The Bureau of Indian Affairs is threatening to intervene in a leadership and membership dispute within the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington.

The terms of most of the members of the tribal council have expired and rival factions are fighting for control of the tribe. There are plans for an election but the BIA is ready to step in if that doesn't happen soon.

"If they can't do that, they are hardly really a tribe," Stan Speaks, the director of the BIA's Northwest Region, told The Seattle Times.

The tribe's constitution requires that anyone who runs for office must have one-eight Snoqualmie blood. According to the Times, not even the most recent chairman of the tribe qualifies for office under that standard.

The tribe is conducting an audit of its membership but the results haven't been finalized. The problem apparently stems from an enrollment list that was submitted during the BIA's federal recognition process.

"Even I am on it," Kenneth Tollefson, a non-Indian anthropologist who worked on the tribe's petition, told the Times.

The tribe gained federal recognition in 1999. Tollefson said the list was never checked for errors, which has contributed to the stalemate being seen toady.

"The recognition group evidently did not look very carefully at their membership and the criteria for membership," Speaks told the paper. "That has carried over to where they are today. That has really been their downfall. They can blame anyone they want, but internally, that was their responsibility. They just didn't take care of it."

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Stalemate puts Snoqualmie Tribe at risk of federal takeover (The Seattle Times 5/28)