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the tough guy 227Ironically, the breakthrough agreement was the first secured withNatives in the Indian Treaty Room in the White House ExecutiveOffice Building. According to Babbitt’s staff, a peace treaty with theBalkan states was secured in 1947, but “no treaty with Indians everwas.”“Signing the equivalent of a treaty here today gives new meaningto the name,” Babbitt said. “It is my hope, from this day on, that wewill banish forever the traditional treaty process that has been onesided,overbearing and not infrequently unfair.”Billy stood in a light-colored jacket, accented with a bolo tie, andsigned the historic agreement for the tribes.Meanwhile, the state of Washington requested an exemption fromthe Endangered Species Act known as a Habitat Conservation Plan.The hcp was historic and pertained to more than one million acresof Washington timber land. Under the hcp, some logging was allowed.The tribes had requested changes and though some were made,others were not. “If that level of timber harvesting was too high andis hard on the runs, there’s not much you can do about it,”says Wilkinson. Babbitt pushed for Billy to attend the accompanyingpress conference. When the day arrived, the elder was absent.“Where’s Billy?” Babbitt asked. “Billy is not coming. He’s not supportingthis,” the secretary was told. Babbitt was not happy.Three years later, fresh from a U.S. Supreme Court victory thatvalidated the rights of treaty tribes to clams, oysters, and othershellfish, tough Billy emerged yet again. The elder came out swingingfor Senator Slade Gorton. With casinos humming, Natives from thePacific Ocean to the Atlantic amassed a war chest to unseat theirlongtime foe.Their tool was the First American Education Project (faep),founded by Billy, Quinault chair Joe De La Cruz, and Ron Allen, thenchairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. “The fight is fair andsquare. The consignia is clear: ‘Dump Slade 2000,’” blasted IndianCountry Today. With Native issues pending in court, the tribes were