The Neo-Colonization and Termination of Native Reservations 2017

Standing Rock camp is rounding up this week, after at least 10 months of activation to stop oil pipelines through North Dakota. At stake was the health and welfare of the Stand Rock Sioux who live on the Standing Rock Reservation. The encampment attracted upwards of 20,000 people who rotated in and out of the encampment, who wanted to protect the region from the probability of another oil pipeline breach, a fairly common problem for pipelines in the region. The pipeline was halted just before bridging the Cannonball river. The protectors faced severe opposition with state police and hired guards attacking the protectors … Continue reading The Neo-Colonization and Termination of Native Reservations 2017

Will Trump Terminate Tribal Reservations?

In the spring of 1954, the United States Congress was deliberating the termination of the western Oregon Tribes. Oregon Indian Agent E. Morgan Pryse sent numerous reports to the Secretary of the Interior, stating that the tribes, Grand Ronde, and Siletz, had not responded in approval to the termination bill (PL588) but “approved of termination in principle.” In fact, the tribe was mainly concerned that if they were terminated that they would not be able to collect the awards from pending Indian Claims cases and so they recommended that termination not proceed until the results of the cases are concluded. … Continue reading Will Trump Terminate Tribal Reservations?

To Improve the Status of Our First Citizens: The Irony and Fraud of Tribal Termination

“To improve the status of our first citizens” Oregon Governor Douglas McKay, July 14, 1950 Introduction McKay’s comment, is meant to be a statement of assurance and commitment to the tribes from the Oregon State government. However the irony is that the agreement reached did not honor the promises implied. The tribes were not treated as first citizens, and were in fact lied to by federal officials. There was no improvement of the status of these native peoples, because native people generally were an outcast minority and treated very similar to how Blacks and Latinos were treated. Other non-terminated tribes … Continue reading To Improve the Status of Our First Citizens: The Irony and Fraud of Tribal Termination

Six Years After, the Impact of My Dissertation

My 2009 dissertation Termination of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde: Community, Politics, Identity was completed at the Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon after about six years of work. For the first few years I was studying tribal history … Continue reading Six Years After, the Impact of My Dissertation

Klamath Termination: Water, Timber and Sovereign Rights

 

 

Klamath indians, Wocus gatherers and canoes
Klamath Indians, Wocus gatherers and canoes

The reasons for the elimination of federal management of Indians were many. A primary reason was the tribal reservations contained the last undeveloped western lands, which had some of the last untouched natural resources in the United States. Many reservations contained significant stands of timber and clean water resources, as well as significant underground mineral deposits.

Continue reading “Klamath Termination: Water, Timber and Sovereign Rights”