PHASE I: The legal restoration of
Federal recognition of the Klamath Tribes as an American
Indian domestic dependent sovereign nation was accomplished with
an Act of Congress, P.L. 99-398, on August 27, 1986.
RESTORATION ACT AND ESSP REQUIREMENT
P.L. 99-398
SUBCHAPTER XIV-A-KLAMATH TRIBE: RESTORATION
OF FEDERAL SUPERVISION
§ 566.
Restoration of Federal recognition, rights and privileges.
(a)Federal
recognition
Notwithstanding any provision
of law, Federal recognition is hereby extended to the tribe and to members
of the tribe. Except as otherwise proved in this subchapter, all laws
and regulations of the United States of general application to Indians or
nations, tribes, or bands of Indians which are not inconsistent with any
specific provision of this subchapter shall be applicable to the tribe and
its members.
(b)Restoration
of rights and privileges
All rights and privileges
of the tribe and the members of the tribe under any Federal treaty, Executive
order, agreement, or statute, or any other Federal authority, which may
be been diminished, or lost under subchapter XIII of this chapter, are restored,
and the provisions of such subchapter, to the extent that they are inconsistent
with this subchapter, shall be inapplicable to the tribe and to members
of the tribe after August 27, 1986.
PHASE II: The
completion of restoration for the Klamath Tribes will be accomplished
with the
acceptance and implementation of the Klamath Tribes’ Economic Self
Sufficiency Plan,
to include, but not limited
to, the re-establishment of Tribal Trust
Lands for the benefit
of the Klamath Tribes by the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S.
Congress as provided
for by the Restoration Act.
RESTORATION ACT AND
ESSP REQUIREMENT
P.L. 99-398
§ 566d.
Transfer of lands to be held in trust.
The Secretary shall accept
real property for the benefit of the tribe if conveyed or otherwise transferred
to
the Secretary.
Such property shall be subject to all valid existing rights including liens,
outstanding taxes
(local and State), and
mortgages. Subject to the conditions imposed by this section, the
land transferred
shall be taken in the
name of the United States in trust for the tribe and shall be part of their
reservation.
. . .
§ 566f.
Economic development.
(a)Plan
for economic self-sufficiency
The Secretary shall—
(1)
(A)
enter into negotiations with
the Executive Committee of the General Council with respect to establishing
a plan for economic development for the tribe; and
(B)
in accordance with this section
and not later than two years after August 27, 1986, develop such a plan.
(2) Upon the approval
of such plan by the General Council (and after consultation with the State
and local officials pursuant to subsection (b) of this section), the Secretary
shall submit such plan to the Congress.
A PLAN . . . A VISION
This Economic Self-Sufficiency
Plan is the end product of an extraordinary amount of work by the Klamath
Tribes. This has been a monumental task of gathering, evaluating,
organizing, and reviewing data. The drafts and redrafts have culminated
in this final plan that is believed to be one of the first of its type.
We have been able to utilize the past and our current needs to develop plans
for our future.
The plan is both conservative
and creative. It allows for growth that allows us to build our economic
development capability over a thirty-year period. It virtually guarantees
economic success because it plans for phasing in enterprise, provides for
an adequate cash flow, and requires periodic assessment and adjustment.
At the end of that thirty-year period, Klamath people will be restored to
the position that existed before Termination: economic parity with the non-Indian
population. While economic self-sufficiency is the focus of the plan
we must also emphasize the preservation, protection and enhancement of our
spiritual serenity, cultural integrity and social values.
To many people, thirty years seems like a long time.
But many of us have already been working toward a vision for our people
for twenty years and more. To us, thirty years appears short, as far as
accomplishing the goals we have set for ourselves. This is especially
true when we feel that any decision made within the Tribes affects seven
generations.
The spiritual and cultural
identity of the Klamath Tribes is the foundation of the economic self-sufficiency
plan. The vision is a plan which also incorporates the freedom to
exercise subsistence and treaty rights with the ability to provide the Tribal
members assistance with employment, housing, education, and health.
CONCLUSION
The history of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band
of Snake Indians is long, beginning with their creation on the land thousands
of years ago and continuing through both tragedy and triumph. Through all
of it, the times of prosperity and the times of pain and suffering, the
people maintained their spirituality, their individuality, and their unity.
We are survivors, dignity and tribal devotion intact, and are now poised
to take serious action in restoring the economic self-sufficiency we once
possessed. We have resisted becoming a sad chapter in a history book.
