Richard Arlin Walker
Special to ICT
Former Washington state Sen. John McCoy, who authored legislation requiring the teaching of Native history in Washington’s public schools, died June 6 after battling illness. The Tulalip Tribes citizen and U.S. Air Force veteran was 79.
His survivors include his wife Jeannie and three daughters, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Memorial services are scheduled for 6 p.m. June 11 in the Tulalip Gathering Hall; and at 9 a.m. June 12 in the Tulalip Resort Casino Orca Ballroom.
McCoy served in the Air Force from 1961-81, worked as a computer technician in the White House during the Reagan administration, and managed Quil Ceda Village during the Tulalip Reservation community’s evolution from development to incorporation to regional destination and economic powerhouse.
He served in the state House of Representatives from 2003-13 and in the state Senate from 2013-20. He served as an adjunct professor in public administration at The Evergreen State College.
“John was a formidable advocate for tribal rights — for the Tulalip Tribes and for all tribes,” U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, wrote on social media. “He focused on expanding access to education through new technologies and by ensuring that Washington state education included knowledge of Native peoples. I will miss John. My heart goes out to Jeannie and their family.”
(Related: Tulalip lawmaker’s retirement caps long public service career)
Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, tweeted: “John was as gracious and thoughtful as a person can be. He was also a very effective legislator for his community and the entire state and a friend and mentor to me during the 10 years we served together. He will be missed.”
The state legislature’s two Indigenous members issued statements mourning McCoy’s passing but expressing gratitude for his life and his work.
State Sen. Claudia Kauffman, Nez Perce, is a Democrat and has represented part of King County since January; she previously served in the state Senate from 2007-11. She issued this statement over social media: “We mourn the loss of former Sen. John McCoy of Tulalip. He was one of the longest serving Native American legislators in our state’s history, a veteran and a champion for tribal sovereignty, environmental protections and public education. Our state owes him a great debt.”
State Rep. Deb Lekanoff, Tlingit, is a Democrat who’s represented Skagit County since 2019. She called McCoy “an inspiration to many,” and a mentor and friend. McCoy “helped to guide me on my own journey into public service,” she said. “His presence and leadership will be dearly missed.”
Lekanoff added, “As we grieve this loss as a community, we remember the gift of his work and the responsibility for us to continue his legacy for the future of all Washingtonians. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the McCoy family during this time.”
There were never more than five legislators of Native American heritage at one time during McCoy’s service. The Washington state Legislature has 98 representatives and 49 senators. There are 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington.
Seattle City Council member Debora Juarez, Blackfeet, was settling in at home after a vacation when she learned of McCoy’s passing.
“I am just really sad and I’m honored he was my friend, mentor, and relative,” said Juarez, a former executive director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs.
“We knew each other for 30 years. We worked on so many tribal, state and federal issues together. We may have had our differences but he was always honest, straightforward and respectful — and funny as hell.”
She added, “I had a chance to hug him and visit with him on April 23 during the Boarding School Healing Tour at Tulalip. I feel his absence but I know his spirit will always be here.”
In a 2013 interview with ICT, McCoy – whose district includes the Tulalip Reservation and Everett, the state’s seventh-largest city — talked about what it took to get a bill passed that established a process for the state to return jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters on tribal lands to federal and tribal governments – a process called retrocession.
(Related: John McCoy will help lead Wash. Senate Democrats)
After he introduced it, “there were all kinds of crazy things happening to that bill,” he recalled. “I talked to the speaker, the majority leader, the governor [and] the governor appointed a task force, which I chaired. We went through the education process of what retrocession really is. We only needed three sessions [and] when we reintroduced the legislation, it sailed right on through.
“Again, it was about education, getting everyone to understand what retrocession really is – it’s Indians having jurisdiction over Indians within the boundaries of the reservation. Don’t read anything into it, that’s all it means.”
Other legislation required more of an uphill push.
Early in his service in the House, he authored legislation to encourage public schools to include the history, culture and government of local tribes in their Washington state history and government studies. A new state Office of Native Education developed a curriculum and training which were made available for free to school districts.
The thought: Tribal history is Washington history. And in Washington state, there are several types of government: local, state, and tribal. It only makes sense that students learn about the 29 Native Nations that, according to the coalition Washington Tribes, annually invest nearly $7 billion in gross state product, $1.5 billion in wages and benefits, $1.2 billion in local and state taxes, and employ one in 86 Washingtonians. In addition, according to Washington Tribes, those 29 Native Nations annually invest millions in public safety and nonprofits in their neighboring communities.
McCoy initially proposed that the teaching of tribal history, culture and government be required, but he couldn’t get the support he needed for it so he compromised and proposed the teaching be “encouraged.” The bill passed and became law, but in 10 years few school districts opted to participate. In 2015, McCoy again introduced a bill requiring the teaching of tribal history, culture and government; this time, the bill garnered bipartisan sponsorship, was approved and became law.
