Joe DeLaCruz (Joseph B. DeLaCruz, July 16, 1937 – April 16, 2000) was a Native American leader in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, U.S., president for 22 years of the

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe **Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including * Jean-Baptis ...

Tribe.Ross Anderson
Quinault Indian leader Joe DeLaCruz dies
''Seattle Times'', 2000-04-18. Accessed online 2009-06-04. He was reputed for his "thorough, in-depth knowledge of probably every Indian tribe in North America."Reyes 2006, p. 98. According to Suzan Harjo, "His programs became models for Native Americans everywhere."

Life

DeLaCruz grew up on the Quinault Reservation in Taholah Grays Harbor County, Washington, the eldest of 10 children. In high school he was student-body president and a four-sport athlete. He fished in the summers with his grandfather on the Quinault River, drove a school bus and worked at the local lumber mill. He served two years in the

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in Germany, then attended

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, after which he took a federal government job in that city. In 1967 he came back to the reservation as tribal business manager, and in 1971 was elected tribal president, a position he held for 22 years. DeLaCruz was significantly involved in the rising militancy among Native Americans in the early 1970s. He participated in the 1970 confrontations at

Fort Lawton Fort Lawton was a United States Army post located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington overlooking Puget Sound. In 1973 a large majority of the property, 534 acres of Fort Lawton, was given to the city of Seattle and dedicated as ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington that led to the founding of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and the

Daybreak Star Cultural Center The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 2 ...

. He was one of the organizers of the 1971 protest that blocked logging roads at the Chow Chow Bridge against companies that were logging on tribal lands and demanded the right for the Quinaults to manage their own natural resources. He advocated for Native salmon fishing rights and rights to control their coastal beaches. Under his leadership, the Quinaults hired their own juvenile counselors, police officers and foresters. He was one of the architects of the Centennial Accord, which delineates the principles of government to government relationship between the tribes and the State of Washington. He was elected president of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (1977) president of the

National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an American Indian and Alaska Native rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist federal government pressure for termination of tribal rights and assimilati ...

(1981), serving four years in the latter post. From 1984 until his death, DeLaCruz served as chair of public policy at the

Center for World Indigenous Studies The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) is an independent, Nonprofit 501(c)3 founded in 1979 by Rudolph C. Ryser, PhD (Oneida/Cree) and Chief George Manuel (Secwepemc). CWIS is a global community of Indigenous Studies activists and scholars ...

. After his 2000 death from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, he was memorialized by the establishment of the Joe DelaCruz Center for Advanced Studies in Tribal Government, a project of Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute (NIARI) at

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

.Joe DelaCruz Center
, The Evergreen State College. Accessed online 2009-06-04.

Notes

References

* Lawney L. Reyes, ''Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice'', University of Arizona, 2006. . .

External links

Biography
at

HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organization History Ink prod ...

Joe DelaCruz Center for Advanced Studies in Tribal Government
The Evergreen State College. Page includes a photo of DelaCruz. * Joe DeLaCruz
Keynote Address to the National Fisheries Conference, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs National Indian Brotherhood
1980-05-20. Fourth World Documentation Project. * Joe DeLaCruz
"Defending Our Inalienable Rights: We Cannot Fail Our Children"
Presidential Address to National Congress of American Indians, 1984-09-10. Fourth World Documentation Project. * Joe DeLaCruz
Indian Governments and Neighboring Governments: Sovereign Equality and Standards of Conduct Within the Context of Government-to-Government Relations
remarks before the Seminar on Government-to-Government Relations. American Indian Opportunity. Renton Sheraton Hotel. February 25, 1985. * Joe DeLaCruz

before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Field Hearings On Senate Bill 1691 - Tribal Sovereign Immunity, April 7, 1998, Seattle, Washington. Fourth World Documentation Project. {{DEFAULTSORT:Delacruz, Joe 1937 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Native Americans Native American activists Native American leaders People from Grays Harbor County, Washington Portland State University alumni Quinault people