The physical and cultural health of the Tribes has always
been attached to the land they hold sacred. A bountiful and beautiful land,
it remains so in spite of the numerous injuries it has sustained since Termination
through the over-harvesting of its forests, the misuse of the watershed,
and the damage to its wildlife populations. The land, like the people, has
survived, but with proper management and the cessation of destructive practices,
it too can become healthy again.
There can no longer be any doubt that Termination for
the Klamath Tribes was a monumental mistake. It resulted in a disastrous
social and economic decline of the people. The social statistics that define
the Tribes even today, after restoration of health and social services,
are appalling and unacceptable in a land that proclaims freedom and dignity
for all its peoples. Research illustrates that 57.9 percent of Tribal members
live below the poverty level, 46.4 percent are unemployed and all carry
a life expectancy of 39 years. Consider the fact that these same people
were within 8 or 9 percentage points of parity with the average U.S. family
income only 38 years ago.
The difference between then and now is very simple.
In 1953, the Klamath Tribes were the stewards of reservation lands. True,
the land they retained was but a small portion of their original 20 million
acres, but it provided the Tribes a base for economic stability. When the
land was taken away, economic self-sufficiency disappeared.
Fulfillment of our goals will have far reaching effects.
New industry and enterprise will provide jobs not only for Tribal members
but other community members. Capital invested in the community benefits
everyone. In addition, tribal stewardship of the land will insure
the conservation of valuable resources, another major benefit for the region,
the nation, and the world.
The Tribes have expended time, energy, and money in
the development of this economic
self sufficiency plan and are prepared to expend much
more in carrying it out. But first we must regain all federally owned
former reservation lands. The land is the key not only for the Tribes
economic survival, but also for the mental, physical, and spiritual health
for all members of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians.
Without the return of the land we are saying that the mistake of Termination
was acceptable.
THE KLAMATH TRIBES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ECONOMIC SELF SUFFICIENCY PLAN
August 27, 1986, was a day of rejoicing for the people
of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians, collectively
known as the Klamath Tribes. This date marks the signing of Public
Law 99-398, a bill that restored their rights as a federally recognized
Indian tribe. After 32 painful years of psychological trauma and economic
decline due to Termination, the people welcomed Restoration as the beginning
of a long healing process. With the passage and implementation of
PL 99-398, the first phase of Restoration, federal recognition had been
accomplished. It now remained to complete, under Phase II of the restoration
process, economic self-sufficiency, as provided for under the statute:
PHASE II:
The completion of restoration for the Klamath Tribes will be accomplished
with the acceptance and implementation of the Klamath Tribes’ Economic
Self Sufficiency Plan for the re-establishment of Tribal Trust Lands
for the benefit of the Klamath Tribes by the Secretary of the Interior and
the U.S. Congress as mandated by the Restoration Act.
§ 566f.
Economic development.
(b)Plan
for economic self-sufficiency
The Secretary shall—
(1)
(C)
enter into negotiations with
the Executive Committee of the General Council with respect to establishing
a plan for economic development for the tribe; and
(D)
in accordance with this section
and not later than two years after August 27, 1986, develop such a plan.
(2) Upon the approval
of such plan by the General Council (and after consultation with the State
and local officials pursuant to subsection (b) of this section), the Secretary
shall submit such plan to the Congress.
The
Beginning
The Peoples’ political, economic and spiritual need
for the development of this plan is deeply rooted in Tribal spiritual, cultural
and historical ties to this land. It has been an integral part of the history,
economy, and religion dating back to the creation of Klamath people:
The
Creator in the ancient legends is Kumkamtch or the Old Man of the Ancients.
After creating this
land - the lakes, islands, prairies, and mountains - he gave a name to
each particular geographical feature. On Upper Klamath Lake are fishing
places called Kumbat, Tukwa, Tulish, and Kohashti. Ktai-Tupaksi and Yulalona
(Klamath Falls) are fishtraps, special gifts from Kumkamtch to the people.
A crescent-shaped rock of Lower Klamath Lake is called Shapashzeni because
sun and moon once lived there. A hill on Sprague River (God's Butte) is
known as Kumkamtch's lodge or Kmutcham Latsashkashi. Another place
Kumkamtch was known to live is Yamsi (Yamsey) Mountain (Northwind's residence),
a high mountain east of Klamath Marsh. Kumkamtch himself was changed into
the rock Ktaiti, which stands in the Williamson River. All of these places
and others are sacred to us.
The people placed on the land, our people, Kumkamtch
created from the purplish berry of the service tree or shad-bush. He then
provided them with a wealth of game, fish, and vegetation to meet their
needs.
