A Policy of Forfeiture of Rights and Annuities under the Peace Treaty of 1853

In numerous essays on this blog I have noted that many of the tribes considered the most violent, and those who had participated in the wars in southwestern Oregon were placed on the Coast Reservation. This was not an arbitrary decision because in 1856 the tribes on the Oregon coast and from the Rogue River basin had participated in numerous conflicts and wars. The Rogue River Confederacy were considered one of the most violent groups of tribes, having participated in at least three wars in southern Oregon, in 1850-51, in 1853, and 1855-56. The Coquille tribes were also considered violent … Continue reading A Policy of Forfeiture of Rights and Annuities under the Peace Treaty of 1853

When Annuities Ended on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation

The closure of the 1853-1855 treaty annuities in 1875 was a time of hardship for some Oregon reservations. For 20 years the reservations of Oregon were fully or partially supported by annual payments based on the annuities of these treaties. But when the annuities ended, the federal government had made no plans for support of the reservations, and this left some 3,000 Indians without their annual funding. Self-determination and self-sufficiency were not yet thought of as a part of National Indian policies. The federal Indian policy in 1875 was much the same as in 1855, to assimilate the Indians into … Continue reading When Annuities Ended on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation