The Klamath Tribes

The Klamath Tribes consists of three groups of people: The Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians. These three groups inhabited an area approximately 22,000,000 acres in northern California and Southern Oregon. The Klamath and Modoc developed a unique "inland marsh culture" that was dependent on water. A large portion of the material culture was dependent on the tule and cattail plants used for baskets, housing, clothing, utensils, toys, etc. The Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians are a division of the Paiute Tribes, a gathering culture and resided mostly on the high desert of the land base., All three groups were dependent on the resources of the land. Foods ranged from roots, berries, herbs, large and small game animals, waterfowl and upland game birds, and various species of fish including mullet, trout and salmon., In 1864 a Treaty was negotiated with the United States government which established the Klamath Indian Reservation. On the reservation map the outer lines represented the "Peak to Peak" boundaries that the tribal leaders negotiated in the Treaty, the inner lines show the boundaries that Congress finally approved in 1870., From 1864 to 1954 the tribes developed a self-sufficient government that assisted in providing various services to tribal members which included health, education, employment, housing, and individuals received shares of the profits from the sale of timber and other economic ventures such as fees for grazing, etc., and contributed heavily to the economy of Klamath County., In 1953 the U.S. Congress adopted the concept of "Termination of Federal Services" over the Indian Tribes. The Klamath Termination Act was signed in 1954. This Act became law without the approval of the Tribe and the land became the Winema National Forest and tribal members received a share of the proceeds from the sale. After 1954 the U.S. did not consider the people of the Klamath Tribes to be Indians and the individuals were to become mainstreamed into society., Once federal recognition ended and the land base liquidated, the many services to tribal members ended. This included the rights to hunt and fish according to the State of Oregon. In the early 1970's a group of tribal members worked together and filed a federal court case stating that the rights to hunt and fish on former reservation lands existed, known as Kimbol v. Callahan, settled in 1974 in favor of the Klamath Tribes. The Tribe reorganized its government, implemented biological programs for the study of fish and game, as well as tribal hunting and fishing rules., As the Tribe proceeded with the administration of the rights to hunt and fish the concept of restoring federal recognition became the next step in the process of regaining what Termination ended. Again, people started meeting and developing a strategy that led to the Restoration of Federal Recognition on August 27, 1986., Since 1986, the Tribe has implemented services programs for tribal members in such areas as health, education, employment, housing, and maintaining the rights to hunt, fish, and gather from former reservation lands. In 1997, the Klamath Tribes open the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino and in 2001 the Tribes open a new administrative building. The outlook for the future is to assist tribal members with services, economic development and the return of the land.