The Klamath Tribes revere this land, which still bears
the physical markings noted in the ancient legends. This mountain and that
lake, that rock or fishing place are part of Klamath spiritual history.
Klamath country to the Tribes is a "holy land," not unlike the
Holy Land of the Middle East where the roots of Christianity
lie, an area many have given their lives to maintain.
Tribal member Marvin Garcia explains:
The Creator is the Creator and Possessor of All.
He has placed life into the Earth.
It is the Earth that conceives and gives birth
to all life from the Creator.
She is the Mother of all Life.
Our connection to Her is spiritual and holy.
She holds us intact by a spiritual umbilical cord
and our reverence for Her is holy.
Our Mother Earth is precious to us.
We are one with Her.
To harm Her is to heap contempt on the Creator.
To love and care for Her is holy reverence to
Him.
Historical Background
For any society to survive it needs to provide for its
social, economic and political needs. Further, individuals have the
basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. Yet, before any of the
needs can be met a foundation from which to start is required and that foundation
is Land. The Klamath Indian Tribes has to base their entire existence
on their relationship with the Land, whether we are speaking of the ancestral
or present time periods. The following is the history of the cultural
and historical importance of the Land base that has been inhabited by the
Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indian People from time immemorial.
(Hereafter the three tribes will be referred to as the Klamath Tribes in
the collective sense.) The Aboriginal, Reservation, Termination and
Restoration periods will be briefly described in social, economic and political
components regarding the land.
ABORIGINAL PERIOD
Social Component
When the Creation was completed the People followed
the teachings and they found the gifts of the Creator. From the formations
on the land and the explanations of why they were developed came the basis
of instruction that taught where the People came from and how to live with
the Land.
It was in the villages where significant events such
as birth, marriage, and death took place. The villages served as home
at areas such as the Klamath Marsh, Klamath Lake, Tule Lake, Goose Lake,
on the Sprague, Williamson, and Sycan Rivers. It was here that spirituality
and social values were taught to the youth as they grew into adulthood.
Values such as sharing and caring for family and community members that
were in need or want.
The religion was based on what was provided by the Creator.
Before they ate they prayed and gave thanks for their bounty and shared
bits of food in all directions sharing back with the Land for what it provided.
They purified and cleansed themselves in sweat lodges built of earth and
wood.
The Shamans used the streams and mountains, such as
Yamsey, Crater Lake, Saddle Mountain, etc., as places to gain their powers
and in most cases animal spirits were the vehicle of their powers.
The Shamans used these powers and the natural resources to cure the ill.
The People considered all of the Earth as a sacred place,
but they also had special sites to assist their needs. Examples of
these are Medicine Rock and Grandma Rock. The Creator even marked
the creation grounds, so the People were returned to the Land in the proper
places after death.
Economic Components
During this era, all of the food, clothing, and shelter
came from the Land. This enabled the People to develop a self-sufficient
economy based on fishing, hunting, trapping, and gathering. Food was
available in the forms of game, fish, fowl, and roots and berries.
The staple foods were wocus (seeds of the water lily), fish and game.
To harvest food, tools were created from rocks, woods, and bone. Foods
were stored and cooked in baskets made from tule and cattail plants.
Housing, clothing, some tools, and toys were also made from these plants.
Animal skins were also used.
Because of the abundance of the Land, the People never
found it necessary to move to find food.
Political Component
The Creator created the Land for the People. The
surrounding tribes respected their homeland and area of influence as Klamath
territory. This established political boundaries that were observed
by all of the tribes. Their homeland comprised approximately 20 million
acres of land.
The Klamath had a system of villages within this area.
Within each of these villages, leaders were selected on their abilities
to lead and their abilities to assist in meeting village needs. The
Klamath were known to raid some of the southern tribes and trade as
far away as The Dalles, Oregon. They also traded to the south with
the Lower Klamath River tribes. This trade established some political
friends as well as enemies. The importance of the social and economic
uses of the Land is that it was recognized as Klamath, which plays a paramount
role in the future eras of tribal history.
RESERVATION PERIOD
Social Component
With the coming of the European, the Tribes began to
experience a different concept of Land. The newcomers saw it as something
owned by individuals and for it to produce cash crops and cattle.
The Klamath experience the situation of being bound to the Land by birth
and because it provided subsistence. Now, they were bound to a reservation
area by the newcomer’s law. This changed the structure of their lives.
No longer could they openly and freely go to the mountain and streams on
power quests, no longer could they openly and freely practice their religion,
even speaking their language was forbidden. Yet, because of the strong
cultural foundation they had, they adjusted to the changes, while maintaining
the spiritual values, beliefs, and cultural practices of their ancestors.
