Smoke Signals 7
6 JANUARY 15, 2011
JANUARY 15, 2011
Former Oregonian reporter Roberta Ulrich details reasons behind and effects of federal policy toward Indians
Smoke Signals
By Dean Rhodes
Smok Signal editor
Former Oregonian reporter Ro
berta Ulrich spent most of the last
decade thoroughly researching and
writing a book about the federal
government's disastrous policy of
terminating Native American
Tribes in the 1950s, as well as
Tribal efforts to regain federal rec
ognition beginning in the 1970s.
"American Indian Nations from
Termination to Restoration, 1953- -2006"
was published Dec. 1, 2010,
by the University of Nebraska
Press.
The book benefits greatly from
Ulrich's dogged reporter's research
ing skills and her ability to pres
ent a balanced and documented
account of what occurred, letting
readers determine who the victims
and villains are in this real-life tale
of federal policy, rigid ideology and
individual despair. In addition,
Ulrich's straightforward newspa
per writing style never bogs down
the narrative.
Ulrich, who covered Tribes for the
Oregonian from 1993 until her retire
ment in 1996, previously had written
"Empty Nets: Indians, Dams, and
the Columbia River" before tackling
Termination and Restoration.
"Termination had always seemed
to me to be another injustice against
the Tribes," she says during a tele
phone interview from her Beaver
ton home. "It was something that,
when I looked at it, that no one had
really done it from the point of view
or the effects on Indian people. ...
To me, the worst thing about Ter
mination is what it did to individual
Indians."
Ulrich's research is unquestion
ably detailed. She visited National
Archives offices in Seattle, Washing
ton, D.C., and Maryland, poring over
numerous obscure documents. She
spent many hours reading congres
sional hearing transcripts at Lewis
& Clark College's Law Library.
Tribes, such as the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, supplied
documents to review and copy.
She talked in person and on the
phone with Native American lead
ers across the country, including
Grand Ronde Elders Leon "Chip"
Tom and Kathryn Harrison.
"I tried to base as much of it as
I could on interviews with people
who remembered Termination and
who had suffered the effects of it,"
Ulrich says.
In her opening chapter, titled
"Policy: Kill the Indians," she re
minds readers of the many at
tempts by the federal government
to "kill the Indian, save the man."
From land grabs, warfare, broken
treaties, disease, forced relocations,
Tribal boarding schools and elimi
nation of traditional food supplies, '.
such as the buffalo, Native Ameri
can Tribes and their cultures were
constantly under attack during this
country's history.
"At the end of these efforts," she
flit V
11 '
Photos by Michelle AJaimo
Above, Roberta Ulrich, a former
Oregonian reporter who currently
lives in Beaverton, has written
a book titled "American Indian
Nations from Termination to
Restoration, 1953-2006." She
interviewed Tribal Elders Leon
"Chip" Tom and Kathryn Harrison
for the book in addition to Native
American leaders across the
country
"American Indian Nations from
Termination to Restoration,
1 953-2006" was published on
Dec. 1, 201 0, by the University
of Nebraska Press.
writes, "Indians were still here,
mostly poor and afflicted with
all the problems of poverty ill
health, alcoholism, and lack of edu
cation but still defiantly Indian,
many clinging to scattered bits of
their homelands."
Ulrich then recounts the federal
policy intrigue behind the Termina
tion efforts against the Menomi
nees in Wisconsin, the Klamaths
and western Tribes in Oregon, the
Alabama-Coushattas of Texas, the
Catawbas of South Carolina, the
Paiute Bands in Utah, numerous
Tribes in California and Oklahoma,
and the Poncas of Nebraska.
Ulrich's stories of individual
Tribes and their Terminations re
veal that many factors contributed
to the federal government's effort
to end its trust responsibilities, and
Native peoples were either coerced
or outright ignored when it came
to Termination. For small, poor
Tribes, such as the Paiute Bands
of Utah, hearings were conducted
in Washington, D.C., with little
concern that Tribal representatives
were not in attendance.
Area Bureau of Indian Affairs
officials often misrepresented a
Tribe's attitude toward Termina
tion. In 1953, Grand Ronde Tribal
members voted 20-0 to demand
payment owed the Tribe for a land
claim judgment before discussing
possible Termination. The BIA pre
sented that resolution to Congress
in 1954 in making its case that
western Oregon Tribes approved
Termination.
