Gov. Inslee defends Climate Commitment Act veto, vows to continue this work with Tribes
Washington state Tribal leaders praised some of Gov. Jay Inslee’s actions at the annual Centennial Accord Meeting Wednesday, Oct. 27, but also criticized his decision to veto sections of the Climate Commitment Act supported by Tribes.
The annual meeting focuses on cementing the government-to-government relationship between the state and Tribes with representatives from the state’s 29 federally recognized Tribes and a few other Pacific Northwest Tribes.
Inslee was praised for climate action, the appointment of Tribal members to leadership positions and willingness to meet with Tribal Nations at the 32nd annual meeting held at the Skookum Creek Event Center in Shelton, Wash.
“I know the veto of the consultation provisions has caused a lot of angst in the community, and I understand that, but I’m committed to having a very successful consultation process developed and I’m very pleased about how our discussions are going in that direction,” Inslee said.
“We don’t agree on everything — the state and Tribes. And Tribe to Tribe, we don’t agree on everything. However, I am grateful for you all coming to engage today,” host-Tribe Squaxin Island Chairman Kris Peters said during opening remarks.
The governor thanked the Tribes on behalf of all Washingtonians for their leadership during the pandemic.
“One of the things I say repeatedly is the success of the Tribal communities is the success of the broader non-Tribal communities,” Inslee said.
Jumping off of pre-meeting sessions from the day before, Tribal leaders address the governor about the issues facing their individual nations.
Treaty rights and salmon
Carol Evans, chairwoman for the Spokane Tribe of Indians, spoke up about the previous day’s natural resources meetings to say much of the conversation was focused on treaty rights.
“The Spokane Tribe is not a treaty Tribe, we are an executive order Tribe... even though we don’t have that treaty, there still is a trust responsibility to our people,” she said. “We too are Indigenous people. We want to be part of the solutions — the solutions to climate change, to bringing back the salmon, to creating a healthy environment for everything that the creator has given to us to take care of. We need to be included.”
Lisa Wilson, a Tribal council member for Lummi Nation, discussed education, Tribal economy, broadband and reception on the reservations, the drug and opioid epidemic, renewable energy, water adjudication and a recent die-off of 2,500 Chinook salmon in the South Fork of the Nooksack River.
“Climate change is the straw that broke the salmon’s back,” she said.
Snoqualmie Tribal Chairman Robert de los Angeles said he was duty-bound to share the uncomfortable truth about what he described as the illegal occupation and continued desecration of the Tribe’s most sacred site.
Located about 30 miles east of Seattle, Snoqualmie Falls is one of the state’s most popular scenic attractions and sees more than 1.5 million visitors a year. Though the Tribe purchased parcels of land surrounding the falls in 2019, they do not own the falls itself, which is currently part of two hydroelectric generating plants owned by Puget Sound Energy.
“We cannot be complacent and congratulate each other when our own ancestors cannot rest in peace to know that each generation is losing the opportunity to share in the ancient traditions of the land,” he said.
The chairman said Tribal sovereignty was not considered in the decision-making over the falls and the Tribe did not feel supported by the governor’s office.
Climate Commitment Act
In a speech later echoed by some leaders in the meeting, de los Angeles criticized Inslee’s decision to veto sections of the Climate Commitment Act that Tribes worked on to guarantee historic levels of consultation and protections for their sacred sites and burial grounds.
“The Snoqualmie Tribe does not put in further trust in Jay Inslee. He has broken his word repeatedly,” de los Angeles said, calling for Tribes to not comply by giving up Tribal sovereignty. “The Snoqualmie Tribe will not surrender.”
The Snoqualmie Tribe, National Congress of American Indians and other allies condemned the decision publicly in May.
“Jay Inslee committed the most egregious and shameless betrayal of a deal I have ever witnessed from a politician of any party, at any level,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians and vice president of the Quinault Indian Nation, in a press release following the decision earlier this year.
Sharp reiterated her May statement during her address to the governor at the meeting, calling for support of “free, prior, and informed consent” — a standard set by the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The practice — which was adopted by the state Attorney General in 2019 — goes further than Tribal consultation by giving Tribal governments authority to put a full and complete stop to projects and programs that directly and tangibly affect Tribes, Tribal rights, lands and sacred sites.
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Natasha Brennan covers Washington state tribes’ impact on our local communities, environment and politics, as well as traditions, culture and equity issues, for McClatchy media companies in Bellingham, Olympia, Tacoma and Tri-Cities.
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Sharp also pointed to the 1999 agreement signed by then-Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire to institutionalize government-to-government relationships with Tribes and the state in preparation for the new millennium.
“The first thing was: We need to understand the unique political and sovereign standing of Tribal nations. And I think that’s where we’ve seen a divergence,” Sharp said.
Memories of fishing wars
Sharp said the recent collective memories of the violence against Native peoples during the fishing wars was part of the reason she felt so strongly about the veto, but qualified her criticism by crediting the governor’s appointment of Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis — the first Native American justice on the state’s Supreme Court — who vacated a 1916 ruling that brought criminal charges on a Yakama Tribal member for fishing on traditional Tribal grounds.
Inslee defended his veto, saying that passage of the Climate Commitment Act and Clean Fuel Standard in the last legislative session was the greatest victory against climate change in the history of the United States.
He said his vetoes of two key parts of the bill — the Tribal consultation and a 5-cent gas tax that he called “the poison pill” put in the bill by legislators— earned him a “lot of grief.” But contrary to criticism, he said, the ambitious action was the “most respectful of Tribes,” citing that the Climate Commitment Act puts aside 10% of the funds for Tribal communities.
“I want to remind you that $500 million would not exist except for my veto,” he said. “I hope that next session in the legislature you will help us pass even more meaningful climate legislation.”
Sharp and Inslee are both expected to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Oct. 31 through Nov. 12.
This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Gov. Inslee defends Climate Commitment Act veto, vows to continue this work with Tribes."