(Related: History to be made as Native legislators take on leadership roles across country)
Republican Dino Rossi, Tlingit – who represented King County in the state Senate from 1997-2003 and was appointed to complete vacated terms in 2012 and 2016-17 – said McCoy was a patient and practical legislator.
“What it shows is you don’t just do legislation in a year,” Rossi said of McCoy’s efforts to see the teaching of the state’s Indigenous history, culture and government become the norm.
“What it shows is he was being practical about this. He figured he didn’t have all the votes, and so let’s encourage it, and when he saw a greater opportunity to try to educate senators, he brought it forward again. It didn’t happen all at once, and that’s a problem in Olympia — a lot of people think they go down there and it’s a Hail Mary pass every time and you’re going to get everything you want first day. Couldn’t be further from the truth. And he understood that.”
Rossi added, “Any good legislator has patience. You have to figure out what’s doable now and what’s practical to set up for the near future and far future. That’s the mark of a good legislator.”
Working to protect sovereignty
McCoy’s ability to stay the course on one particular issue was tested over the entirety of his legislative career.
Quil Ceda Village is an incorporated community – the only federally chartered municipality in the U.S. besides Washington, D.C. Although on federally protected trust land owned by the Tulalip Tribes and located on the Tulalip Reservation, the state imposed sales taxes on business transacted there. McCoy and the Tulalip government said state taxation on Indian land was illegal, as well as a violation of Tulalip’s sovereignty.
McCoy tried for compromise and proposed that the state return a share of sales tax revenue to Quil Ceda Village – as it does with revenue generated in other municipalities – to support public services used by consumers there, Native and non-Native. The state declined, saying it didn’t recognize Quil Ceda as an incorporated municipality. What Quil Ceda should have received as its share of the tax revenue it generated continued going to Snohomish County.
The Tulalip Tribes sued in federal court, but in 2018 U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein ruled in favor of the state – a decision that reportedly surprised Snohomish County officials. Two years later, the lawsuit was formally settled when the State of Washington entered into a tax-sharing agreement with the Tulalip Tribes – an agreement that McCoy had sought all along.
During his legislative career, McCoy chaired or served on committees that proposed legislation on community development, education, environment, housing and tribal affairs; and he chaired the executive committee of the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators.
Rossi, the former senator, said of McCoy: “He fought hard for and cared a lot about economic development, because that brought opportunity for people. That was a big piece of his public service, and being a public servant was very important to him.”
Among other state-changing legislation McCoy authored or co-sponsored:
- Allowing for the licensing of dental health therapists – the dental equivalent of nurse practitioners – to provide dental care on reservations, improving access to care. The success of this program paved the way for the licensing of dental health therapists statewide.
- Requiring wireless service providers to provide call-location information for cell phones in emergencies, improving public safety response.
- Improving access to mental health services for students struggling with behavioral and emotional issues.
- Establishing protections against workplace and wage discrimination for immigrant workers.
- Improving voter access and voter registration on reservations.
- Protecting key elements of a voter-approved clean energy initiative.
- Establishing the fourth Friday in November as Native American Heritage Day, a legal holiday.
McCoy’s election ‘was a sea change’
Jeff Morris, Tsimshian, who as a Democrat represented Skagit County in the state House of Representatives from 1997-2020, said McCoy built bridges of understanding between Indigenous and non-Native communities, as well as in the legislature.
“John came from a predominately white district and it’s an iconic election to have someone so identified as being a tribal leader elected to a spot like that,” Morris said. “It really was a sea change.
“In my own experience, growing up in the Skagit Valley during the days of the Boldt decision” – the federal court decision upholding tribal treaty fishing rights — “it was a time of hate and anger and divisiveness, and I think John’s election was really a sea change in the perception of tribes in the communities they live in. Tribes were now being seen as community members.”
Morris added, “The perspective he brought to caucus discussions about tribal sovereignty — he could share what the tribal perspective was on casino compacts and other issues and it changed the way the legislature and the state dealt with tribal councils on truly a government-to-government basis. Without him in the legislature, the relationship wouldn’t be what it is today.”
In a 2013 interview, when he was one of three Native Americans in the state legislature, McCoy told ICT he felt the time was right for more Indigenous people to run for the state House and Senate.
“We need more bright young leaders,” he told ICT. “Because of the lack of resources, they in essence have had to stay home and take care of the community at home. But now that a majority of the tribes have resources, that they’re taking care of their own, now they need to understand that if they’re to be more successful, they’re going to have to start working with surrounding communities to accomplish things that they need to.
“In essence, we can’t live in a vacuum anymore, the vacuum of the reservation. You have to expand because you might say you’re outgrowing the reservation. If you’re going to outgrow it, then you have to work with surrounding communities. Standing around and thumping your chest over sovereignty – no, it’s the art of negotiation now: What is it that we can do to co-exist that is a win-win situation for everybody in the community. Tulalip’s done a pretty good job of that, but like everything else, it needs constant nurturing.”
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