MIXED-BLOODS-L Archives

From: Patricia Gunter <>
Subject: [MIXED-BLOODS] A Walk Through Times Past
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 15:22:21 -0700 (PDT)

A Walk Through Times Past


The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a nation of First
Americans, have survived many trials and tribulations since the
formation
of the Colville Indian Reservation in 1872 when 12 tribes of indigenous
native people were forced to live within the boundaries of a tract of
land
located in what was then called Washington Territory.


With survival in mind, let&#8217;s walk through times past and review
significant
federal policies that have created the history of the Colville Indian
Reservation and the destiny of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation.


This is our true story


Until the mid-1800&#8217;s, our forefathers, the ancestors of the
Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, were nomadic: following the
seasons and sources of food and moving from place to place to occupy
fishing sites and to harvest berries and native plants. In their travels,
our ancestors met other indigenous native people of different speech and
cultural practices.


We know that many times the geographical locations of our ancestors
changed
depending on their needs and living conditions and moving from summer to
winter camps was a way of life.


The nomadic lifestyles of our ancestors have always perplexed non-Indian
historians who insist on identifying indigenous native people by
specific
geographical locations. Our forefathers knew no boundaries until the
invasion of Europeans, other than those established by some tribes in
certain areas.


Our ancestors were not known to maintain farming communities.


We know that from 1807 when the first trading post was established on
the
Columbia River to 1820 when Kettle Falls, the famous trading center of
our
ancestors, was occupied by the Hudson Bay Company, trade with indigenous
native people was often conducted by non-Indians from the northern
territories. They came from Canada.


Many of our own people lived to the north and they were eventually
forced
to stay in Canada when the Canadian border became a reality.


Settlers, squatters and trespassers began their great migration west in
the
mid-1800&#8217;s and competed with the Canadians for trade with the
indigenous
native people. Trading furs and other native goods for commodities and
services became a way of life for many natives.


Yes! The course of our history changed forever with the influx of
foreign
traders and missionaries.


The fight was on for the territories of the West with the new Americans
and
Great Britain both claiming the Oregon Territory until the Treaty of
1846
established U.S. ownership, fixing the boundary line at the 49th
parallel
with England taking Vancouver Island.


The indigenous native people living in those valuable territories were
considered non-entitled but the United States, England and other foreign
interests still wanted their trade.


Yes! Non-entitlement for our forefathers and all other indigenous native
people was the prelude for taking what had been our homelands since the
time of creation.


On March 2, 1853, President Filmore signed a bill creating the
Washington
Territory which included today&#8217;s State of Washington, northern
Idaho, and
western Montana.


Major Isaac Stevens of the U.S. Corps of Engineers was appointed
Governor
of the new territory and he reported to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs
on "Indian" issues within his new domain.


On May 3, 1853, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs instructed Governor
Stevens to find out what the Indians were like in Washington Territory.


Governor Stevens met with Indian Tribes during his exploration for a
railroad route throughout the territory and from those visits he devised
a
report, written only seven months after the territory was established,
to
the Commissioner, recommending the establishment of "reservations" for
the
Indians occupying Washington Territory.


In his report, Commissioner Manupenny of Indian Affairs expressed a
concern
that "contrary to natural rights and usage," the United States should
grant
the lands that would become the reservations to the Indians without
purchasing from them.


In 1854, Governor Stevens was directed by the Commissioner to negotiate
with the Indians, "particularly in the vicinity of white settlements,
toward extinguishment of the Indian claims to the lands and the
concentration of the tribes and fragments of tribes on a few
reservations
naturally suited to the requirement of the Indians, and located, so far
as
practicable, so as not to interfere with the settlement of the country."


Late in 1854, an historical five-day "council" took place with nearly
every
tribe from present-day eastern Washington State participating so that
each
tribal leader or Chief could mark and claim specific reservation
boundaries
for the individual tribes.


This council and dividing up the land was done purposely by the federal
government so that no land would be for sale and no payments would be
made
to any Indians.


Governor Stevens carried out his duties by successfully negotiating: the
Point Elliott Treaty in January, 1855; the Yakama Treaty in June, 1855;
and
the Hells Gate Treaty in July, 1855.


The indigenous native peoples who would later become the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation were not forgotten. In an December 22,
1855 letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Governor Stevens told
of
meeting with some Indians, as he had promised during the Yakama Treaty
negotiations, but "they did not sign a treaty although they pledged to
take
no part in the Yakama War which broke out that year."


The Yakama War lasted until 1859 and involved tribes located in today&#8217;s
southern Washington State and Oregon. History indicates that Indian
people
and gold miners were involved in altercations in the Wenatchee and
Okanogan
valleys.


>From 1859 until 1865, the federal government allowed the Indians of
North
Central Washington State to live without a treaty or an "Indian Agent"
to
oversee them. That changed in 1865 when George Paige was sent to the
area
as the first Indian Agent. He traveled and visited tribes through 1868
and
made periodic reports to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.


