Book details Chehalis Tribe efforts to hold feds accountable

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on a case, United States v. Mitchell, in 1983 that set the foundation that the United States government could be liable for monetary damages for Native American assets in their trust.

The case, which local author Sandy Crowell said has been cited over 9,000 times and has been critical in the fight for Native American rights, has its roots with the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. It was prompted by a descendent of the Chehalis, Nisqually and Quinault tribes, Helen Sanders, formerly known as Helen Mitchell.

Sanders was born in December 1927 on the Chehalis Reservation to George and Daisy (Ford) Sanders, according to Chronicle columnist and historian Julie McDonald. Sanders is a descendant of Nisqually Chief Quiemuth, who was assassinated in the territorial governor’s mansion in 1856, and her great-grandparents were Sidney and Nancy Ford, pioneers who settled Centralia’s Fords Prairie. Their son, Sidney Ford Jr., married Josephine Quesa, Helen’s grandmother.

Sanders, now 97, has spent the last few years working with Crowell to share her life story and the details of her legal battle against the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Crowell worked as the director of literacy for Centralia College for about 13 years. She published a book about the history of Lewis County, “The Land Called Lewis,” in 2007 and co-authored a book about the history of Thurston County, “Water, Woods & Prairies,” in 2019.

Crowell first met Sanders seven or eight years ago through Crowell’s work at the Chehalis Tribe, and Crowell asked Sanders if she’d be interested in being interviewed.

“I hadn’t really thought about a book at the time, but then as the conversation progressed, she kept referring to this Mitchell case,” Crowell said. “Her name is Sanders now, and I didn’t know exactly what she meant.”

Crowell connected the dots as the conversations continued, realizing that Sanders was the Mitchell named in the 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case.

“The actual settlement took 21 years before any money came through, but she stuck with it,” Crowell said.

Sanders’ vibrant personality, her involvement in the male-dominated timber industry and her commitment to advocating for Native American rights and land protections inspired Crowell to become Sanders’ biographer.

Crowell published Sanders’ biography, “The Ravaged Forest: A Native Woman’s Journey to Justice,” on Nov. 22, 2024.

“I feel really honored to have had that opportunity to spend so much time with her,” Crowell said.

Sanders grew up on the Chehalis Indian Reservation and went on to start a logging company on an allotment of Quinault Reservation land she received at the age of 7, according to a column written by McDonald.

“That’s when she discovered all of the damage … the BIA had just turned their back on any old thing that those big logging companies wanted to do on Indian land, and it was thousands of acres of nothing but flash. I mean, it was just this big grey graveyard as far as you could see,” Crowell said.

Sanders and Quinault Tribal Chairman Joe Jackson contacted attorneys in Washington, D.C., then formed the Quinault Allottees Association to pursue the lawsuit, according to McDonald.

“It took 21 years, but the Mitchell decision of June 27, 1983, set a precedent by determining that the BIA could be held liable for Native American assets in their trust,” McDonald wrote in a column published in The Chronicle on Jan. 8, 2024.

Sanders has continued to advocate for tribal rights, fair compensation of timber harvests and protection of salmon runs, McDonald wrote. She went on to testify several more times before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Native Americans and served two terms as secretary and treasurer for the National Congress of American Indians.

When Crowell told Sanders that she wanted to write her biography, Crowell recalled, Sanders said, “Well, I don’t know of anybody who’s going to be interested in that. They’re all dead.”

Crowell recalled telling Sanders, “Helen, it’s your story that’s so significant … it’s inspiring for anybody who wants to pursue a cause or fight for justice or sees something worth fighting for.”

When Sanders received a copy of the finished book, Crowell said, “She just cradled it like a newborn baby … She really has wanted her story to be told.”

“The Ravaged Forest: A Native Woman’s Journey to Justice” is available for purchase on Amazon.