Therefore, this indemnity is a responsibility of the Federal Government whether the property is disposed of to private interests or to a Federal agency. This is a point few people realize and it is a point that AFA could very well make." In spite of these very intelligent pleas made on behalf of the Klamath Indians they still lost. The association knows what the intelligent approach to termination is it should simply be what amounts to a probate of an Indian estate among the living Indian heirs in such a manner to vest each individual Indian heir his equal negotiable cash share representing his equity in his Indian estate in such a manner so as to fulfill the Federal Government's role as the Indians' guardian and protector of the individual's equity and further its role of a sovereign and protector of the economy, but not in such a manner as to cause the individual Indians to lose in order to save the economy. Mrs. WONG. That ends Mr. Arcasa's statement. Senator FANNIN. Is there anything else you have? Mrs. WONG. I have just a complaint to make here and then I will be through. Senator FANNIN. Is it germane to this bill? Mrs. WONG. Yes; it is germane to some of the people who are in this room. Senator FANNIN. I want to know specifically is it germane to this bill. Mrs. WONG. Certainly, certainly. This concerns Colville. Senator FANNIN. If you will highlight it and if this be involved we can have it. Mrs. WONG. In the year 1855 there were placed certain tribes of Indians on our land, and these same Indians-the Nez Perces and Moses Tribe mentioned here are the ones always accusing us, the original Colvilles, of stealing-stealing their reservation down the river. How do you like that, when it says here The Government set aside to him part of their lands (Columbia Indian Reserve) and then sold that "Moses agreement July 7, 1883," without consulting either the Indians who owned the land or resided thereon and they objected to foreigners like Moses and his people and Chief Joseph and his people being further imposed upon them, and allotted on the barren lands which the Government had left to them. Then you see the reports so forth and so forth. Senator FANNIN. Are you going to submit this? Mrs. WONG. You may have this one. Senator FANNIN. You mark what was covered in your reading there. Mrs. WONG. What I was reading, that is on page 2, at the bottom of page 2. Senator FANNIN. All right. Fine. The staff will determine the germaneness of it. Mrs. WONG. And finish page 3. Senator FRANK CHURCH, WASHINGTON STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHURCH: On request of Mrs. Mary Hall Wong, chairman of the Tacoma Chapter of the Colville Indian Association, we have typed for her a copy of a "brief statement of certain claims of Okanogan and Colville Indians, of the State of Washington, against the United States, submitted on hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Repre sentatives, 68th Congress on H.R. 9160." Mrs. Wong is sending you this copy today and would apprceiate if it could be inserted in the Congressional Record. Most sincerely, FRANCINE R. SEDERS, Librarian. The following is a brief statement of the facts and conditions which are presented in support of H.R. 9160, introduced by Mr. Hill, of Washington, May 10, 1924, to authorize certain Indian tribes and bands to submit to the Court of Claims certain claims growing out of treaties and otherwise. The original tribes or bands of Indians, now known and designated as the Okanogan and Colville Indians, include the several separate bands originally known as the Okanogan, the Methow, the Nespelems, the San Poiles, the Colville or Schwelpi Indians, and the Lake Indians, etc. These Indians claim compensation from the United States on account of a large area of land once owned and occupied by them along the south and east sides of the Columbia River, and on the west side of the Okanogan River, in the State of Washington, from the summit of the Cascade Mountains, east to the summit of the Kalispell Mountains, and north to the Canadian boundary line, and hunting and fishing rights the possession which has been taken from said Indians by the U.S. Government without treaty with or compensation to said Indians. In the year 1823, Gov. Isaac I. Stevens, in a general way, established a record of the outer boundaries of the land of these Indians, and all other Indians in Washington Territory, and in 1855, at what was known as the Walla Walla Council and Treaty of May and June 1855, the general question of tribal boundaries was considered, both of the nontreaty tribes, and of those different tribes and bands of Indians for whom reservations were then established, and with whom treaties were