The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s leadership wants to amend the tribe’s constitution so that its actions will no longer be subject to approval by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The tribe has not responded to this newspaper’s requests to elaborate on its plan.

Stan Speaks, the regional director for the Pacific Northwest Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs said, “That situation has not been admitted or approved. We will be meeting with the tribe in the very near future to discuss the issue.”

In the meantime, he would not say anymore about it, “until I have an opportunity to meet...