The Land still provided the villages, now towns, in
which birth, marriage, and death took place. The aboriginal social
structure of assisting each other and sharing never changed. Now they
were helping each other harvest crops and branding cattle. The Klamath
Agency and sub-Agency at Yaniax became the social centers for the People,
although the purpose was for administration, the People gathered to visit,
meet in council, and do other necessary business.
In other cases the churches became social centers.
The Williamson River and Beatty Methodist Churches are good examples.
The Tribal People used them for religious and community purposes such as
bazaars and tribal meetings. Others continued to use the Land for
spiritual and religious reasons and a place to camp during the summers.
Some of the camping places included Jackson Creek, Blue Jay Springs, Teddy
Powers Meadows and Rocky Ford.
Economic Components
Once the Reservation became a reality, a new economic
system was developed. It was basically a combination of traditional
and domestic market economies. The Tribal People still relied on the
gathering of game, fish, fowl, and roots and berries. This was supplemented
with new foods such as beef, pork, sugar, flour and coffee. Some of
this was the direct result of farming and ranching. It only took into
the late 1800’s for some Tribal People to become very adept in raising stock.
The Tribal People also adapted to the houses of the
European style. They became lumbermen and logged the land for timber
to build homes, schools, and other building for the Tribe and Tribal members.
The timber became a great source of revenue for the Tribe. By harvesting
it on a sustained yield basis the Tribes were able to provide money to pay
for the administration of the Reservation, to provide services for tribal
members and to insure that there would always be a forest for multiple use.
Multiple use included the traditions of hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering
and the preservation of the ecosystem that such uses depended on.
In fact the Tribes began to use a sustain-yield basis in 1908 and continued
to harvest timber on that basis until Termination. Such management
produced a very healthy and complex forest.
During the Reservation era the Tribe was able to provide
jobs, per-capita payments from resources, medical services, land for homes,
revolving loans for tribal members for ranching and other businesses, plus
the ability to augment individual family households through hunting, fishing,
trapping and gathering. The ability of the Tribe to combine the traditional
economic system with the domestic market system allowed the Tribe to become
one of the richest tribes in the nation. This self-sufficiency would
later become a liability to the Klamath People.
The economic benefits of the Tribe were helpful to the
local and state economy. An example is that the Klamath were not allowed
to harvest their timber, but non-Indian companies could harvest timber.
This provided jobs for Tribal People as well as non-Indians and allowed
lumber mills to operate in Bly, Gilchrist, Algoma, Sprague River, Chiloquin
and Klamath Falls. Of course non-Indian firms also did the logging
operations. Combined income derived by non-Indians and the fact that
the majority of Tribal members did their shopping in local towns a circular
flow of economic activity operated at a good rate. This is illustrated
in a report on the economical effect of Termination written by Dr. David
Bunting, Economist at Eastern Washington University, in March of 1983, he
states:
“At this point it is interesting to note that the Klamath were never, since
1918, a ‘burden’ on taxpayers. From tribal assets they paid for their
own welfare schemes, timber and forest management programs, loan funds,
and so on. Further, funds advanced them were repaid. At most,
the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) spent $200,000 yearly, although much
of this, was expended on activities not utilized by the Klamath…”
Political Component
Once the European came, he recognized the Land as belonging
to the Klamath. This recognition of Klamath Territory was paramount
to this period. One of the first political actions was the development
of the Treaty of 1864 with the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of Snake
Indians and the United States of America. The Treaty reserved approximately
2.5 million acres of land as the Klamath Reservation and the Tribes ceded
approximately 20 million acres of land to the United States. The Treaty
of 1864 insured that the Klamath Tribes were a sovereign, political entity
and the relationship with the United States would be on a nation-to-nation
basis. The Tribes developed a formal governing structure. Leaders
from the various areas were elected to the Tribal Executive Committee to
represent their people. These representatives not only dealt with
the day-to-day business of the tribes, they also dealt with the local, state,
and federal governments. During this time period various surveys were
conducted in which the Tribes lost lands. The Land that held the Tribe
together as a social, economic and political unit became a political liability
when the federal government decided to terminate the federal supervision
of all the tribes in the United States. The loss of land through surveys
and other legislation became a pattern. Consider the following, the
aboriginal land base was approximately 20 million acres, the Treaty of 1864
reserved 2.5 million acres, which was reduced to 880,000 acres after erroneous
surveys, cessions acts and the Dawes Allotment Act to no land after 1954.
