When 140 acres of their ancestral land on Oyster Bay was declared surplus by the federal government, the Suquamish Tribe sought to have it returned to the tribe. They wanted to use to site for an Indian canoe house and racing area, an Indian historical and cultural center, an center for marine science and ecology, and a meeting facility that would be open to the public. The City of Bremerton, however, wanted the land to use for a park. Here, Suquamish Tribe chairman Richard Belmont speaks at a press conference to discuss the Tribe's plans for use of the land. He would also lead a symbolic occupation of the site the following day to dramatize the claim that their need for the land should supercede a claim by the City of Bremerton. The Suquamish tribal land base had been reduced to 35 acres within the Port Madison reservation at the time.

Richard Belmont (1939-2021) was born in Neah Bay and spent much of the 1970s serving as the Suquamish Tribal Council chairman, when the Tribe faced many challenges to its sovereign rights, and is credited for laying the groundwork for the current success of the Tribe. Under his leadership, the tribe built the Suquamish Museum, the House of Awakened Culture (Suquamish Community House), and the Tribe's first fish hatchery. Belmont served a tour of duty with the Coast Guard before working for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a radiographer for 26 years. After his retirement, he devoted his life to service to the Tribe and his family.

Caption information source: "Indians plan occupation of Oyster Bay site" by Hilda Bryant, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Saturday, October 7, 1972, p. A14
Caption information source: "Former Suquamish Tribal Chairman laid to rest," Kitsap Daily News, July 29, 2021, retrieved at https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/news/former-suquamish-tribal-chairman-laid-to-rest/
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.