Duwamish Tribal Services (Real Rent Duwamish)

What happened

Duwamish Tribal Services (DTS) is a Seattle nonprofit run by the Duwamish Tribe. ProPublica lists it under EIN 91-1122115, with tax exemption issued in April 1981. The Real Rent Duwamish website says DTS provides social, educational, health and cultural services and operates the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, a free museum, event space and community center.

Real Rent is a program that asks people who live or work in Seattle to pay voluntary rent to the Tribe. The website says 100 percent of Real Rent goes to DTS. It is coordinated by the Duwamish Solidarity Group, which describes itself as an all-volunteer group partnering with the Tribe. The site says the Tribe does not have federal recognition and asks visitors to sign a petition for it.

The Tribe's own fact sheet says the Duwamish Tribe was the lead signatory to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott and has yet to secure the reservation promised in that treaty. It says leaders have pressed the claim before Congress, the federal courts and the Bureau of Indian Affairs since the 1860s. The Real Rent site says that in 1971 about 1,000 Duwamish members were paid $64 each for their land.

DTS does not hold a land return. The work described here is services, advocacy for recognition and rent redistribution, which is a voluntary payment rather than land.

Good to know. The Duwamish Tribe is not federally recognized, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe disputes parts of its claim. Real Rent is a voluntary payment to the Tribe's services; it does not buy land.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error