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History and creation

In 1993 the Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes and Bands of the Quinaielt Reservation was created under the leadership of Helen Sanders with a Constitution for an unincorporated membership association of Federal Indian trust allottee landowners in accordance with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 without a requirement to create By-Laws. Numerous drafts of ByLaws have been presented to the Board of Directors since 1993, but no By-Laws proposal has been approved by the Board of Directors for presentation and approval by a majority of the trust landowners at an annual general meeting to provide policies, procedures, implementing instructions, and other guidance to comply with the Constitution. This status of no By-Laws remains current as of the Annual Membership meeting on August 21, 2021 held jointly with the non-membership Allottees Association & Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation (aka, AA &AT® Nonprofit Corporation) at the Cowlitz Tribe Community Center, 1000 Davis Place, DuPont, WA. The Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes and Bands of the Quinaielt Reservation is authorized to conduct sales and other income on Indian trust or restricted land, but is not registered to conduct such activities in any state, district, commonwealth or territory of the United States.

This unincorporated trust landowner membership association used the historically named Quinaielt Reservation in its organization name. This landowners-only organization was primarily created to obtain legal status to participate with an amicus brief in a Federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of a provision in the Indian Land Consolidation Act of 1983 for a forced escheat of Federal Indian trust or restricted land interests of 2% or less of acreage upon death of an allottee to the governing tribe of a reservation without compensation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 2% or less escheat provision violated the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The 2000 Amendments of the Indian Land Consolidation Act provided new provisions to prevent additional fractionalization of trust allotments to 5% or less with rules to determine a trust heir and give authority to the Secretary of the Interior to acquire fractional interests in trust or restricted lands, with owner consent and at a fair market price. The Secretary of the Interior may give priority to the acquisition of fractional interests representing 2% or less of a parcel of trust or restricted land. The Secretary of the Interior also initiated probate of the unconstitutional escheats of trust or restricted land to tribes to the rightful heirs. With the success of the 2000 Amendments to the Indian Land Consolidation Act, the Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes and Bands of the Quinaielt Reservation did not dissolve, but decided to continue as an advocate for trust landowners. However, the money from verbal agreements by individuals to pay off the debt incurred with the amicus brief stopped with a remaining balance due of over $100,000.00.

 

In order to obtain a new source of funds to pay off the amicus brief debt, the membership Board of Directors in 1996 asked volunteers to explore the creation of an independent non-membership nonprofit corporation by the Washington Secretary of State with the name Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation, and a request to IRS for a determination as an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) charity.

James D. Blaylock and Lori M. Hoskins became the creators of the Washington non-membership nonprofit corporation on December 26, 1996. On September 20, 1997 the nonprofit corporation Board of Directors approved the nonprofit corporation By-Laws and then filed them with the Washington Secretary of State, Charities Division in accordance with the Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act, RCW Title 24. On July 23, 1998 IRS determined that the Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation is an Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3) with the authority to issue Federal income tax deduction receipts for qualified charitable contributions received. On August 18, 1998 the United States Postal Service issued Authorization No. 0673005-LBM and Permit 642 for the Allottees Association & Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation to use nonprofit standard mail (aka, bulk mail) rate mailing privileges at Olympia, WA 98501. As requested by the membership association Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes and Bands of the Quinaielt Reservation, the non-membership nonprofit corporation Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation assumed the amicus brief debt and paid it in full from charitable contributions. The non-membership nonprofit corporation Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault continues to provide eligible financial and administrative support to the membership association Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes and Bands of the Quinaielt Reservation in response to their qualified requests. Note: Helen Sanders is the same individual known as Helen Mitchell, who as a leader of the Quinault Allottee Association during the 1960’s, convinced 1,465 allottees, including herself, to file the lawsuit “Helen Mitchell, et al vs. United States”, in 1971 with the U.S. Court of Claims, for mismanagement and excessive management fees by the United States of allottee timber resources on the Quinault Reservation. When the 1971 lawsuit was won and the financial awards to the Indian trust landowners were distributed, the Quinault Allottee Association was dissolved in 1983.

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