Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
October 24, 2018
Page 5
A letter on the Middle Oregon Treaty of 1855
U l t i m a t e l y, o n e s h o u l d a s k
whether Felix Cohen, the greatest
of all Indian lawyers, was making
an overdrawn point about the old
promises when he discussed the role
of Indian law in our public law sys-
tem; Federal Indian Law, Getches,
Wilkinson and Williams:
“The Indian plays much the
same role in our American society
that the Jews played in Germany.
Like the miner’s canary, the Indian
marks the shift from fresh air to
poison gas in our political atmo-
sphere; and our treatment of Indi-
ans, even more than our treatment
of other minorities, reflects the rise
and fall in our democratic faith.” –
Felix S. Cohen, The Erosion of
Indian Rights, 195053, 623 Yale
L.J. 348, 390 (1953).
The Middle Oregon Treaty of
1855 Symposium is connecting the
Indianess that our beloved ances-
tors passed on to us through teach-
ings, ritual, covenants and written
law. Our tribal way of life is a gift
from those ancestors; we walk on
the lands they walked on, cherish
the waters they stewarded, and
learn from their teachings how to
The Treaty
Article 5.The President may,
from time to time, at his discretion,
cause the whole, or such portion as
he may think proper, of the tract
that may now or hereafter be set
apart as a permanent home for
these Indians, to be surveyed into
lots and assigned to such Indians
of the confederated bands as may
wish to enjoy the privilege, and lo-
cate thereon permanently.
To a single person over twenty-
one years of age, forty acres; to a
family of two persons, sixty acres;
to a family of three and not exceed-
ing five, eighty acres; to a family of
six persons, and not exceeding ten,
one hundred and twenty acres; and
to each family over ten in number,
twenty acres for each additional
three members.
And the President may provide
such rules and regulations as will se-
cure to the family in case of the
death of the head thereof the pos-
live with the Creator’s Gifts.
Our strength is our people, the
Warm Springs, Wasco and Paiute
tribes in our Confederacy. The
covenants we have in our blood
and hearts. As with the Warriors,
gatherers, hunters and providers
of the past, we must use tools to
keep walking on as our tribal ways
tell us to do. One great tool is the
Law of the Land… a Treaty… not
just any treaty... Our treaty—the
Middle Oregon Treaty of 1855.
Please note when I say ‘our’ I
mean the big ‘OUR’—On June 25,
1855 the Middle Treaty of Oregon
was negotiated between the Middle
Oregon Tribes, the Warm Springs
and Wascos with the United States
of America… that includes every
American citizen not just the tribes.
The Middle Oregon Treaty
tribes ceded (gave title of land) to
the Unites States of America—10
million acres… One-hundred per-
cent of Jefferson and Wasco
counties ceded to the United States.
Early history deemed tribal peoples
of America as only occupiers of
the land, primitive hunters and
gatherers—that we didn’t own the
land only occupied…. Occupied
for thousands of years….? (Hear
more on this from Professor
Miller).
The religions of the day de-
clared us sub-human, primitive,
heathen savages… and if we
didn’t convert to their religion, we
could be conquered or extermi-
nated for religious reasons.
The land related to our
Indianess and way of life is 10
million acres plus, not just the
640,000 acres reserved for our
exclusive use. The word ‘re-
served’—an important word to
relate to the Treaty and our tribal
way of life: We reserved, kept
for ourselves, retained rights from
the past, to today and into the fu-
ture… Ewa-cha-nai.
No one gave us the lands for
the reservation, no one gave the
right to fish, hunt, gather and pas-
ture our stocks on and off-reser-
vation. We had those before the
United States of American, Or-
egon or Middle Oregon Treaty of
1855. The reserved rights doc-
trine.
In America, you hear of the
private property owners talk about
their bundle of rights, so also do
the four Columbia River Treaty
tribes—Yakama, Umatilla, Nez
session and enjoyment of such per-
manent home and the improve-
ment thereon; and he may, at any
time, at his discretion, after such
person or family has made location
on the land assigned as a perma-
nent home, issue a patent to such
person or family for such assigned
land, conditioned that the tract shall
not be aliened or leased for a longer
term than two years and shall be
exempt from levy, sale, or forfei-
ture, which condition shall continue
in force until a State constitution
embracing such lands within its lim-
its shall have been formed, and the
legislature of the State shall remove
the restrictions.
