Eviction looms for WA Nooksack families amid sovereignty dispute
Eviction looms for WA Nooksack families amid sovereignty dispute
Three families are facing eviction after a years-long battle to remain within the Nooksack Tribe, a place they considered "home" for most of their lives.
DEMING, Wash. - Three families are facing eviction after a years-long battle to remain within the Nooksack Tribe, a place they considered "home" for most of their lives.
According to eviction writs, the families have until 8 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving to leave the homes they believe they rightfully own. Four additional families also expect to receive eviction notices in the coming days.
The evictions are part of a 12-year fight that started with the Nooksack Tribal Council removing roughly 300 members from the tribal nation, a move that reduced the tribe’s membership by more than 10%.
The home Norma Aldredge has lived in for more than 20 years. She contends that keys and deeds should have been handed over years ago by the Nooksack Indian Tribe. Instead, they are looking for the family to agree to leave -- or they will face evictio
A years-long disenrollment fight
"For someone to take away our birthright, to say we don’t belong here, it’s a tough position," said Michelle Roberts, one of the family members that is awaiting eviction.
"I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else."
The Nooksack 306 – the name the disenrolled members have used for themselves – began as a dispute over a single ancestor’s status with the tribe. Those who have been disenrolled say they're Nooksack, questioning the reasoning behind their membership being revoked.
A film documenting the plight of the Nooksack 306 was created by Converge Media in early 2024; you can watch it in its entirety online.
The Nooksack 306 were living in homes through a federal Low-income Housing Tax Credit program that would allow homes to be conveyed to them after a period of time. However, that time came and went, but keys and deeds were never handed over.
According to the Nooksack Indian Tribe, the families in question are not eligible to own the homes since they're not enrolled.
Those facing eviction say they’re facing human rights abuses. They’ve lost access to services, including support in the form of housing, education and medical for various family members. Their only recourse is to argue their case in a courtroom that is led by the government they believe wrongly removed them from the tribe in the first place.
"We’re a family with no country right now," said Roberts, citing failed attempts to engage the Biden administration in any meaningful way.
The United Nations has weighed in on the matter, calling on the federal government to step in and stop the evictions.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland would have the authority, but Haaland has never weighed in on the matter. Questions to her office we rerouted to her assistant secretary for Indian Affairs.
"We continue to implore the Tribe’s leaders to stop their planned evictions," said Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland. "While we respect and commit to uphold tribal sovereignty, we do not support the manner in which these actions are being carried out."
However, those words have done little to change the situation. Nooksack leadership has made it clear that they view their tribe as the victims in the decade-plus feud.
Nooksack Tribal Chair RoseMary LaClair declined an in-person interview with FOX 13 Seattle, but in a written response to questions, stated that the disenrolled members include individuals that had previously gained power within the tribe, stating they took advantage of the community.
"This has represented years of injustice to our community from those who were disenrolled, who aren’t Nooksack, and it has not been easy," said LaClair.
Struggles surrounding the Nooksack Inidan Tribe and identity
The Nooksack Tribal Council said that more than 200 members are on a wait list for tribal housing, that includes homeless tribal members and elders.
Evictions were first issued by police officers beginning in 2016, though legal wranglings kept the families in their homes as they continued to make monthly payments. A second wave of evictions were issued in 2020 and 2021.
Images from Nooksack 306 of past instances of police officers serving eviction notices on elders following disenrollment proceedings.
In a statement from the Nooksack Press Office, the tribe made it clear that their intention is to put new families in the homes, writing:
"Nooksack looks forward to conveying these homes to qualified Nooksack Tribal citizens as soon as possible."
A final offer was made to the soon-to-be evicted families in October: leave the homes by the end of the year. But it would have required that the families agree that they are not a "native family," an identity that the families refuse to give up.
As Roberts explained to FOX 13 Seattle, the loss of the homes without compensation would be a major blow. However, she said the fight was truly about identity and how the family was raised within their culture.
"We’re not doing it for services, we’re not doing it for the houses," said Roberts. "We’re doing it because it’s our birthright. Our identity, our birthright, our culture is here."
Disenrollment and sovereignty
Dozens of tribes across multiple states have purged thousands of people from the tribes in what some have called an "epidemic" that extends throughout Indian Country. It is a polarizing topic with both sides arguing about cultural purity versus a sense of belonging.