Superintendent McKenny, who oversaw the entire Washington Territory,
commented on Paige&#8217;s May 9, 1867 written report as follows: "From
this
report, the necessity of trading with these Indians can scarcely fail to
be
obvious. They now occupy the best agricultural lands in the whole
country
and they claim an undisputed right to these lands. White squatters are
constantly making claims in their territory and not infrequently
invading
the actual improvements of the Indians. The state of things cannot but
prove disastrous to the peace of the country unless forestalled by a
treaty
fixing the rights of the Indians and limiting the aggressions of the
white
man. The fact that a portion of the Indians refused all gratuitous
presents
shows a determination to hold possession of the country here until the
government makes satisfactory overtures to open the way of actual
purchase."


At its inception by a President Grant&#8217;s Executive Order on April 9,
1872,
the Colville Indian Reservation was in a different location from today&#8217;s
reservation. The first reservation covered several million acres of
diverse
properties including rivers, streams, timbered forests, grass lands,
minerals, plants and animals.


The aboriginal tribes of the Methow, Okanagan, San Poil, Lakes,
Colvilles,
Kalispels, Spokane, Coeur d&#8217;Alene, and other scattered tribes who
were not
parties to any treaty were confined to the original reservation.


Less than a month later, another Presidential Executive Order issued on
July 2, 1872 moved the Colville Indian Reservation to its present
location
on the west side of the mighty Columbia River and diminished its size to
less than three million acres or 2,825,000 acres. The areas between the
Okanogan River and the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range in the Methow
Valley and between the Columbia and Pend d&#8217;Orielle Rivers and the
Colville
Valley were excluded from the second and final reservation.


None of the tribes affected by the Presidential Order were consulted.
The
areas deleted from the original reservation were rich in minerals.


On April 19, 1879 and March 6, 1880, two tracts of land where the
present
day City of Wenatchee lies, north to the Canadian border between the
crest
of the Cascades and the Okanogan River, were established by another
Presidential Executive Order for the Chief Moses tribes consisting of
the
Columbia, Chelan, Entiat and Wenatchi.


Three years later, on July 7, 1883, Chief Moses and his people agreed to
either move to the Colville Indian Reservation or accept an allotment of
640 acres for the head of each family.


Some tribal families took the allotment of 640 acres and remained in
their
ancestral homelands along the Columbia River and at majestic Lake Chelan
outside the established boundaries of the reservation.


In 1885, Chief Moses, who had moved to the Colville Indian Reservation,
invited Chief Joseph and his tribe of Nez Perce, to live on the
reservation. Chief Joseph and his people were never allowed to return to
their former homeland in the Oregon Territory. He died at Nespelem,
Washington in 1904. Many descendants of his band reside on the Colville
Indian Reservation today and still belong to the Confederated Tribes of
the
Colville Reservation.


Twenty years after the Colville Indian Reservation was moved to its
present
location, the north half of the reservation was ceded to the United
States
by an act of Congress (27 Stat. 62). At that time 660 Colville Indians
were
allotted 51,653 acres located in the ceded area.


In that same year, the United States negotiated an agreement with our
tribal forefathers for the purchase of the unallotted acreage located in
the north half and paid them $1.5 million dollars for 1.5 million acres,
priced at $1.00 an acre.


The Colville tribal leaders of 1892 were able to reserve the right for
members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to hunt
and
fish on the former north half of the reservation for time immemorial.


Later, a Presidential Proclamation on October 10, 1900, opened the south
half of the Colville Indian Reservation, totaling 1,449,268 acres, to
homesteading which began six years later in 1916.


The Reservation Allotment Act of 1887 was finally implemented on
December
1, 1905 when two-thirds of the estimated number of Colville Indians
available on that date, signed the McLaughlin Agreement that ceded the
south half of the Colville Indian Reservation for an 80-acre allotment
to
each Indian. By 1914, 2,505 Colville Indians had been allotted 333,275
acres of reservation lands.


A Presidential Proclamation of May 3, 1916 opened the remaining 417,841
acres of unallotted and unreserved reservation lands to settlement.


In 1934, Congress began ending the federal allotment policy and an order
issued by the Secretary of the Interior on November 5, 1935 stopped the
withdrawal status of the reservation lands belonging to the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation.


Twenty two years later, in 1956, in recognition of the federal
government&#8217;s
past failed policies, about 800,000 acres of Colville Reservation lands
were returned to tribal ownership.


Today, the Colville Indian Reservation consists of acreage held in trust
for the Colville Confederation and individual tribal members and land
owned
by others in non-trust or fee land status.


The Colville Business Council has set in place a policy to purchase
lands
put up for sale that are located with the boundaries of the reservation
and
unallotted lands outside the reservation based on funds available
through
yearly tribal fiscal budgets.


One of monumental goals of the Colville tribal government is to own all
Colville Indian Reservation lands. Presently, over 200,000 acres are not
owned by the Colville Confederation and thousands of those acres are in
agricultural production by non-Colville tribal members.


In 1997 and 1998, the Colville Confederation celebrated the 125th
Anniversary of the Colville Indian Reservation in recognition of 125
years
of survival with a prayer to our Creator that some day when we, the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a confederation of
First
Americans, will hold all of our lands in trust for our people, we will
truly be able to claim this beautiful nation as ours once again.

---

Based on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Socio-Economic
Report of 1981. All Rights Reserved.

_____________________________________________________________
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http://www.southern-cherokee.com

_____________________________________________________________
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• [MIXED-BLOODS] A Walk Through Times Past by Patricia Gunter <>