Provided, however, That no
State legislature shall remove the
restrictions herein provided for
without the consent of Congress.
And provided, also, That if any
person or family shall at any time
neglect or refuse to occupy or till a
portion of the land assigned and
on which they have located, or shall
roam from place to place indicat-
ing a desire to abandon his home,
the President may, if the patent
shall have been issued, revoke the
same, and if not issued, cancel the
assignment, and may also withhold
from such person, or family, their
portion of the annuities, or other
money due them, until they shall
have returned to such permanent
home and resumed the pursuits of
industry, and in default of their re-
turn the tract may be declared
abandoned, and thereafter assigned
to some other person or family of
Indians residing on said reserva-
tion.
Article 6. The annuities of the
Indians shall not be taken to pay
the debts of individuals.
Article 7. The confederated
bands acknowledge their depen-
dence on the Government of the
United States, and promise to be
friendly with all the citizens thereof,
Perce and Warm Springs. The
lands where their respective res-
er vations are, were already
owned by their tribes; the lands
ceded already owned and used by
their respective tribes.
One of the major points you
need to learn is Tribes kept or
reserved off-reservation rights to
fish, hunt, gather plants, and all
the rights they had before the
treaties were negotiated. Off-res-
ervation rights. How tribes chose
to protect those off-reservation
rights is up to the respective tribes.
In our treaty 50 percent of the
lands ceded to the U.S. is currently
under federal ownership. The other
50 percent that is non-federal rep-
resents the contemporary chal-
lenges of educating our neighbors
of the land, our rights and our
shared responsibilities to live up to
the spirit behind our Treaty.
Middle Oregon Treaty is an old
out-of-date document. So is the
United States Constitution. A good
reminder of being here first is: In-
dians are the only people mentioned
in the United States Constitution,
and the Constitution declares Trea-
ties as the ‘… Law of the land.”
We, tribal people are still here,
on our homelands. We’ve been
through tough times, earthquakes,
fires, volcanoes, diseases, floods…
we’ll make it through the Ameri-
can experience and proudly remain
as we were yesterday. The treaty
helps us live the way we want to
live, judging new values and how
they fit our way of life.
‘Great nations like great men
should keep their word.’ – U.S. Su-
preme Court Justice Hugo Black,
1953.
Louie Pitt.
and pledge themselves to commit
no depredation on the property of
said citizens; and should any one
or more of the Indians violate this
pledge, and the fact be satisfacto-
rily proven before the agent, the
property taken shall be returned,
or in default thereof, or if injured
or destroyed, compensation may be
made by the Government out of
their annuities; nor will they make
war on any other tribe of Indians
except in self-defense, but submit
all matters of difference between
them and other Indians to the Gov-
ernment of the United States, or
its agents for decision, and abide
thereby; and if any of the said In-
dians commit any depredations on
other Indians, the same rule shall
prevail as that prescribed in the
case of depredations against citi-
zens; said Indians further engage
to submit to and observe all laws,
rules, and regulations which may
be prescribed by the United States
for the government of said Indi-
ans.
Article 8. In order to prevent
the evils of intemperance among
said Indians, it is hereby provided,
that if any one of them shall drink
liquor to excess, or procure it for
others to drink, his or her propor-
tion of the annuities may be with-
held from him or her for such time
as the President may determine.
Article 9. The said confeder-
ated bands agree that whensoever,
in the opinion of the President of
the United States, the public inter-
est may require it, that all roads,
highways, and railroads shall have
the right of way through the res-
ervation herein designated, or
which may at any time hereafter
be set apart as a reservation for
said Indians.
This treaty shall be obligatory on
the contracting parties as soon as the
same shall be ratified by the Presi-
dent and Senate of the United States.
Joel Palmer, Superintendent of
Indian Affairs, O.T.
Louie Pitt