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182bridge builderappeal process that would put business permits on ice, sixteen companiesformed the Northwest Water Resources Committee. Thecommittee filed an amicus brief in the state’s appeal of the opinion.Tribes viewed the friend-of-the-court brief as anything butfriendly to their treaty rights. “If the big guys want to negotiate withthe tribes, they shouldn’t be doing it with one eye on the courthouse,”Keefe told Billy. They decided to fight back with something thebusiness world clearly understood: money. Keefe and Billy pitchedthe idea of a national tribal boycott to Bob Rose, reporter for theSpokesman Review. Pleased with his article, they made a flier to circulateat a national conference of tribal leaders. That’s when theybumped into Art McDonald, director of communications for PugetPower, in an elevator at the Spokesman Review. The bespectacled,affable spokesperson looked surprised to see them.“Billy, what are you doing here?” McDonald asked.Keefe handed him the flier.“We’re calling for a national boycott of your company and theirfriends,” Billy told him, as the elevator doors closed.The National Congress of American Indians met at theSheraton-Spokane HoteI in May 1981, attracting some of the mostinfluential leaders of the day.It had been ten years since Joe DeLaCruz, longtime chairman ofthe coastal Quinault Indian Nation, famously demonstrated againstthe logging of tribal land by blocking access to the Chow Chow Bridge,a main route to tribal timberlands. He supported the boycott andcalled Billy to the podium.“I encouraged the nwifc and Billy to cometo ncai to make a presentation and a motion to boycott these corporations.Billy made the motion; I seconded. It passed unanimously,”DeLaCruz said.“We’re going to boycott!” Billy bellowed from the podium.The Colvilles had already agreed to pull fourteen million dollarsout of Seafirst Bank, and branded the company’s involvement a