then and there made. Although individual members of the Okanogan and Colville Tribes, as now known and designated, were present at this Walla Walla Treaty Council, no treaty was made with these tribes, but they were promised by Governor Stevens that they would be separately treated with later with a view to entering into formal treaties and establishing permanent reservation boundaries out of their lands. On December 4, 1855, at the council held at Antoine Plantes' place on the Spokane River, Governor Stevens, as Commissioner and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for said territory amongst other things, again assured these Indians as a representative of the Government, that "your rights are your rights and you shall not be deprived of them *** I, your friend, say that your lands will not be taken from you." As a part of the report of his proceedings as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Governor Stevens had prepared, under his direction in March 1855, a map of the Indian nations and tribes of the territory of Washington, etc. (map No. 187, tube 1033, and endorsed Wash., Sup. W. 368 1857), this map approximately correctly sets out the ownership and possession by the Okanogan and Colville Indians, as now known and designated, of the land above referred to, and the buffalo hunting grounds held in common with other tribes. Various causes, the Indian War of 1855-58 and the disturbances therefrom; the gold mining excitement 1955-65; the outbreak of the Civil War, etc., defeated Governor Stevens' intention to negotiate and execute formal treaties with the Okanogan and Colville Tribes, as now known and designated, for the extinction of part of these Indian land titles. The map of W. P. Winans, Indian agent, accompanying the annual report of 1871 and the annual report of 1871 (serial No. 1505, 42d Cong., 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. No. 1, p. 710) sets out the lands in question as still in the possession of these Indians without treaty. No treaties have ever been made with these Indians with respect to the lands above referred to and the so-called Colville Reservation was created by Executive act of April 8, 1872, without treaty for or relinquishment by the Indians of the lands above referred to. The Executive order of April 8, 1872, made without treaty or consent of these Indians, created the first Colville Reservation and set aside to these Indians possession of a fertile and valuable part of the lands first described and occupied by Indians in what is known as the "Chewelah and Colville Valleys." The Executive order of July 2, 1872, creating the curtailed Colville Reservation omitted all of the lands first described and for which compensation is now claimed and was also made without the consent or treaty ratification of these Indians. The lands claimed, excluded from the Executive order of July 2, 1872, were beyond all question, the most valuable and best suited to agriculture of all the lands owned and occupied by these tribes while that set aside to the Indians, was, as shown by the contemporary reports of the Government Indian agents at the time, described as "Mostly a conglomeration of barren rocky mountains," "Most of it is too rocky, gravelly or sandy to be fit for agricultural purposes," "There is rock enough on the reservation to supply the world,” etc. (serial No. 1610, 43d Cong., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 1, 663-665 pp.). "I consider it totally unfit for cultivation," report of Agent J. A. Simmes, December 10, 1873. [From the contemporary report of the Colville Indian Agent, John A. Simmes, Fort Colville, Wash. Ter., Dec. 10, 1873, to J. P. C. Shanks, Washington, D.C., Ser. No. 1584, 43d Cong., 1st sess., Mis. Doc. No. 31, pp. 8 and 9.] "From what I saw of the Reservation, I am convinced that there is not more agricultural land on it than would suffice for the two tribes already residing there, namely, the Okinakans and San Poils" "On the Okinakane, where Smith told General Milroy 30,000 could be located, "There is not farming land enough to make a respectable garden, and if Smith and Buck John had to depend on their farms for a living they would surely perish. You know that Smith acknowledged that his family had to resort to the fishery. No, General, the arable land is not on the Okinakane, nor is it on the Nespelem, nor on the San Poil, nor on the Lettle (meaning Kettle) River, nor is it anywhere on the reservation in sufficient quantity for 4,000 or 5,000 Indians to subsist themselves by agriculture.'" With respect to the territory west of the Okanogan River, these Indians claim that the Executive order of April 19, 1879, creating the Columbia