SUQUAMISH — Suquamish Tribe voters reelected Leonard Forsman chairman and elected Nigel Lawrence secretary at their annual General Council meeting and election March 16 at Kiana Lodge.

Forsman has been chairman of the Suquamish Tribe since 2005. He is also a member of the state Board on Geographic Names and the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

He has a bachelor of arts in anthropology from the University of Washington and a master of arts in historic preservation from Goucher College. He was director of the Suquamish Museum from 1984 to 1990, and has served on the museum Board of Directors since 2010. He was a research archaeologist for Larson Anthropological/Archaeological Services in Seattle from 1992 to 2003.

Forsman was reelected over former Tribal Council member Linda Holt. Lawrence, former Tribal Council secretary, was returned to that post over four other candidates: Rebecca Purser, Lyle Emerson George, Angel Hill and incumbent Randy George.

The chairman and secretary serve three-year terms.

The Suquamish Tribal Council has seven members who serve staggered terms. The council governs the Port Madison Indian Reservation, 11.689 square miles on the western and northern shores of Port Madison. The unincorporated towns of Suquamish and Indianola are within the boundaries of the reservation. The council also oversees the protection and exercise of Suquamish’s rights within its historical territory, as retained in the Treaty of 1855.

Suquamish government departments include Community Development, Court, Education, Fisheries, Human Services, Natural Resources, and Police. Suquamish’s economic development arm, Port Madison Enterprises, owns and operates Clearwater Casino Resort, White Horse Golf Club, Kiana Lodge, Agate Pass Business Park, and several retail outlets. The Suquamish Museum and Cultural Center was once rated by the Smithsonian Institute as the best historical museum of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.