The federal government, in its haste to implement the
policy of Termination failed to see what the Land provided for the Tribal
People and that the Land was the factor that allowed the people to be self-sufficient.
The resources from the land provided subsistence (hunting, fishing, trapping,
and gathering), employment, medical services, educational programs, etc.
Without a clear understanding of tribal structure and the traditional economic
system the federal government felt that the Klamath Land could be sold and
the Tribal people could be mainstreamed into dominant society. Of
course, the federal government never asked what the Tribes wanted, which
was to keep the Reservation and to allow the Tribes to continue functioning.
The local community felt that Termination was beneficial, especially if
someone else controlled the huge land base and the forest resources.
The Klamath People had no choice, they were placed into the mainstream but
never accepted as the local economy went through a boom and bust cycle.
With the loss of the land, the government took away the very
thing that made us a self-sufficient people.
TERMINATION PERIOD
Social Component
Once the stewardship of the Land was taken from the
Tribes they lost federal recognition as an Indian tribe and many experienced
the loss of identity as an individual. More importantly they lost
the ability to care for and live on their ancestral homelands and whatever
future it may have provided. When the process of Termination was completed
there were many changes within the structure of the Tribal people.
Many members moved away in search of employment opportunities and a different
life. Social ills became factors in determining the standard of living.
Such factors were the breakdown of extended family, loss of spiritual and
cultural customs, alcoholism, loss of medical services etc. In the words
of Seldon E. Kirk, Klamath Tribal Chairman, 1961, termination is a word
that “kicks the heart” of every American Indian, especially those who were
its victims.
At no time did the Klamath Tribes agree to Termination
and the condemnation of their lands. Letters to Congressional and
BIA authorities from Tribal leaders and members attest to their devotion
and commitment to the land and their opposition to Termination. At
first the plan was to sell the lands in large timber units. This was
later changed at the urging of the Tribe and other local officials, who
feared clear-cutting of the forests by private timber companies. The
majority of tribal lands were condemned and purchased by the United States
of America these lands became the Winema National Forest with sections added
to the Fremont National Forest. The Termination law required individual
members to either “withdraw” and receive cash for their share of tribal
assets or “remain” as a member of a corporation that would be operated
by a trustee to be selected later by the government. It was not surprising
that 77% of the tribal members withdrew because information from BIA encouraged
withdrawal. Approximately 10 years later the “Remaining Members” voted to
dissolve the trust and their lands were condemned and were added to the
Winema National Forest.
The extent of the personal damages suffered by the Klamath
people since Termination is even more appalling, and no amount of money
or services could ever compensate for the tragic loss of the land.
Data compiled for the years 1966-1980 include:
ú
28 percent died by the age of 25
ú
52 percent died by the age of 40
ú
40 percent of all deaths were due to alcohol or alcohol related
events
ú
the infant mortality rate was two-and one half times that
of the State of Oregon average.
ú
70 percent had less than a high school education
ú
3 times as many Indians as non-Indians in Klamath County had
incomes below the poverty level
ú
56.1 percent of all members over 40 had no medical insurance;
30 percent over 65 had no health insurance, not even Medicare or Medicaid.
Aside from these overwhelmingly negative statistics
are the deeply ingrained psychological effects of the U.S. Government’s
policy of Termination. If an Indian is not recognized as an Indian,
what is he or she? Other tribes discriminated against the Klamath
claiming they had sold their identity. Tribal members tell of rejection
from All-Indian rodeos and other events because the Klamath were no longer
recognized. The Klamath could never become white people and because
they were supposedly no longer Indians, they were considered by others to
have no name, no identity and no homeland. When in fact, they were the original
people of the Land and became non-entities in their own homeland.
Extreme alcohol abuse and early deaths are not surprising in such circumstances.
In spite of this or because of it, the Tribes formed a stronger resolve
to retain their spiritual and cultural identity for future generations by
uniting and forgetting the labels attached to them.
Economic Component
Once the federal recognition ended and the land base
was condemned, the ability to provide and receive services for tribal members
ended. Tribal members no longer had medical services, educational
programs, employment opportunities, the ability to hunt and fish to augment
their incomes, tax exemption status for their homes and ranches, etc.
The Klamath People were now supposedly mainstreamed into society as competitors
in the labor market and in most cases unwelcome competitors. The Land
did provide for some that remained in the area, primarily seasonal jobs
in the wood products industry. Logging practices by the U.S. Forest
Service resulted in severe habitat changes for wildlife, which will later
become an issue of management between the Tribe and the Forest Service.