"We were angry when we found
out we'd been terminated," Grand
Ronde Tribal Elder Leon Tom
recalled. "We were not paying at
tention." On a broad scale, societal factors
behind Termination included the
desire after World War II to reduce
governmental expenses, such as the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as
a view that continuing to federally
fund Native American Tribes was
somehow akin to socialism or com
munism. Termination efforts also were
aided greatly by the "relentless
ideology" of Republican Sen. Arthur
V. Watkins of Utah, who arrived in
the Senate in 1947 amid a flurry of
legislative proposals designed to get
the government "out of the Indian
business" and force assimilation.
"In Oregon, people tend to blame
former Gov. (Douglas) McKay and
the timber interests," Ulrich says. "I
think I was not prepared for the fact
that this was much more of an ideo
logical thing that predated McKay's
move to Interior, where he was in a
position to influence things. But he
bought into the whole idea.
"I had not really known that
much about Sen. Watkins of Utah,
and the more I read, the more I
realized what a bulldog he was
and how narrowly focused he was,
and he absolutely brooked no op
position." Watkins, who was chairman of
the Indian Affairs Subcommittee
of the Senate Public Lands Com
mittee, was responsible for amend
ing a House-approved bill that
would have paid Menominee Tribal
members $1,500 in Tribal funds
on deposit with the U.S. Treasury.
He substituted termination of fed
eral supervision for the requested
payment, and the bill passed the
. Senate and paved the way for the
Wisconsin Tribe's Termination.
"I don't think I have ever done
research where I have come across
someone that I began to so thor
oughly dislike," Ulrich says. "I hope
I at least gave him a fair break. ...
He just had this idea that Indian
Tribes should not exist and he
was determined to see that they
didn't."
Individual personal stories, how
ever, testify that the Termination
social experiment was "on a scale
that was as startling in its magni
tude as it was devastating to the
experimental subjects. The finan
cial, emotional and physical toll
was tremendous."
For instance, 25 years after 1954's
Termination, one-third of Grand
Ronde Tribal members were unem
ployed and more than two-thirds
lived below the poverty level. 'Twen
ty years after Termination," Ulrich
writes, "93 percent of western Or
egon Indians polled by the American
Indian Policy Review Commission
said they would advise other Tribes
not to vote for Termination."
S.D. Aberle, executive director of
the Commission on Rights, Liberties
and Responsibilities of the American
Indian, said, "One crucial problem is
that terminated Indians do not au
tomatically become average non-Indian
citizens with birth certificates,
Social Security numbers, recorded
land deeds and a command of Eng
lish and know-how which allows
them to operate in white society.
"They have difficulty in knowing
how to register to vote, how to com
ply with government regulations for
a fishing or hunting license, how to
obtain a Farmers Home loan or Soil
Conservation Service assistance or
other benefits the federal or state
government offers its citizens. So
Termination actually puts them in
a class something like the newly-arrived
peasant immigrants."
Ironically, Ulrich's research
proves that the move to reduce
federal government spending on
Native American Tribes more often
than not ended up costing federal
and state governments more as
- they were forced to deal with the
social ramifications of terminated
Tribal peoples unprepared to live
in the dominant culture.
Ulrich also recounts the Restora
tion efforts of each Tribe, starting
with the Menominees in Wisconsin
and including the efforts of the
4
JSCEPIlS
Invitation To Tribal Members,
Spouses of Tribal Members ,
Parent Off A Tribal Member And Legal Guardians Off
Grand Ronde Tribal Member Children
To Apply For The Temporary Staffing Pool
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's Temporary
Staffing Pool is accepting applications.
Tribal members, descendants, spouses of Tribal members,
parents of a Tribal member, and legal guardians of Grand
Ronde Tribal member children interested in assisting with
filling temporary vacancies on an "on-call" or an "extended
duration" basis are encouraged to contact the CTGR
Human Resources office. Employment applications are
available at the Human Resources office located in the
Governance Center, 9615 Grand Ronde Road.
ill -ni I
Applicants must pass the following background checks:
Criminal background
S I Work historyJ I I
References f J '
Tribal membership
" Drug screen ; C
J f
Temporary employees will be subject to the CTGR's
Employee nanaDooK.
