John Barnett

Led Washington state's Cowlitz Indians to federal recognition

John Barnett, who led Washington state's Cowlitz Indians to federal recognition, has died. He was 73.

Barnett, a longtime timber industry worker, died Sunday at his home north of Aberdeen, according to the tribe's Web site and a recorded message on the tribe's telephone answering machine.

Barnett, a native of Portland, Ore., who took the helm of the 3,600-member tribe in 1982, described himself in congressional testimony in 2001 as "a son of a Finn lady and a Cowlitz Indian. I am sometimes referred to by my colleagues as the big Finndian."

After a long battle, the Cowlitz won formal status in 2002 but remain the only federally recognized tribe in Washington state without any land.

On May 30, the federal government issued a final environmental impact statement for taking a 152-acre parcel west of La Center into trust on the tribe's behalf. The tribe has applied for the site to become its initial reservation, which would allow gambling on the property.