that: "to tribes, the first right is

with the resource. They maintain a spiritual relationship with

the salmon and other natural beings." At his December 2000

memorial, his friends recalled his recruitment talks.

As our principal expert witness on fisheries sciences and

resource management in a series of criminal and civil trials,

probably no other person deserves more credit than JAMES


HECKMAN for Indian victories achieved from 1968 to 1980.

He was key to SOHAPPY's BELLONI DECISION, United States

v. Oregon; PUYALLUP TRILOGY's Decisions II and III, U.S.

Supreme Court; BOLDT DECISION, U.S. v. Washington; and

the Phase II ORRICK DECISION on tribal environmental rights

and protection remedies.

The United States vs. Washington was filed September

19, 1970. The final full decision in the case came in 1998

with the Ninth Circuit's ruling on the Phase I, Part 2, Shellfish

RAFEEDIE DECISION of December 1995. We're now into a

33rd year. And, Phase II remains unresolved.

Just between the two 1994 and 1995 trials on shellfish

before Judge RAFEEDIE and the initial August-September

1973 trials before Judge Boldt covered 22 years. That's time

enough to be born and to finish college. So there's a lot of

our young people who have never known what I'm talking

about - or who weren't yet alive when it happened.

BUTCH McMINDS and I are two of the few who were

around to be witnesses in both BOLDT and RAFEEDIE trials.

But Boldt was basic, and made the others possible. So, I

have a better memory of it.


Also, the Washington State Historical Society holds the

"GEORGE H. BOLDT PAPERS" collection which offers up most

of the documents and transcripts from his period in presiding

over U.S. v. Washington, Case Number 9213.

There you can find two 1973 testimony depositions of

FORREST KINLEY, identified as "farmer and fisherman." Of

course, FLORENCE came from a farm family, too. JUDGE

BOLDT didn't get her 1930's Lummi constitution, but rather

your later one from 1970.

It was a case of new and old documents, of past and

present - and of changing times. Not many know that the

oldest voices of the Lummi were witnesses before JUDGE

BOLDT. More than 25 affidavits from Lummi fishermen,

chiefs and leaders, from the 1895 case of United States vs.

Alaska Fish Packing Company were introduced as evidence

and exhibits for the Boldt case.

From Point Roberts to the San Juans - from reef netting

and purse seining to the old fish traps and wheels - a

century's history of Lummi river, shore and marine fish


harvesting and management, including new strides in

aquaculture, was placed in evidence before JUDGE BOLDT.

The affiant witnesses were from a generation before

FLORENCE and FORREST were born. From CHIEF KWINA to

CAPTAIN JACK and many others, including women, they were

of in-laws and relatives nonetheless to both KINLEY and

JAMES families - and other modern day Lummi lineages.

Naturally, relationships all extend out. Whatever their

direction, it seems the Lummi Tribe has always had a good

many public servants working the fields and reaching out to

the world - whatever the planned division of responsibility,

assigned jobs, authority and labor.

We know the good works of SAM CAGEY and HENRY

CAGEY. We mention NCAI, and immediately we have

RAMONA MORRIS or VIOLET HILLAIRE in mind. That can take

us to The Evergreen State College (TESC) and MARY ELLEN

HILLAIRE, the Northwest Indian College (NWIC) and DARRELL

PHARE, or long ago to UCLA and MARCY PHARE.

We try to remember whether it's more pleasurable to

hear VERNON LANE sing, or engage in spirited debate. And,


if there's a question: if a Lummi?, when a Lummi?, we

certainly can't forget everyone's buddy, FREDDIE LANE.

WILLIE JONES is another who's out there for us, whether

in elective office or not. And JOE WASHINGTON had a long

tenure in the cultural and spiritual teachings realm, together

with his wife, MARTHA of the Katzie Indian Band of B.C.,

Canada. JOE joined with MARTIN SAMPSON in reviving sacred

'first salmon' ceremonies for several Sound tribes, otherwise

threatened with that loss in heritage.

