Joseph B. DeLaCruz; Former Head of National Congress of American Indians

Joseph Burton DeLaCruz, 62, former president of the National Congress of American Indians. He had also been head of the Quinault Indian Nation for more than two decades, helping the tribe reclaim and preserve its lands in the coastal rain forest of Washington. Sometimes opposed by various factions over tribal issues, DeLaCruz gained widespread attention in the West because of his battles with state and federal agencies over logging, fishing rights and tribal sovereignty issues. He had been recognized as a champion of self-governance for groups of indigenous people in Canada and South America as well as the United States. He was credited with greatly increasing his tribe’s control over police, health, land use, education and other services, and helped lead multi-tribal campaigns to gain greater control over natural resources, legal recognition of treaty rights and better health care. In one memorable protest against Bureau of Indian Affairs land use practices, DeLaCruz drove his truck onto a bridge to prevent loggers from entering the 211,000-acre Quinault reservation. He became Quinault president and executive director in 1972, and resigned after a federal audit critical of tribal operations in 1980. But he quickly rescinded the resignation and won a vote of confidence from the tribal council and continued in office until 1993. He served briefly on the state Fish and Wildlife Commission and was president of the National Congress of American Indians for two terms. He also headed the National Tribal Chairman’s Assn. and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. On Sunday near Seattle of a heart attack.