The Muckleshoot Indian tribe launched a public information initiative last week to increase awareness and understanding of its history, culture, treaty rights and sovereignty, and to clearly articulate its lasting legal and ancestral connection with the Duwamish ancestors.
On August 9, more than 95% of the Muckleshoot tribe members were descendants of Duwamish. The tribe was recognized by the federal government as the legal heirs of several Duwamish lands. The Chief of Seattle signed the Point Elliott Treaty on their behalf.
The tribe stated in a press release that a group calling itself the Duwamish tribal organization “continues its decades of efforts to gain public attention and support based on misleading historical records, and refuses to recognize the federal tribe’s call.”
It said that it was time to break the record.
“This plan to invade our culture in the name of our Duwamish ancestors has been going on for a long time,” said Jason Elkins, chairman of the Muckleshoot Tribal Committee.
Some advertisements appeared in several newspapers and online in western Washington, stating the situation of the tribe and connecting people to an information website: theRealDuwamish.org.
