SEATTLE -- view Hansen, who spent t...

SEATTLE -- view Hansen, who spent three decades trying to convince the U guidance that the Samish Indian Nation wasn't extinct and deserv treaty fishing rights, has died, tribal officials said.

Mr Hansen, 53 who was a diabetic and had heart puzzles and other chronic illnesses, died Wednesday morning.

He was tribal chairman several times and retired from leadership last October because of his failing health, said Thomas Wooten who be subsequent toed Mr. Hansen as chairman.

"The tribe is noted for its tenacity and doggedness forward issues. That's his legacy," Wooten said Thursday.

Mr Hansen gained attention in the 1980 when he petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service for listing subordinate to the Endangered Species Act, noting that his San Juan Islands-area tribe and several others had been dropp from a tribe list prepared on a Bureau of Indian Affairs registrar in 1969.

The Samish, which were federally recognized below the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott, were also exclud in a federal judge's 1974 ruling upon allocation of fishing rights.

Thirty years later, in January 2005 a federal appeals court panel helped clear the way for the Samish tribe to acquire a share of the state salmon catch.

"My merely regret is that he won't be there to behold us prevail on the treaty rights case" and forward the tribe's appeal for compensation for the years when it was delisted, Wooten said.

Mr Hansen also was known for his leadership among the small tribes of Washington state and worked for other tribes as a consultant and policy analyst, Wooten said.

He grew up in the Seattle area, became active in tribal politics at age 18 and mov about 20 years ago to Anacortes, where he lived until his death.

Survivors include his wife Deborah, brother Roger Hansen, mother Mary McDowell Hansen and brace stepdaughters.

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