At the same point in time hunting and fishing practices of the State of
Oregon had a drastic impact on the wildlife in the Basin. The policies
and practices of the U.S. Forest Service and the State of Oregon reduced
the wildlife and fisheries populations to catastrophic levels, which had
a drastic effect on Tribal members subsistence rights. Tribal members
continued to hunt, fish, trap, and gather to augment their subsistence needs.
Even as they continued to gather various traditional foods and firewood,
they were challenged by the State and Federal governments for exercising
their rights.
Political
Components
During this era, the Federal government as well as
the state and local governments, lost their relationship with the
Klamath Tribes. Tribal members were classified as citizens of the state,
yet were not accepted as part of the system. The Tribes were not represented
as Indians by elected legislatures at any level and really no forum in which
to address their issues. U.S. Congress established The Executive Claims
Committee prior to Termination to represent the Tribes in claims arising
from mismanagement of the former reservation. This political entity
remained because it was created to address any claims against the government
as they related to the land and its’ resources.
In 1973, it became necessary for the Tribes to file
the legal suit (Kimball v. Callanhan) to reaffirm the Tribes’
right to hunt, fish, trap, and gather free of state jurisdiction on former
reservation lands. The Tribes success in this litigation led to the re-affirmation
of Tribal government rights to administer the subsistence rights on a nation-to-nation
basis with the Federal government. In particular, this case impacted
the U.S. Forest Service because of its timber harvest practices as they
affected the habitat of fish and wildlife. The State of Oregon was
similarly impacted because of regulation and conservation issues. These
issues initiated the movement towards the restoration of federal recognition
of the Klamath Tribes.
While Kimball v. Callanhan (see Appendix W Exhibit
2) reaffirmed the Tribes’ right to hunt, fish, trap, and gather.
Kimball II (Appendix W Exhibit 2) extended those rights to
Tribal descendants who meet the enrollment criteria of the Tribes in 1975.
Also in 1975 the Tribes secured their water rights on the former reservations
lands in United States v. Adair.( Appendix W Exhibit 2).
In relation to the hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering
rights the Tribes entered into a
Consent Decree with the State of
Oregon and the United States in 1981 (Appendix W Exhibit 1)..
This cooperative agreement was the result of a federal court mandate.
The purpose of this agreement was to protect the fish and wildlife resources
and to identify responsibilities to protect the treaty hunting, fishing,
trapping and gathering rights.
In 1984, a Restoration Committee of Tribal members was
appointed by the General Council with direction to move towards reestablishing
federal recognition as a tribe. To accomplish the Restoration of Federal
Recognition the federal government established the following criteria:
1.
there exists an ongoing, identifiable community of Indian who are
members of the formerly recognized tribes or who are their descendents.
2.
the tribes is located in the vicinity of the former reservation (or
rancheria or other lands set aside for their use).
3.
the tribe has continued to perform self-governing functions either
through elected representatives or in meetings of their general membership
4.
there is widespread use of their aboriginal language, customs, and
culture
5.
there has been a marked deterioration in their social-economic condition
since termination; and
6.
their conditions are more severe than the adjacent rural areas or
in other comparable areas within the State.
RESTORATION PERIOD
Social Component
Once Restoration efforts started a new, but an old,
familiar attitude returned to the Klamath People, an attitude of hope and
a renewal of spirit. The People never gave up the fact that they were
the Klamath Tribes, distinct in their spiritual, cultural and social customs
and values based on the Land. They could hunt, fish, trap, and gather,
and in order to do this they worked to restore tribal administration systems
and most of all value systems of respect for the spirit of the Land and
what it could provided is being renewed. Family and individuals began
to return home.
Economic Component
Restoration, itself, was based on the requirement of
the development of an economic self-sufficiency plan. Without
a land base and finance capital it has been a difficult task to fulfill
and has required that the Tribes obligate themselves to long-term financial
obligations to begin to meet basic subsistence needs.
Restoration has enabled the Tribe, through Trust Responsibility
programs to create jobs, assist in health care, social services, housing,
education and employment. Currently, most of the services are restricted
to Tribal members living in Klamath County. This restriction is part
of the Restoration Act creating hardships for those Tribal members who live
outside of Klamath County. Further, the services, while helpful, are
minimal and the Tribe has a large population who have unmet needs.
After the Tribes were restored in 1986, it conducted
a comprehensive needs assessment. The following excerpt concerns tribal
members residing in Klamath County and is taken from The Klamath Tribes
Comprehensive Needs Assessment Survey, (Appendix B) prepared by
Francis B. Caldwell, April 1986.
