Indian Gaming > Editorial: Cowlitz Tribe doesn't belong in our county

August 02, 2006

Editorial: Cowlitz Tribe doesn't belong in our county

Indianz.Com Casino Stalker
Tracking casino proposals across Indian Country.

"An important assertion by the Cowlitz Tribe in seeking federal approval for a reservation near La Center is this: Clark County was a key territory in the Indians' lives a century and a half ago. Therefore, it is an appropriate place for a reservation and casino.

That's like saying if a single statue were going to be erected honoring the Seattle Mariners it should be in Peoria, Ariz., their spring training base.

The assertion by casino proponents is challenged by groups such as Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (of which Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell is a member). Both sides have their experts and the U.S. Department of the Interior must determine whether Clark County was indeed a substantial part of the culture, economy and everyday life of the Cowlitz Indians a century and a half ago.

But a layman in the summer of 2006 making a reservation at a state park, and in myriad other venues, can find plenty of evidence that present-day Lewis and Cowlitz counties, not Clark County, were home to the tribe."

Get the Story:
In Our View - This Wasn't Home (The Columbian 8/1)