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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1976)
Portland Observer Chiloquin’s flame claims Klamath land (Stephen Most, a playwright, writing In s tru c to r and long-tlase s tu d en t of Native American cultures, is aa asso ciate editor o l P N S who writes fre quently on Indian affairs. He is the author of a soon to-he produc«<d play on the Indian Modoc wars-l C H IL O Q U IN . OREGON (P N S ) - On a hilltop above Chiloquin, Oregon. Edison Chiloquin, grandson of a Klam ath chief, threw hay, a pinecone and willuwsticks into a firepit and set them ablaze. From his pouch he sprinkled a mix ture of kinni kinnick (Indian tobacco), berries and seeds into the fire. To participants in the ceremony he itaid the fire was sacred and will keep burning until the land of his grandfather's peo pie is restored to them. Edison Chiloquin is the only Klamath to refuse payment for tribal territory liquidated since the 1964 Termination Act. A check for 1108,000 waits for him in the U.S. National Bank of Portland; Chiloquin leaves it there. “To me the land is sacred, the money can't replace it," he explained. Of the 1.3 million acres acknowledged as Klamath country by an 1864 treaty signed by his grandfather. Chief Tsela kin, Chiloquin wants a 640 acre parcel "put back in the statua of the original treaty lands to be recognized as Kla math Indian land for all time to come." That parcel, known as the Arrow head, is bounded by a three and a half mile bend of the Sprague River and represents what was once the center of the Plaikni (Klamath) Nation. I t was the site of his grandfather's village, Ktai- Tupaksi (Standing Rock), Told of the perpetual fire there, Ro bert Mezger, forestry management ex pert for the U.S. National Bank, re marked, “They'll have a long time to wait." A N ID E A L FOR EST Chiloquin, 52, has already waited a long time. The Termination Act gave all Klamatha listed on tribal rolls before 1954 the choice of individually selling their claim to part of the reservation or retaining land under a trust arrange ment. Twenty two percent of the Klamatha eligible chose land instead of caah; Chief Tselakin's grandson was among them. When U.S. National became trustee over the remaining tribal lands fifteen years ago it announced plans to develop an "ideal forest over a th irty year period," eventually yielding as much aa 40 million board feet annually. The ahareholders in this multimillion dollar estate had no say in what the bank did with Klamath land since the trustees, Mezger maintained, "have to take responsibility for what, happens." While the bank made S92.000 a year for managing the ponderosa forest, the trusta's beneficiaries received less than SI,000 a year each. M ea n w h ile the fed eral te rm in a tio n money was having a devastating impact on the Klamath community. Per capita payments of 343,000 to the 78 percent of the tribe which had sold its claims created b itte r resentm en ts b etw een those born before 1954 and their young er brothers and sisters, who received nothing. Intoxicated by the windfall, young Klamatha dropped out of school and left home. Wheeler dealers rushed to Chi loquin to sell refrigerators to people whose homes larked electricity; luxury cars and snowmobiles to a people as unaccustomed to saving money as to storing food. W h ile some K lam ath a squandered vast sums, others, receiving no pay menls. were unable to make a living. The murder rate among Klamatha shot upward. Sudden affluence proved as destructive to Indian Uvea as infected blankets had a century ago. In 1969 the Klamatha who had not sold out their membership in the tribe voted to end the trust agreement with the bank. They intended to set up another trust that would better serve their interests by putting the profitable management role in the hands of the shareholders, rather than the bank. VW MMK . O A r f f f / V P a ’ â T N Î I Mrs. H arriett Eckman, third grade teacher and Mrs. Virginia Yount, second grade teacher at Faubion will be honored. Both are retiring at the end of the school year. Former students, teachers and friends are invited. Special “Memory is Survival" Bicentennial salute continues at Jewish Community Center, 6651 S.W. Capitol Highway. Special slide-tape presentations Saturday and Sunday only at 7:30 p.m. Admission 33.50 Saturday, May 15th program hosted by Neighborhood House. Failing School Alums and Ex-Newsboys Association. Sunday, May 16th host is B'nai B’rith Lodge. Both evenings open to public. CATALOG OVERSTOCK SUPER VALUE SALE! 16% - 90% o ff SAVINGS! *597 - *33 SPECIAL GROUP OF MISSES, JR. FORMALS Edison Chiloquin sprinkles kinni kinnick (Indian tobacco) into the perpetual fire. (Photo by Charon Duncan.) Instead of money Edison Chiloquin wants the Arrowhead parcel - now owned by the U.S. Forest Service - maintained perpetually as Klamath land. His plan is to "preserve the culture of my tribe by re-creating my grandfa ther’s old village of my people at Ktai- Tupaksi (Standing Rock). I want tra d i tional Indian people to be able to live there in the traditional way while the knowledge of the old ways is still in our mind and heart." Chiloquin refuses to buy land with the now 3108.000 held in his name because by doing so he would waive treaty rights to government funding for health and educational services. Major Pierre L'Enfant. Another painting shows a Black on his knees as an A m erican g en eral shares his meal w ith a British officer during the Revolutionary W ar, and a portrait of the Boston Massacre depicts Crispus Attucks with a stick in his hand attacking a group of armed British soldiers. “As a Black American, I am shocked and terribly offended that the building symbolizing the democratic government of the American people is without art works properly recording the achieve ments of Black people throughout our ONLY Bob Chadwick of the Forest Service told the press he likes the idea of this land being a "living Indian museum," but his conditions - that there be a governing body and public access roads - ensure that the ancestral lands would become a tourist attraction beyond con trol of traditional leaders. In keeping with his museum concept Chadwick insisted that 640 acres would be more than required. A few acres for buildings and a parking lot are as much sacred land as the forest can spare. But the Chiloquins are confident they can obtain the land legally, if not by an exchange then by a congressional bill promised by Representative A l Ullman (D.