For those affected by disenrollment, it can mean the loss of identity on an emotional level, but on a dollars and cents level it can also mean a loss of benefits ranging from housing, to health care and educational support.
For those in power at Nooksack, tribal sovereignty is the end all, be all issue at question. Tribal leadership has made it clear: it’s important for those outside of the tribe to respect their sovereignty.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe is one of the 574 federally recognized tribal nations in the United States that have, with a few exceptions, the same powers as federal and state governments to regulate internal affairs.
"It gives us the right to govern ourselves, including the most basic right, the right to determine citizenship," said LaClair.
"Nooksack citizenship is not available to everyone; it’s determined by descendency. That is the rule adopted by the Nooksack people to govern themselves."
Featured
Nooksack tribe criticized over eviction of disenrolled WA families
A WA family is running out of options as the Nooksack Tribal Council looks to move on from a disenrollment saga that has drawn rebuke from the United Nations.
Incorrectly enrolled members?
Tribal leaders have long argued that the disenrolled members were incorrectly enrolled to the Nooksack Tribe in the 1980s, and that they shouldn’t be entitled to tribal rights or benefits.
The fight has also turned ugly, beyond the issues surrounding enrollment and housing.
The Nooksack Tribal Council has pointed to late '90s and early 2000s coverage of a number of Rabang family members that were tied to a drug-smuggling operation.
The attorney that worked with the disenrolled family notes those family members are long gone, while pointing to a legal settlement involving tribal officials encouraging sexual violence after a councilmember who denounced disenrollment.
The struggle surrounding disenrollment isn't new. In California, Chukchansi tribal members have voted to expel roughly half of its members since a casino was opened in 2003. Closer to home, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde made similar moves to disenroll 86 members a decade ago.
At stake in the Nooksack case is power within Nooksack, and the properties in question.
Roberts had become part of the tribal leadership before the push to disenroll began. The Nooksack chairperson has made it clear that they have a backlog of elders who do not have housing. Since the Nooksack government owns the tribal property, they want to move current members to the homes after carrying out evictions.
The prospect of evictions led the disenrolled Nooksack citizens to turn to the federal government for help, a rare move given the issues of sovereignty at play.
"I get it, I really get it," said Michelle Roberts. "Every tribe wants to have its sovereignty, and we want to respect that, but when they use that tool to abuse or bully select groups you are violating their human rights."
Federal officials have shied away from stepping into the fray, often citing the Nooksack's sovereignty.
Attorney Gabe Galanda, the lawyer who represented the families until Nooksack barred him from practicing in tribal court, has continued to request intervention.
"The sad reality is, tribal nations wield so much political influence now through gaming wealth that the politicians in Olympia and Washington, D.C. Democrats, by the way. Progressives by the way … are afraid if they do something at Nooksack to prevent human rights abuses, they will somehow be accused by some other tribe, perhaps a gaming tribe, of affronting tribal sovereignty, so they simply look away to protect their careers," said Galanda.
What happens next?
It’s unclear whether the families plan to leave their homes, leading to questions about what a stand-off would look like.
Health could ultimately play a role in how the families move forward. One of the elderly men among the families facing eviction has been referred to as "senile." Another member of the family group landed in urgent care when a family member brought moving boxes over.
Galanda insisted that between older members of the families facing eviction, and others in wheelchairs, a move isn’t possible.
The Nooksack has said new homes are being built in Whatcom County by the Shxqha:y Band, a First Nations people from British Columbia, for disenrolled families that are also enrolled in Shxqha:y.
According to Galanda, the First Nations Band has pledged not to allow the Nooksack 306 families to become homeless, though the homes are not yet completed.
The Nooksack Tribe has stated that safety is their major concern. LaClair told FOX 13 Seattle, "I’m concerned about the safety of the neighbors and the safety of our employees because the safety of individuals comes first."
Whether that means tribal police will be called in if the families remain within their homes remains to be seen.
MORE NEWS FROM FOX SEATTLE
Teen who shot Tacoma detective sentenced to more than 15 years
Man sentenced for gunning down teen on Puyallup basketball court
Suspects flee after crashing stolen car into a school in Graham, WA
What is Glicked? What to know about this year's Barbenheimer
Trump Stimulus Checks: Will they be issued, and could you receive one?
ChatGPT outperformed doctors in diagnostic accuracy, study reveals
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.