This is in response to “Saints or Sinners? Characters of Pacific County: ‘Teeny-tiny’ woman made hospitality her mission” by Sydney Stevens in the June 12 Chinook Observer.

Such stories need to be put into context.

Adelaide Stuart on Nov. 12, 1861 was born a half-breed at Bruceport in Quenaptonilt, a village of the Willapah Tribe of the Chinook Nation.

Robert Burns Taylor, “Burnie,” her son, a salmon buyer for the Chinook and P.J. McGowan, was active in Chinook tribal affairs in Ilwaco. Robert Burns Taylor, Jr., “Brick,” her grandson, returned home to Ilwaco in retirement from the Coast Guard. He was elected to the Chinook Tribal Council under Adolph Sund, chief of the Chinook Tribe, later serving as tribal treasurer. When Brick Taylor retired from the office of treasurer, Elmer Wilson took over the duties and the title was changed to secretary/treasurer.

I, Robert Stuart Taylor, “Robin,” her great-grandson, returned to Ilwaco from Kauai and worked for the Chinook Indian Tribe, at first doing home repairs and later as the first tribal planner. I was at my desk in the Chinook School in 1979 when the U.S. Secretary of the Interior recruited a legal “saboteur,” who arrived on a mission to absolutely prevent our aboriginal counsel, Homer Settler, from advising the tribe. The U.S. would bring in their best from Harvard, Yale and Stanford, but legal warrior Homer would beat them every time.

Catherine Herrold Troeh brought Homer to the Chinook. Homer stood before the council and said, “I’m dying, but before I die, I need to come and help the Chinook. You have the strongest legal case of any Indigenous group west of the Allegheny Mountains, but you don’t know it or how to fight the United States. I’m here to help you write your own constitution under your own God-given authority.”

Within nine months, the saboteur used the Wahkiakum fishermen to convince Chinook Chairman Don Mechals to call a vote to let Homer go and accept the offer of pro bono advice from a D.C. lawyer. I knew this person was a saboteur and he knew that I knew. He had to get rid of me! I knew too much. He told his co-conspirator, a Portland-based historian, to research the Stuart family. One thing this researcher found was that the Stuart family was not on the Roblin roll or on the McChesney census, along with 14 other Chinook families. The saboteur went to Chairman Mechals and said, “Don, the Bureau of Indian Affairs would really be favorably impressed if the Chinook petition used U.S. records for your enrollment.” Don agreed and the council voted to make inclusion on at least one of three government lists the requirement for enrollment.

The big lie is that “the Stuart woman was not on either list, so maybe a Quinault?”

Sydney Stevens, you did not contact the Taylor family before saying Adelaide Stuart was Quinault. Of all 52 weeks in a year, you chose the week before the Chinook Annual Meeting to give the most devastating effect to your hurtful lie. You appear to be in coordination with the saboteur and the tribe’s current leadership.

Sydney, print a retraction! Do the due diligence of a purported historian.

ROBIN TAYLOR

Ilwaco