“Employment Issues
and Economic Conditions:
Klamath County is located in south central Oregon, is the fourth largest
county in the state, and is 75% forest. Because the Klamath Reservation
lands became the property of the federal government after Termination, over
half of the county is publicly owned.
The main industries of Klamath County have been adversely affected by seasonal
and structural conditions. Agriculture and recreation industries that
fluctuate sharply from season to season whereas the lumber and wood products
industries and the closely related transportation industry were heavily
impacted in the recession of 1980-1982 and have not fully recovered.
Layoffs and technology advances have seriously reduced the number of jobs
in these areas resulting in high numbers of workers on unemployment rolls.
Employment in manufacturing services and government has risen somewhat as
a part of a national trend, but the limited base of the economy with too
much reliance on the wood industry has put Klamath County in a dismal economic
situation.
Efforts to diversify industry are planned to provide new jobs; however the
problems of displaced workers, those who have lost jobs in one area remain
untrained in new areas are an immediate problem. Lumber and woods
products workers cannot fill high technology jobs without intensive training.
A recent upturn in the demand for wood products and the use of Kingsley
Air Force Base by the National Guard have improved the situation slightly,
but unemployment in Klamath County remains at 8.1% and unemployed Klamath
Indians in the county are at an appalling 51.6%.
Restoration of the Klamath Tribe in 1986 was a definite boom to the county,
adding $3.4 million to the cash flow for tribal operations and employing
43 people, figures which have increase each year.
Respondents in Klamath County were most concentrated between the ages of
21 and 40, the age bracket most likely to be in job competition. They
are not successful competitors as the unemployment for these people is 51.1%.
Again, as for all respondents, the most cited reason for unemployment is
lack of training at 43% with lack of experience running second at 34%.
Such conditions have existed for some time as 40% of the unemployed have
been so for two years or more, a symptom of structural unemployment.
Reasons given for being refused employment correspond to overall statistics
as over 60% cite a lack of training; discrimination also plays a role indicted
by 40% citing race as a problem and 20% cite age. The average income
of Klamath Indians in Klamath County is $5,000 or less per year; 56.7% are
below the poverty level.”
The challenge posed by the above data is to assist in
alleviating the economic poverty of the Tribes. The subsistence right
to hunt, fish, trap, and gather will be a component, but reduced wildlife
resources cannot provide much in terms of economic survival. The aspect
of structural unemployment identified by Caldwell needs to be further studied
to examine the possibilities of structural discrimination that can be masked
in employment procedures.
In 1984 the General Council of the Klamath Tribes appointed
a Restoration Committee with direction to seek the re-establishment of federal
recognition. Those individuals and many others worked very hard to
comply with the directions of the General Council. The committee’s
work became a reality with the enactment of Public Law 99-398 with the support
of Oregon Senators Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood. Oregon Representative
Bob Smith introduced the legislation. The bill was sponsored by the
entire Oregon delegation and passed unanimously in both Houses. President
Ronald Reagan signed the act into law on August 27, 1986.
Today, Tribal government plays a major role for the
direction of the Tribes. The Tribes are working with federal, state
and local governments and with individuals as a method to combat the ills
of the Termination Process. This process involves the Tribes defining
self-sufficiency in Tribal terms and strategies to attain self-sufficiency.
Self-sufficiency must begin with the traditional values of respect for the
Land and the belief that the Land will take care of the People. Without
land and resources how can any society or group be self-sufficient?
In the development of this plan, the General Council
passed a motion that the Plan require the return of all former reservation
land in federal ownership.
While the recent history of the Klamath Tribes may be
viewed as a loss of Land, depletion of natural resources, loss of culture
and identity, the Tribes are ready to embark on actions to regain
hosemtamblek, the Klamath word meaning
“to be in good health
again.”
Illustration 1
POLITICAL OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF
THE KLAMATH TRIBE
I.
Early White Contact
A.
1826 - Peter Skeen Ogden led
a group of Hudson Bay fur trappers through the area.
B.
1846 - John C. Fremont
travels through the area, attack peaceful Klamath villages on the west side
of Klamath Lake and on the Klamath Marsh.
C.
1863 - Fort Klamath was established
at the urging of the Oregon legislature.
D.
1864 - Treaty with the
Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Bank of Snake Indians and the United States
is negotiated at Council Grove, north of Klamath Agency.
E.
Treaty is not ratified until
1870.
II.
Reservation and Governing Bodies Established
A.
1864 - Establishment of tribal
agency on Agency Lake.
B.
1866 -Tribal agency moved about two miles north to present site of Klamath
Agency.
C.
