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Lummi Settlement Joint Statement
JOINT STATEMENT
The Lummi Nation, and an engineering firm have
authorized their representatives to make the following joint statement about
the settlement they have reached to resolve litigation concerning the events
that occurred in 1999 at the place known as Semiahmah
on Semiahmoo Spit, City of Blain, in the State of
Washington.
“Tsi-litch” (Semiahmah
Spit) has been inhabited for thousands of years by the ancestors of the
present day Lummi and the Lummi
Nation accepts a special responsibility to those who lived, worked and died
there. Construction activities done for the City of Blaine that took place in 1999 at Semiahmoo Spit disturbed ancestral burials and the Lummi Nation has undertaken steps to recover and re-bury
the remains that were disturbed during construction.
Litigation of claims for damages in these circumstances is costly and
uncertain and rarely is capable of full compensation for injuries like those
suffered here. The Lummi Nation and the engineering
firm have reached a financial settlement of the claims arising from these
events. Although none of the parties admit legal liability for the events
that occurred, all parties regret what happened during construction.
The Lummi Indian Business Council in August of 1999
passed a resolution committing the tribe and its people to achieve the goals
of:
1.Recovering and reburying the ancestral remains that were disturbed;
2.Protecting the Semiahmah ancestral burial site
from any further disturbances;
3.Holding responsible all of those parties that were involved in this
disturbance; and
4.Making sure that Indian burial sites are protected from disturbance so that
an event like this would never happen again.
With this settlement the Lummi Nation is well on
its way to accomplishing all of its goals. The recovery and reburial process
goes forward. The Lummi people look forward to the
day when all of the ancestral remains are respectfully reburied.
The Lummi Nation v. Engineering Firm.
$4.25 million settlement in U.S. District Court (Seattle)
for burial site recovery and protection
Plaintiffs’ co-counsel: Michael E. Withey, Paul L. Stritmatter
and Brad J. Moore
of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio
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