We speak of LENA CULTEE and we recall or think of her

husband JOE HILLAIRE, the featured totem pole carver at the

Seattle World's Fair - and an itinerant contributor to many of

our communities. Such tradition carries forth with JEWELL

JAMES, as with his late brother DALE. In art, good will and

spiritual faith reaching outward, we will seldom find anyone

more fitting than JEWELL as an Indian ambassador - to

anywhere and to any other people of the world.

But he's not alone among the Lummi. Just days ago, I

heard the best reports on the works of DARRELL HILLAIRE

and LARRY KINLEY in addressing the needs for protecting

sacred sites and burial grounds of Indian people - nationally,


and in many other nations of the hemisphere. Returning to

fisheries, but not departing the international, we have to

appreciate also the extraordinary services given to us by G. I.

JAMES.

Unfortunately, though, we may have cause to think that

things don't change, when we can speak of the 1895 Alaska

Packing case, then read of the Makah Indian Tribe's suffering

a court defeat for their whaling treaty rights in 2002 and

2003.

We can regret that that was one of the last happenings

in FLORENCE's life. But she would tell you that, beyond any

JUDGE HANFORD or BERZON, there is a JUDGE BOLDT who

will deliver justice and victory - if Indians persist in standing

by our beliefs and our rights.

Some times it only takes listening, even to those things

you can't understand. I remember when LENA HILLAIRE was

testifying before JUDGE BOLDT, and she seemed stuck on an

answer. Immediately she turned to my DAD, seated in the

spectator rows, and began a two-way conversation with him

'in Indian.' The State attorney general quickly objected -

and, just as quickly, JUDGE BOLDT replied: "Overruled!"


When LENA and DAD finished, she resumed answering

in English. Though an elder, LENA relived her childhood on

rivers and beaches in a quite animated testimony. Some

said that when she told of dancing on a mat village beach as

a girl - with lilt of voice and sway of body - JUDGE BOLDT on

the bench seemed almost to be dancing with her.

While we lost DAD and LENA some time ago, its only in

the last couple months we've lost some others - along with

FLORENCE. Last month, there was JOE ANDREWS, Skokomish

elder and another witness before JUDGE BOLDT in the 1973

trial. He's been a valued teacher at our WaHeLut Indian

School for many years for our newest generations.

Then there is HAZEL PETE, whose Chehalis Tribe was

not in the Boldt Case. They're, nonetheless, fishing Indians -

and HAZEL's relatives and in-laws, likewise, have been

involved in these varied efforts. Her sister RUTH PENN and

son FRANCIS were with us on The Poor Peoples' Campaign in

1968 in D.C., when the Supreme Court issued its Nisqually

and Puyallup I decisions.


I should note that the Stillaquamish's ESTHER ROSS -

also a 1973 trial witness - and the Shoalwater's hereditary

chief MYRTLE LANDRY were there with us also.

And: GEORGE DYSART passed away at November's

end. He was lead attorney, as a regional solicitor, for the

Interior Department in both U.S. v. Oregon and U.S. v.

Washington at their starts in 1968 and 1970, and for years

afterwards. Deceased as well is Professor RALPH JOHNSON of

UW's Law School. His appellate work, and his authoritative

law journal articles, made a tremendous contribution.

These are people who interacted extensively with

FORREST, if to a lesser extent with AUNTIE FLORENCE.

In the attorney fold from those crucial early days - and

still with us - are: MASON MORRISETTE; AL ZIONTZ; DAVID

GETCHES, Native American Rights Fund (NARF); BILL

ROGERS, UW and Georgetown University; MIKE TAYLOR; DAN

RAAS; PHIL KATZEN, who assumed lead on shellfish; and

STUART PIERSON, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, who

managed case preparation and was leader for the Boldt trial.


