Nooksack Eviction Saga in Deming Coming to a Close

Jason Upton, My Bellingham Now

20 November 2024

DEMING, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A years-long housing struggle in Deming seems to be nearing its end.

The Nooksack Tribal Court issued eviction orders to three families on Friday, Nov. 15, giving them until 8 a.m. on Nov. 29, to leave their homes. The families are part of a large group of former Nooksack members who were disenrolled from the tribe.

The two sides have been engaged in this housing argument for several years now, with the tribe claiming that the families lay no claim to the homes they currently occupy, while the families argue they were unfairly cast out of the tribe and are now being forced out of homes that they have a lawful right to own through a federal tax credit program.

The long-standing debate has drawn national attention, with the Seattle Times and even a subsection of the United Nations calling on the Gov. Jay Inslee and the US Government to intervene and stop the evictions. But even as the attorneys representing the seven families will tell you, the decision to proceed with the evictions ultimately lies at the hands of the Nooksack Indian Tribe.

Background

This saga began back in 2016 when the Nooksack Tribe disenrolled a large group of former members they say were incorrectly enrolled in the 1980s.

The actual number of people who were disenrolled is disputed, with the group calling themselves “The Nooksack 306” representing over 300 members they say were disenrolled, though the Nooksack Tribe says they disenrolled about 270 of its roughly 2,000 members. Regardless of the actual number, the tribe claims the disenrolled members did not have the documents to show that they qualified for enrollment through their descendants.

But in another of the many disputed points between the two sides, Gabe Galanda, a tribal attorney advocating for the families, claims they were never legally disenrolled in 2016.

“Everyone in government accepts that as some truth or legal precedent, when it isn’t,” Galanda said. “The tribal politicians in 2016 – despite multiple tribal court orders enjoining, or disallowing, disenrollment – just disenrolled them anyway and sadly, the rest is history. But it’s crucial to recognize that they never were disenrolled lawfully or legally.”

Nevertheless, the Nooksack Tribe’s housing policies state that leaseholders of the housing units it manages must be Nooksack citizens, and these families were no longer, which caused the tribe to serve eviction notices to seven families in 2021.

Rent-to-own dispute

A key piece in understanding this debate is a federal program that allows the tenants at some of these Nooksack homes to become eventual owners.

Attorneys for the families argue that they should now legally own the homes due to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The program was created in 1986 to offer federal tax credits to developers building rental housing for low-income households. After the housing is built, the developers can choose to offer the residence for sale to eligible tenants. The property qualifies for the program 15 years after it was built, which would have been the case in 2020 for seven families facing eviction in Deming.

But Galanda says state officials have dropped the ball on actually enforcing the program.

“As it turns out, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission failed to oversee this program. Not just here at Nooksack, but throughout Washington state, there are 600 units that have not been overseen by the state,” Galanda said. “These 85 units at Nooksack, seven of which are now the subject of these evictions, have also not been overseen. So, there are actually 85 homes that are due to be conveyed to tribal members in Deming and that has not happened because of a massive breakdown in this program.”

In a rare concurrence between the two sides, the Nooksack Tribe has agreed with Galanda’s claim that the homes are past due to be conveyed to their rightful owners, though it says those tenants have to be qualified to take ownership. One of those qualifications is that they have to be a Nooksack Tribal member, which the tribe says exempts the families from ever owning the homes.

Other entities weigh in

Tribal sovereignty has prevented outside actors from making any real impact on this issue, though the case had received national recognition.

The United Nations’ independent officials on adequate housing and the rights of Indigenous peoples issued a statement in 2022, warning it had become a potential human right violation. They urged the U.S. government to stop the evictions and voiced their concerns that the forced evictions would deny the disenrolled Nooksack members the opportunity to be included in the community and culture they’ve always lived in. They received no response from the government and reiterated their point a year later.

The Seattle Times’ editorial board stepped in during summer of 2023, agreeing with the United Nations’ statement and calling on Gov. Jay Inslee and the Biden administration to intervene. The board specifically called out the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission for dodging the issue.

Final ruling and response

Despite the outside attention, the Nooksack Tribal Council has not backed off its decision to evict the seven families and issued a final ruling in October 2024, offering to give them until Dec. 31 to leave their homes.

Galanda and the families responded with a counteroffer: the families would remain in their homes until they pass away, or they move out on their own accord, after which the tribes would hold sole ownership over the homes.

It was a last-ditch effort that was unlikely to succeed, as the tribe already owns the power to remove the families. Galanda says the proposal was made in hopes that the two sides could come to a personal understanding.

“Beyond diplomacy—more personally—it’s incumbent on the Nooksack community and its elected leaders and these families to finally just sit down, look each other in the eye, discuss their disagreements and see if maybe, just maybe, there’s a path towards peace,” Galanda said.

The tribe turned down the counterproposal on Nov. 1.

Moving forward

Galanda says the families are not expected to leave their homes by the Nov. 29 deadline, which would incur involvement from Nooksack Tribal Police officers to enforce the evictions.

The families won’t be without options after they’re evicted. They’re now enrolled with the Shxwhay Band, a Nooksack sister tribe in British Columbia that has offered the families low-income rental housing in Whatcom County.

There still remains a gap in their futures, however, as the housing isn’t expected to be complete until 2025.

Original article

Three disenrolled Nooksack households evicted

22 November 2024

Three households received eviction orders after a tribal court hearing Friday in the latest chapter of a bitter conflict over Nooksack tribal enrollment. The residents must move out of their homes by 8 a.m. Nov. 29.

It’s been nearly a decade since the tribe revoked the citizenship of several hundred people, disputing a common ancestor’s Nooksack status. The disenrolled, all members of the same extended family, contest the validity of their expulsion.

Among them are seven households, made up of more than 20 people, living in Nooksack Indian Tribe low-income housing through a federal tax credit program.

https://ictnews.org/news/three-disenrolled-nooksack-households-evicted

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