Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights

Violation

Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin: the 1864 treaty and termination (1954-1961)

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

The 1864 Klamath treaty kept the tribes' fishing rights on a reservation; Congress ended federal recognition in 1954.

Treaty
Treaty with the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians, 16 Stat. 707
Nations
Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, Yahooskin Band of Snake)
When
1954-1986
Land affected
Reservation and forest land base (to the forest sold or transferred); federal recognition 1961-1986.
Acreage
862,622 acres (post-allotment tribal holdings, Wikipedia); 308 acres today
Legal aftermath
Restored status (1986), land not restored; treaty hunting/fishing rights survived termination in practice (Kimball v. Callahan, 9th Cir. 1974).not yet checked against a source

What happened

In the 1864 Treaty with the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians (signed October 14, 1864; ratified July 2, 1866; proclaimed February 17, 1870), the tribes ceded a large territory in south-central Oregon and northern California and agreed to live on a reservation around Klamath Lake. The treaty gave the tribes "the exclusive right of taking fish in the streams and lakes" there, and annual payments over 15 years. A Senate committee report says the treaty required the United States to "pay less than $300,000 for over one million acres of aboriginal land."

In 1954 Congress passed the Klamath Termination Act (Pub. L. 83-587). The Senate report says it led to "the termination of the Federal government's trust relationship with the Klamath Tribes" and set up a process for selling part of the reservation land.

The Klamath Indian Tribe Restoration Act of 1986 restored the federal relationship, but the Senate report states that it "did not restore the Klamath Tribes' former reservation lands," and that "efforts to regain their tribal land base continue to this day."

Summarized with AI assistance from 2 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. the exclusive right of taking fish in the streams and lakesTreaty with the Klamath, etc., 1864 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. did not restore the Klamath Tribes' former reservation landsSenate Report 117-11 (govinfo)

Research notes. Corrections: the Senate report describes the 1864 cession as over one million acres for less than $300,000; the input's '6 million' and '20 million' acre figures conflict and are not used. The treaty date is October 14, 1864 per the OSU database; the Senate report gives two dates. Withdrawal rules, the 1961 effective date, the input's withdrawal numbers (78%, $43,000 each), 862,622 acres and the Adair water ruling were not verified here and are omitted. Kimball v. Callahan was marked from memory and not verified. Hunting and trapping rights from the input were not confirmed in the treaty summary I read; only fishing is quoted.

Treaty or agreementShapes from the 1899 federal record: approximate, not legal boundaries.

Who is doing the work

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Land return and Native-led work nearby

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Nations named 4

Carried out through 1

Located in 1

Policy era 1

Concerns the instrument 1

Sources

  1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klamath_Tribespointer
  2. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-68/pdf/STATUTE-68-Pg718.pdfprimary record
  3. archives.gov/research/native-americans/terminationprimary record
The record’s fields
What happened
Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin: the 1864 treaty and termination (1954-1961) -- The 1864 treaty ceded land but kept hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering rights on reserved lands and waters (cession figures conflict: 'more than 6 million' vs 20 million acres; about 2 million acres retained). The tribes held about 862,622 acres after allotment and the largest remaining stand of ponderosa pine in the West. The Klamath Termination Act (Pub. L. 587, 68 Stat. 718, Aug. 13, 1954) let each adult member withdraw and receive the cash value of tribal property, with sales at appraised value; termination took effect in 1961. Of 2,133 members, 1,660 (78%) withdrew and received about $43,000 each. The Klamath Restoration Act (1986) re-established the Tribes but did not return the land base; the reservation today is 308 acres in twelve non-contiguous parcels. In 2002 a federal judge held (in United States v. Adair, filed 1975) that the Tribes' water rights predate those of non-tribal irrigators.
Kind
Violation
Confidence
Medium
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation
Notes
  • Some details are disputed
  • Some details not yet checked against a source
  • Some details unverified

Correct this record