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APRIL 24, 2000

Joseph Burton De La Cruz (Quinault) was remembered this past Saturday by the thousand-plus who gathered at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino to pay their respects for the well-known tribal leader. De La Cruz died of a heart attack on April 16.

In his lifetime, he served as President of the Quinault Nation, president of the National Congress of American Indians, president of the National Tribal Chairman's Association, and president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. He also served on the US Commission on Civil Rights, the National Indian Health Board, and the National Indian Education Association.

Washington Governor Gary Locke said the state "lost a good friend and great leader."

De La Cruz was a staunch defender and proponent of tribal sovereignty. Mel Tonaske, leader of the Colville confedaration, said Burton is probably "trying to sell God on self-governance."

In 1971, his protests against timber cutting by the BIA on Quinault land led to a historic transfer of management of the tribe's most valuable resource back to the tribe.

De La Cruz will be buried tomorrow at Inchelium on the Colville reservation, his wife's tribe. Contact the Quinault office at (360) 276-8211 or (888) 616-8211 for more information.

Staff and news wires contributed to this report.