The first exhibit in the Boldt Case was the May 1973

"Joint Statement Regarding the Biology, Status, Management

and Harvest of the Salmon and Steelhead Resources ..." It

was prepared in name of the Washington Departments of

Fisheries and Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Actually, JIM HECKMAN was the controlling force for

determining that document's content and form. Aided by

secretary CATHY SHIELDS MAHON, his stellar staff of federal

biologists MIKE GRAYUM, GARY GRAVES, ROGER WOLCOTT,

CURT BURLEY, WALT AMBROGETTI, DENNIS McDONALD,

MICHELLE DeHART and FRED OLNEY - among others, and

with JIM - became the Exhibit's principal authors and

compilers.

While still at their Tumwater Field Office, the same staff

worked for the Tribes in the critical phases of implementing

the BOLDT DECISION after February 12, 1974. This included

assistance in forming the NORTHWEST INDIAN FISHERIES

COMMISSION (NWIFC).

After the Commission secured its Olympia offices off

Black Lake Boulevard under Executive Director BILL SMITH

(Skokomish), the federal Fishery Services Office moved into


the same complex. When JIM retired from USF&WS and

became NWIFC Executive Director, several from his former

federal staff biologists transferred their careers to the

Commission.

When JIM ANDERSON replaced Executive Director

HECKMAN in 1982, he entered with that efficient and

experienced staff intact. Although CATHY MAHON retired a

couple years ago, MIKE GRAYUM and GARY GRAVES remain

with us in the NWIFC commission.

But - FLORENCE KINLEY was the first secretary for the

Tribes' Indian Fisheries Commission. FORREST was its first

chairman for three (3) years; then me for one, then DALE

JOHNSON from Makah for another - and then me, again, for

the remaining time since 1980.

Now we're getting back to FLORENCE and FORREST -

their separate and joint work in early Boldt implementation

and in creating the NWIFC commission.

Jumping ahead, first, to a couple weeks ago, I have to

tell you this about my last visit with our AUNTIE. In her home

were pictures displayed showing back and forth visits of


FORREST and FLORENCE with JIM and JEANNE HECKMAN from

many years. While he lived, FORREST was the cook in both

places - here at Lummi and there in Olympia or on Hood's

Canal. After FORREST died, JIM and JEANNE remained close

to FLORENCE - aiding her in building a FORREST KINLEY

scholarship fund.

From the early 60's, JIM HECKMAN reserved time on the

calendar each year for certain Indian events - as well as for

certain activities with JEANNE and his young, growing - then

aging - children: BOB, DEBBIE, GARY, and JOHN. His boys, in

turn, could count on a range of hunting and fishing seasons

and dates, until they might no longer be interested.

Thus, JEANE and JIM became fixtures at the August

MAKAH DAYS, starting from early visits to Neah Bay to see a

host of friends - beginning with QUENTIN MARKISHTUM,

CHARLIE PETERSON, DAVE 'TIGH' PARKER, HILARY IRVING,

BRUCE WILKIE and ED CLAPLANAHOO in the beginning

1960's, and adding many more afterward, including the

BOWECHOPs and JOHN IDES and JEFF HOTTOWE through

1970's and '80's Commission work. A good many friends

from numerous tribes would visit JIM at his home, where he


maintained a pool table and a rack of cue sticks in his game

room.

FORREST and FLORENCE at Lummi became part of JIM's

annual calendar for home cook-outs, beginning sporadically

in the days of Boldt Case preparation. The yearly exchange

of visits became certain in the period of establishing the fish

commission for the Tribes and continued during HECKMAN's

later years of work as a tribal consultant.

Most the work of forming the Commission took place in

Olympia or at Sea-Tac meetings of Tribes, their designated

organizing committee, then the first five Commissioners. The

authorization from the Tribes for developing a charter came

at a post-Boldt inter-tribal conference in Portland on May 1,

1974.

That meeting had a court reporter who furnished a

stenographic transcript. In months following, the laborious

work of taking notes in shorthand and producing verbatim

word for word minutes was completed by FLORENCE KINLEY -

on the road and here at home at Lummi.


Now, when I say "word for word," I don't mean she wrote

down all our little cuss words. Maybe she did. But, she didn't

put any of them in her transcripts. So, at least, we've got to

thank her for that. Actually that - and much more.

