Chuck Deam, vice chairman of the Suquamish tribal council, was the tribe’s first employee in 1969, and he remembers that time well: “There was nothing. My office was the back of my truck. I had a phone, but no place to plug it in.”
Today, the tribe has more than 1,000 members, about half of them living on the reservation. It employs about 1,200 people in its government, casino and business enterprises. The tribe is the third-largest employer in Kitsap County, behind only the feds and the hospital.
And so it goes throughout Washington, where successful casino tribes have become recession-proof job creators. That trend, plus a bigger effort than ever to count residents on Indian reservations, has resulted in a bump in populations of Indians on reservations across Washington, the census data show.
At Suquamish, the count of Indian people living on the reservation is up 47 percent over the 2000 census. So many have returned home to Suquamish, or elected to stay there, that tribal housing is in chronic short supply.
The increase in Indian people counted on the Suquamish reservation wasn’t a surprise to anyone there. For the tribe, like others in Washington with successful casinos and other business ventures, including commercial fishing operations, economic opportunity has provided jobs to come home to and, finally, enough professional employment for young people to stay at home and still pursue their careers.
Reservations that are home to some of the most successful casino operations – Tulalip, Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Swinomish and Lummi – together saw an overall population increase of 19 percent since the 2000 census, higher than the 10 percent increase in population of Indians on all reservations across Washington.
The big bump at Suquamish, people there say, also is because of working harder at the count. No bureaucratic sleepwalk, this was a house-to-house campaign.
“It was a big blitz, to stand up and be counted,” said Wayne George, executive director for the Suquamish tribe.
“We decided it was time to be recognized; it’s very important to us. It was the first time I remember being counted for anything, and I have lived here all my life.”
A TURNING POINT
For Washington tribes, the uptick in population is a tiny reversal of history. Once dynasties numbering thousands strong, controlling vast holdings that stretched across present-day Washington and beyond, the tribes have survived in numbers that are but fractions of their former size.
Only 33,047 people identified themselves as Indians living on Washington reservation lands in 2010, up from 30,096 people in 2000 – not enough people, in either case, to fill even half of Seattle’s Qwest Field.
Those respondents represent Indians of any tribe – and their identity is proclaimed by checking a box; it is not cross-verified with tribal enrollment lists. Respondents also could declare themselves to be Native American or Alaska Natives alone, or in combination with another race. To compute population comparisons between 2010 and 2000, the Times included each choice.
The percentage of people who identify themselves as American Indians or Alaska Natives doesn’t crack 3 percent of Washington’s total population. Across the country, there are 61,582 people enrolled in Washington tribes, according to a 2010 count by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The largest was Yakama, with 10,153 members. The smallest was Stillaguamish, with 200 people.
In Snohomish County, while other businesses struggled, the Tulalip Tribes saw its most successful year at their casino last year, tribal treasurer Chuck James noted in an address at a dinner celebrating the tribe’s charitable giving, which totaled $5.3 million in fiscal year 2010. The Tulalip Tribes are the third-largest employer in Snohomish County.
TRIBES ARE INVESTING
While state and local governments have been cutting back, tribes are investing in government programs during the recession, such as environmental cleanup, preservation work, fisheries enhancement and social services – including programs and schools used by non-Indians.
EXPANDING
Leonard Forsman, chairman at Suquamish, said his tribe is reaping the benefit of planning and strategy: They were careful not to overbuild, and to grow sustainably.
At Suquamish, the casino notched year-over-year growth, even during the recession. There is work on the reservation for any tribal member who wants it, and full-time jobs include 100 percent employer-paid medical benefits. When gasoline prices went up last year, the tribe kicked in $40 a week for fuel for employees.
The tribe has launched a construction company, bought the upscale Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo and the White Horse Golf Course, along with nearly 160 residential lots surrounding it. It built a new dock and constructed a community house called The House of Awakened Culture on the waterfront, filling it with original art.
The Suquamish opened three tribal retail enterprises and steadily bought land, expanding from about 100 acres owned by the tribe back in 1988 to about 1,200 acres today. A new museum is in the planning stages.
The tribe also is investing in its people. The Suquamish have opened an early-learning center for tribal children, and the tribe is sending about 30 of its members to college this year with full scholarships and living-expense stipends.
‘ALL CONNECTED’
The result is young people such as Kate Ahvakana, whom the tribe sent to school for her bachelor’s degree in art. Today, instead of working somewhere like a gallery in downtown Seattle, she has graduated and come home to work for her tribe, helping to lead a class and research project on the use of traditional cultural practices to maintain wellness and sobriety.
Designed, taught and used by tribal members, the class has meaning for her beyond a paycheck: “It’s that sense that you want to go home to help. It’s really important. We are all connected here.”
Michael Zaiss, 29, was laying pavement for tribal housing on Elders Lane on a recent weekday. A laborer on the crew, Zaiss said he felt fortunate to be able to give back to his tribe.
“Our way of life is older than America,” Zaiss said. “To be part of being able to keep that going is very humbling.”
