Helen Mitchell Sanders, a lifetime resident of the Chehalis Reservation and lead plaintiff in Mitchell v. United States case. Ms. Sanders served two terms as secretary of the National Congress of the American Indian and has long been an advocate of Indian interests.

Mitchell v. United States, in 1971 individuals owning interests in allotted lands on the Quinault Indian Reservation, an unincorporated association of such allottees, and the Quinault Tribe -- filed actions in the Court of Claims seeking to recover damages from the United States for alleged mismanagement of timberlands in the reservation, asserting that such mismanagement constituted a breach of the fiduciary duty owed respondents by the United States as trustee under various federal statutes and regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately held the United States subject to suit for money damages on most of respondents' claims, ruling that the federal timber management statutes, various other federal statutes governing roadbuilding, rights-of-way, Indian funds, and Government fees, and the regulations promulgated under these statutes imposed fiduciary duties upon the United States in its management of forested allotted lands. See collection Mitchell v. U.S. court records, 1960-1990, OLPb024MIT at Lewis & Clark College for the records of the legal case.