1868 – First Tribal agency
moved about two miles north to present site of Klamath
D. 1870’s - Tribal police and judicial systems established.
E. 1908 – Tribal Executive governing body formed with 7 Klamath,
7 Modocs, 1 Pit River, and one Yahooskin as representatives.
F. 1928 – Tribal Executive body reduced to eight representatives.
G. 1928 – Tribe established a new Constitution and Bylaws
and a Business Committee.
H. 1950 – A new Constitution with an 8 member
Executive Committee and Business
Committee is empowered.
I. 1975 – Tribe re-established Executive Committee and Fish
and Game Commission for
Hunting, fishing, and gathering rights administration.
J. 1982 – Tribe established a new Constitution and By-Laws with a
10 member Executive
Committee.
K. 1986 – Tribe established a new system for tribal administration
of tribal programs after
Restoration.
III. Early
Claims and Disputes
A.
1860 – Oregon Swamplands Act
passed by State of Oregon and Oregon attempts to take title to the Klamath
Marsh, the heartland of the tribe’s cultural area. This tied up the
allotment process and was finally settled in favor of the Tribes in 1906.
B. 1986
– Congress granted State of Oregon 800,000 acres, some to be used for public
roads.
The State of Oregon contracts with the Oregon Central Military Road Company
and
attempts to give the company a 12 mile strip of land (111,000 acres) across
the Klamath
Reservation. The Tribes resist and the matter is settled in court,
giving the road company
87,000 acres of tribal land (known as the Long Bell Tract) and a financial
judgement to the
Tribes.
C. 1872-73 – Modoc War. Modoc leaders hanged in Fort Klamath,
some Modocs remain on
Klamath Reservation, others sent to Quapaw Reservation in Oklahoma as
a form of punish-
ment.
D. 1871 – Mercer Survey excludes six miles on the eastern side which
would take most of the
Sprague River Valley.
E. 1888 – Theil Survey adds lands to the Klamath Reservation that
were omitted by the Mercer
Survey in 1871. Size of Klamath Reservation in 1888 was 1,056,000
acres.
F. 1900 – Elliot Survey includes land excluded in other surveys,
the Tribes were not allowed
to take title to excluded lands and were forced to take payments.
IV. Federal
Legislation
A. 1870 – Treaty of 1864 Finally ratified by the United States.
B. 1873 – Supreme Court ruled that the Tribes could not harvest
timber on their lands. The
Court ruled that the timber belonged to the United States.
C. 1887 – Dawes Allotment Act
1. Started in 1895 on the Klamath Reservation, held back because of
the Oregon
Central Military Road issue and the erroneous
surveys.
2. Total allotment numbers was 1624
to individual tribal members on the Klamath
Reservation. (The Dawes Act sought to make farmers out of the Indians.
There was
Approximately 2,500 farmable acres at that time.
3. Process ended
in 1910 with all “excess” reservation lands deeded to the Tribes in
common
ownership but held in trust by the United States.)
D. 1924 – Indian Citizenship Act is passed by Congress. Indian
people are finally recognized
as citizens of the United States.
E. 1934 – Indian Reorganization Act passed by Congress to allow
Indian people more control
of
their affairs in certain areas. The Klamath Tribes rejected the
IRA.
F. Termination.
1. 1953 – Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 108 calling
for the termina-
tion of federal relations and services with all Indian
Tribes in the United States.
2. 1954 – Congress passed Public Law 587 which terminates federal
supervision and
services to the Klamath Tribes. The Tribes rejected the Termination
Act and Cong-
ress decided to liquidate all tribal assets including the land, to divide
the proceeds
from the sale to the members of the Tribe who chose to withdraw.
(At the urging
of the Tribes and
others the reservation lands were acquired by the United States
and the Winema National Forest was established. Approximately 1/7
of the land
was sold to private interests.
3. 30% of the tribal members elected to remain and retained 135,000
acres of land
under the trust of the U.S. National Bank of Oregon. Remaining members
voted to
end the trust in 1969 and the majority of their land was sold to the Winema
Na-
tional Forest.
G. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
Tribes right to hunt, fish, trap, and gather in 1975. This
treaty right survived the Termination Act.
H. The Tribes established the Klamath Indian Game Commission, updated
the Tribal Constitu-
tion and established rules to allocate and control the hunting, fishing,
trapping, and gather-
ing rights.
I. 1979 – The Tribes win the U.S. v. Adair water rights case.
This case requires minimum
stream flows for the protection of fish and wildlife. To date this
case is not completely
settled.
J.
In 1980 the Klamath Tribes begin to work in earnest for restoration of
federal recognition.