In Portland, a basic decision was made to 're-start from

scratch' - and even that day's deliberations were set aside.

The determination was made to get beyond "who is going to

arrest tribal members" and to stop agencies or anyone from

simply "regarding Indian fishermen as a criminal class."

Watchwords for organizing became "effective fisheries

and resource management," "enabling the separate tribes to

meet mandates and obligations under the Boldt Decision,"

and moving toward "sovereign self-regulation." A contract

was executed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to fund the

organizing activity.

Following his motion, GUY McMINDS (Quinault) was

selected to join FORREST KINLEY (Lummi, as chairman);

CHARLIE PETERSON (Makah), CAL PETERS (Squaxin) or LEO

LaCLAIR (Muckleshoot), RON CHARLES (Elwha) or DENNIS

ALLEN (Skokomish), and the Puyallup's fisheries manager


HANK ADAMS (Assiniboine-Sioux) to serve as an organizing

body to propose a new Commission charter to the Tribes.

The NWIFC fairly quickly emerged. JIM HECKMAN again

was usually on hand as a federal resource person, and the

BIA's MARSHALL CUTSFORTH stood by as contract officer to

aid in compliance issues and to address funding needs. For

the most part, Tribes covered costs for their own

participating members or employees.

It was the work product of FLORENCE KINLEY, however,

that primarily satisfied the "deliverables" requirement of the

first BIA contract with the Commission. Her paperwork and

session minutes - Xeroxed - kept the contract going and all

the Tribes informed - step by step, month by month, on

toward a second year. It is now twenty-nine years later - and

we've lost her at its beginning.

Only GUY, CAL, and HANK remain from our start-up

group from those who carried on into the Commission. We

were most fortunate to have FLORENCE, FORREST, and the

talented CHARLIE PETERSON on hand to serve us in that

other earlier beginning of 1974.


Implementation of the Boldt Decision did not come easy

- nor without the most strenuous resistance from the other

citizenry.

The northern Tribes could have had their invaluable

sockeye fisheries fall as first victim to that resistance. But

CHARLIE and FORREST would not permit that happening. In

that first summer, they were in the Congress and the White

House to protect that resource from agency machinations

and from Canada's fear of Indian claims to any rights or fish.

Resulting from their White House meeting, Secretary of

State HENRY KISSINGER issued a binding directive to all

American commissioners - in revolt - on the International

Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission (IPSFC) to vote for

regulations authorizing the separate harvest openings for

Boldt treaty tribes. Earlier, they had done otherwise.

As well, the final executive budget request from

President RICHARD M. NIXON to the Congress - the day

preceding resignation - was one asking for supplemental

funding for the Tribes to implement the Boldt Decision. That

was our first Commission's dedicated work and effort.


The Fish & Wildlife Service biologists stepped up their

activities, too - creating another Lummi to Nisqually tie-in.

Forrest's brother FRANCIS 'GOOG' KINLEY brought his purse

seines down to the Nisqually Reach for the tagging studies on

chum and steelhead runs in the post-Boldt seasons.

It wasn't all over when I came along three years later to

succeed FORREST KINLEY - and to give FLORENCE a rest. I

know that because one of the early reports I got was that the

fishing was good, the harvests large - but nobody would sell

ice to the Lummi boats and fishermen.

It was another way of 'killing' us. We may be seeing

that again in a Makah whaling case, where - not so cleverly

quoting Herman Melville's 1851 "Moby Dick" - a court has

given new twists to "fair share" and "in common with all

citizens." That takes us painfully back to Alaska Packing.

With its 2002 view of "conservation," it's clear the

appeals court has never seen their 'all citizens' cork and

overrun a Lummi herring roe fishery - only to see their 'all

citizens' fishers lose twelve expensive boats in a season to

greed, overload, roll, and capsize.


Thus it is, AUNTIE FLORENCE, that you leave us with

much work to do. But rest. Go. Be peacefully with FORREST.

You've done your fair share - and much, much more. For

that, and for all the love you've given and left us with, we are

forever grateful.


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