Email This   Larger Font      Print This   Smaller Font Advertisement   Cowlitz Tribe chairman Name: Bill Iyall. Age: 61. Current position: Cowlitz Indian Tribe chairman, June 15 to present. Past position: Member of Cowlitz Tribal Council since 1992; vice chairman and tribal council chairman for four years. Job: Senior project engineer, city of Tacoma. Education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, St. Martin’s University, Lacey; associate’s degree in public administration, Tacoma Community College. Family: Married, five children; two grown children from a previous marriage. Residence: Gig Harbor. Bill Iyall became the new chairman of the Cowlitz Tribe with the death of John Barnett, who had led the tribe since 1982. (N. Scott Trimble, The Columbian)

Sunday, July 20, 2008
By Jeffery Mize, Columbian Staff Writer

Bill Iyall has only to look to his family’s past to guide him in his new role as leader of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

Iyall has a small collection of black-and-white photos that reflects a hundred years of family and tribal history.

His great-uncle was a Cowlitz chief, when the tribe’s leader still used that traditional title. His grandfather spent more than a decade working on tribal issues, including the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, and once shared a table with the man who signed the law, President Calvin Coolidge.

Iyall, who automatically became Cowlitz chairman following the June 15 death of John Barnett, said re-establishing his tribe’s history is a priority.

“I take it as a personal obligation because of my family ties,” he said. “I look at my grandfather as an inspiration.”

Barnett had led the tribe since 1982, through an arduous process to win federal recognition and, more recently, through an ongoing battle to build a large casino complex west of La Center. The Bureau of Indian Affairs could make a decision as early as Aug. 12, although few observers expect a quick announcement.

Iyall, along with Cowlitz Vice Chairman Phil Harju, sat down with The Columbian last week for a wide-ranging interview.

Iyall shared his views on numerous topics, including his tribe’s support for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs’ casino plans for Cascade Locks, Ore. He also offered a surprising characterization of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, one of the Cowlitz casino’s most ardent opponents, as more family than foe.

John Barnett led this tribe for more than a quarter-century. What will be his legacy?

Iyall: He has been the glue that has held the tribe together for his term. I was there when he was first elected and remember he was a very strong voice and uncompromising, a very forceful leader. He carried us through the recognition process. That, I think, is his greatest legacy.

What is the biggest misconception about what your tribe is trying to do here in Clark County? What don’t people get?

Iyall: The commitment of the Cowlitz Tribe to our homeland. We know we were displaced from those homelands, but our commitment is still to these lands and the people who occupy the land. We are here on a stewardship basis, and I don’t think a lot of people understand that component.

Is this casino project the ultimate tribute to John Barnett?

Iyall: No, not in my mind. I think the ultimate is the delivery of services to the tribal members and what we can build for the future … giving them a place to congregate, to basically come back to their homeland and making it a true homeland again for the Cowlitz people.

Harju: The casino is a means to an end, meaning the tribe has an economic engine. … For John’s legacy and what Bill wants to do, there is so much to do for the Cowlitz people. You talk about health (care), education, all of that, the natural resources, culture.

You mentioned wanting to provide services to the tribe’s members. The opposition groups have made quite an issue of this. They look at the Census data and say the Cowlitz are like anyone else in the state of Washington. They are not this impoverished group.

Iyall: I feel, if you will, our legacy, our infrastructure was all taken from us with our land. Our means to support ourselves for 150 years was totally taken. I mean, we had nothing. Many of the families were decimated. People were shot and removed against their will. So how can you say the ability to give back to your people some semblance of that heritage, how can you say that’s too much? I don’t think that’s enough.

Many of the groups opposed to the casino, especially the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, contend that the Cowlitz do not have sufficient historic ties to justify having a reservation here.

Iyall: I can see they (the Grand Ronde) might want to make that case if they feel we might be competition to them, and I think that is the whole basis of their argument. … This was a melting pot, basically, largely due to the trade that came here with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and it’s hard to identify beyond that who specifically occupied it. Some of that is spelled out in the Lewis and Clark journals. We’ve gone to great lengths to look at all those issues. We do have a strong case. They can make their case. I would say if the Chinooks want to make their case, they can come and make their case, too. We’re comfortable with our position that we belong here.

The Grand Ronde have mounted several television ad campaigns against your tribe, including one that had a strong personal attack on John Barnett’s son. How does it make you feel to see another tribe using its casino proceeds that way?

Iyall: That’s the most difficult thing I think I have faced in the whole process, the fact that we have another tribe opposing us. But not just another tribe, but no doubt relatives. We intermarried all along the Columbia. No doubt a lot of their lineage has crossed our lineage, and same with the Chinook.

Harju: The Grand Ronde are great people. The Spirit Mountain (casino) property has done wonderful things for the Grand Ronde people. The Cowlitz only want to do the same thing for the Cowlitz people. We should have the exact same opportunity to have a reservation, to have a homeland, and to provide economic benefit to our people.

You don’t see the Warm Springs as competition?

Iyall: There’s no doubt it’s competition. It’s another tribe, and they need the same economic benefits that we do. They’re clear in their location as far as how they got there, just as we are.

Harju: And I don’t think any expert in the Columbia Gorge area would argue that the Warm Springs did not have historic connections to the river, fishing, hunting and trading, along with all the tribes in this area.  The river was the lifeline of communication, transportation, all of that.

Who do you think has a better site?

Harju: The Cowlitz have the best. We will be the best on the West coast.

Iyall: We have a beautiful site. They have a spectacular site.

Harju: Look at Connecticut. Look between Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. They’re 10 miles apart. And they are both doing just fine.

Iyall: I wish the Grand Ronde would understand the same concept.

One of the more controversial things your predecessor said or wrote was that racism is alive and well in Clark County. Do you believe that?

Iyall: I have heard things that would lead most reasonable people to believe there is some of that in the mix or discussion. I don’t want to get into specifics, but I think I have seen that in some of the hearings as well.

Harju: That was sent to the membership of the tribe. That was not sent out as a public pronouncement.

But you won’t give any specifics.

Iyall: I don’t want to raise it as an issue, no, and I don’t want to say that’s part of the decision. … The BIA makes the decision.

Some tribal leaders have said the Bush administration has been the most anti-Indian administration in past-half century.

Iyall: Well, our experience has been it’s been a long and difficult process, there’s no doubt about it. … It has, I think, extended our process well beyond what we anticipated.

Is that a way of saying yes?

Iyall: Yes. I think the record is clear.

Any thought that maybe you should wait another six months for a McCain administration or an Obama administration?

Iyall: There is no reason to wait. All the pieces are there with the conclusion of the current process, so they should be able to make their decision. … We think the current administration has the means to do that. And maybe even the desire.