'-J
This is an exceUent opportunity for our membership to sup
plement their income and gain experience while aiding us in f
continuing a smooth delivery of services.
Siletz, Grand Ronde, Cow Creek
Band of Umpqua Indians and the
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Tribes in Oregon. She shows how
Restoration, coupled with economic
development spurred by gaming
profits from casinos permitted
under the Indian Gaming Regula
tory Act of 1988, have helped ter
minated Tribes regain some of the
economic, educational and health
care ground they lost during de
cades of Termination.
However, most current-day Trib
al leaders continue to lament the
culture that was lost during two to
three generations of Tribal mem
bers who grew up without knowing
their Native heritage.
"We lost a lot of culture," says
Michael Rondeau, chief financial
officer for the Cow Creek Band of
Umpqua Indians. "We will never be
sure of some things we lost."
Ultimately, one is left wondering
what the federal government was
thinking when it adopted Termina
tion as a policy.
"There appear to be three an
swers," Ulrich writes in the book's
epilogue. "1. Saving money; 2. Get
ting rid of the Indians as Indians
once and for all; 3: They weren't.
While that last answer may seem
flippant, a study of records indi
cates that the policy was largely
decided, and then reasons were
developed to support it."
Ulrich says her most recent book
will be the final one she writes
about Native American issues. She
is 82 and, at the behest of her two
sons, she will write a memoir about
her journalism career and work on
family genealogy.
"For me, it was something that
needed to be written," Ulrich says.
"I would say we should learn the
lessons from Termination that
it was a wrong-headed policy; that
it did great damage; and that we
should never allow any such thing
to happen again."
"American Indian Nations from
Termination to Restoration, 1953
2006" can be ordered for $45 from
the University of Nebraska Press
by calling 800-848-6224 or visiting
the Web site at www.nebraska
press.unl.edu. A copy also can be
checked out from the Tribal Library
in Grand Ronde.
"I keep telling people that the
book is more interesting than the
title and the cover," Ulrich jokes.
For those interested in Native
American history and federal In
dian policy, she's right. D
District picks Kalapuya as name
of new elementary school
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Salem-Keizer School Board
voted Tuesday, Jan. 11, to name its
new elementary school after the Ka
lapuya Tribes of the Willamette Val
ley, making it the first Salem-Keizer
school building named in honor of
Oregon's Native American culture.
The Kalapuya Tribe is one of the
five main Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Confederation. Board directors ac
knowledged during the meeting that
the Kalapuya peoples have a long
history in Oregon.
"We need to honor history," said
Board Director Steve Chambers.
"What better way to do that than to
name a school after the people who
lived in this area for 8,000 years?"
The name honors the 19 Kalapuya
Tribes that lived throughout the
Willamette Valley from the coast to
the Cascade Range, according to the
Salem Statesman-Journal. As many
as 30,000 Santiam Tribal members
thrived near Salem and about 10,000
Yamhill Tribal members lived across
the river.
Tribal member David Lewis, Cul
tural Resources Department man
ager for the Grand Ronde Tribe, said
he was encouraged that the district
would name a school after the Kala
puya peoples.
"It's good that people are becoming
aware there is a previous history
here," he said.
Lewis submitted a letter support
ing the Kalapuya name for the school.
The letter outlined the long and
continuous history of the Kalapuya
Tribes in the region, including some
of the Kalapuya place names, such as
Chemawa, Chemeketa and Yamhill,
and the fact that Salem is a location
historically chosen by Tribal mem
bers to live in with easy access to the
Reservation throughout the last 150
years of the Tribe's history.
Ad created by George Valdez
Nick Sixkiller is master of ceremonies
POWWOW continued
from front page
annual powwow is Nick Sixkiller,
arena director is Grand Ronde
Tribal member Deitrich Peters
and vendor coordinator is Mona
Fisher, who can be reached at
800-922-1399, ext. 1230, 541-444-8230
or at monafctsi.nsn.
us.
The powwow will echo the two
previous events with Tribal edu
cational booths, Native craft dem
onstrations, cultural drumming,
dancing and Tribal vendors.
There also will be men's, wom
en's and youth Western Oregon
style Tribes hat dances. Fam
ily dances will include mother
daughter and fatherson, and
there will be a veterans' recogni
tion honor dance.
Parking costs $3. D