-Ore.), should all else fail. As the only Klamath who has not sold his land and treaty rights. Chiloquin says he will live to be a hundred if necessary to preserve his claim. To dramatize his purpose, he and his sup porters have set up tipis and lit a fire. They plan to keep it' burning until they receive title to the land. GIRLS’ 6-14, JACKETS Select group of jackets for beach or casual wear. B u tto n fro n t. patch pocket. 100% F o rtre l polyester. M o st black. SAVE *79 Rangel, former chairman of the Con gressional Black Caucus, has also ex pressed his concern in letters to the chairman of the Congressional commit tees administering the Capitol's collec tion of art works on American history. “I t is particularly embarrassing that d u rin g the B icentenn ial ce leb ratio n , those visiting the Capitol are unable to see the important contributions of Black Americans to this nation properly rep resented," Rangel said. “The thousands of people of all races who will come to Washington this year should not be left with the impression that a deliberate effort was made by their government to exclude portrayals of Black Americana from the walls of the Capitol." ✓ SAVE 3.S0 OUR EXCLUSIVE LA-Z-BOY® BRAID-TRIMMED SLIP-ON CASUALS 347 REGULARLY 279.95 REGULARLY 6.97 R e clin a -ro cke r* in t r a d itio n a l styling. M u lt i position back, 3-posi- tio n footrest. In rugged 100% nylon. Needs only 1" space to rec line. 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W hite, architect of the Capitol. A t a meeting with Rangel. W hite agreed that changes in the col lection should be made and offered his cooperation. $5 REG. 10.97-‘38 Ju st in time for your special summer plans! A large selection of formals, the latest 1 and 2 piece styles, long- sleeve or sleeveless, big choice of colors and fabrics. H urry in today! Instead he intends to work out a deal w hereby Crow n Z ellerb ach Com pany would accept the money in exchange for a 640 acre parcel to be given to ithe Forest Service. The Forest Service would then relinquish title of the A r rowhead land to Chiloquin. In the meantime, the National Forest has promised the Chiloquins a tern porary land use permit, enabling them to put up tipis and sweat lodges but not perm an en t s tru c tu re s such as e a rth lodges. Black* not represented in capitol art Congressional officials must act at once to correct the under representation and offensive portrayal of Black A m eri cans in the art works displayed in the U.S. Capitol, Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D -N .Y.) declared. After a careful review of the nearly 700 works of art on display in the building, Rangel said he found Rlacks depicted in only five. In one portrait, a Black is seen with a white member of Congress in a Capitol foyer: another shows a Black man ap parently about to be shoved off a row boat during the Battle of Lake Erie; and one depicts a Black tending the horse of A retirem ent tea honoring two Faubion teachers ia sche duled for Thursday. May 20th, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria at Faubion Elementary School at 3039 N.E. Port land Boulevard. Wards Bargain Centers However, U.S. National responded to the threat by exercising a little known option in the original agreement en titling it to dispose of the tru st by returning the land to the Indians or by selling the land and paying the share holders in cash. W ithout consulting tribal leaderti, the bank sold the land to various parties including lumber companies and the U.S. Interior Department. The latter incorporated parrels into the Winema National Forest and a wildlife refuge. E ln a th a n D avis, se c re ta ry of th e Committee to Save the Remaining Kla math lands, said at the time, "People who grow up on this land feel like it is a part of us, a mother to us. I f this land is sold it is the end of us as a tribe - we're lost." The gradual destruction of the Kla math Nation - the chipping away at- its once vast lands - has continued since the 1864 treaty guaranteeing them sov ereignty. Under that treaty the Klamaths ced ed thirteen million acres of what is now southern Oregon and northeastern Cali fornia to the U.S. government. Still the Klamaths were more fortunate than many tribes having a reservation on the same land they had inhabited for at least 10,000 years. The Dawes Act of 1887 further cut into tribal holdings by converting the communally held land into 160 acre par cels which individuals could sell. By 1950 white businessmen had purchased nearly a fourth of the Klamath reserva tion. The 1954 Termination Act virtually liquidated the reservation by paying off tribal members who voted to receive money rather than hold share of their land under a trust agreement. W ith all but 145,000 acres of land void off by 1960, the Klamath culture - rooted so deeply in land - had nearly disappeared. W hat remnants remain threatened to vanish with the 1969 sale of the remaining land by the U.S. National Bank for 351.4 million. From th at sale came the 3103.000 per capita the bank paid members of the trust. A ll except Edison Chiloquin accepted the money, and the Klamaths were again embroiled in an orgy of spending. Page 3 COMMUNITY CALENDAR The March for Afrikan Liberation Day, Saturday, May 22, 1976 will support liberation and freedom for our people in Afrika and America. The march will show that Black Portlanders have not forgotten the police killings and other injustices our people suffer in Portland. The march will begin at 12:30 at the corner of N. Gantenbein and N. Shaver Street. I t will be followed by a rally at Irving Park, on N.E. 7th and Fremont Street. The public is invited to attend the annual open bouse held at Tucker Maxon Oral School, 2860 S.E. Holgate Boulevard on Monday, May 17th. Tours to observe teachers and children in their classrooms start at 6:15 p.m. The final tour starts at 8:30. 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