Reservation for Chief Moses out of this part of their lands was without their knowledge or consent, and that the further Moses agreement of July 7, 1883, relinquishing the Columbia Reservation was also without their knowledge or consent. The rightly claim that Moses first sold his own country then induced the Government to set aside to him part of their lands (Columbia Indian Reserve) and then sold that (Moses agreement July 7, 1883) without consulting either the Indians who owned the land or resided thereon and they objected to foreigners like Moses and his people and Chief Joseph and his people being further imposed upon them, and allotted on the barren lands which the Government had left to them. (See Report Sidney D. Waters, August 12, 1885, Serial No. 2379 H. Ex. Doc. 1, pt. 5 p. 6089.) As late as Aug. 15, 1987, Geo. H. Newman, Indian Agent, Colville Indian Agency Miles, Washington, reporting to the Commission: "It (the Colville Reservation) is very rough and mountainous in character and heavily timbered, about one-sixth being fit for agricultural and grazing purposes." (Serial No. 3641, 55th Cong., 2d sess., H. Doc. No. 5, p. 288.) Report of Newman, Indian Agent, Aug. 22, 1896, Serial No. 3489, 54th Congress, 2d session, H.D. 5 p. 309, said: "The country comprising the Colville and Spokane Reservations is rough and mountainous in character and very little part of it can be utilized for agricultural purposes." These bands of Indians never waged war against the U.S. Government and have peacefully waited 75 years for the fulfillment of Governor Stevens' assurances, often repeated by subsequent commissioners, agents, and representatives of the Government that "Their rights are their rights," and that they would not be deprived of them and that "Their lands would not be taken from them" without treaty and just compensation. At the instance of covetous white settlers the Government, without the consent of these Indians, by Executive order created a reservation out of the poorest and most barren of their lands, and by promises, persuasion, and coercion of military force at Fort Colville, and the aggression of white settlers, forced and crowded these Indians from the richest and most valuable of their lands, for which the Government has made no treaty, and has paid these Indians no compensation. The present jurisdictional bill is for the purpose of granting to these Indians the right to ask for simple and belated justice by enabling them to prosecute before the court of claims their claims for compensation growing out of their dealings with the Government with respect to the above-described lands of which they have been deprived by the United States without compensation and treaty, and their claims embrace compenstion for: First, the taking possession by the United States and its citizens of a broad expanse of territory which these tribes or bands of Indians and their forebears had held in fee simple title, founded on their exclusive use and occupancy thereof from time immemorial, and their exclusive right and tile to which was recognized by both the neighboring tribes and by the U.S. Government. Second, the destruction of hunting grounds and rights, fishing grounds and rights, and camas and couse grounds, and berry fields. Third, the seizure and appropriating of cultivated lands, improvements, timber, etc., within the territory described. For the purpose of briefly explaining the purpose of H.R. 9160 and the claims of the Indians named, this statement is respectfully submitted by: SPOKANE, WASH. WILLIAM S. LEWIS, Attorney. Representing the said tribes and bands of Índians. Senator FANNIN. Thank you very much. Mrs. WONG. I did have more but Senator FANNIN. Anything else you want to submit the staff will go through and determine if it is germane to the bill. Thank you very much. Mr. Edwards, do you have anything further? Mr. EDWARDS. No. The only thing is each one of us has asked a question that the subcommittee prevail upon the Indian Claims Commission to allow us the opportunity Senator FANNIN. That is not germane to this hearing, sir, and I am sorry but we cannot comply with this request. What we are here today for is to determine what you would like to say regarding the bill S. 1413. Mr. EDWARDS. I have one question to ask you. The reason we asked was because in their testimony there are people under oath who said officers of the association were lying and this same thing could be used against them. Senator FANNIN. Mr. Edwards, there has not been anybody under oath at the hearings here today. Mrs. TOULOU. În the 15th of March. Senator FANNIN. You are talking about the Indian Claims Commission which is a judicial body. So any statements you desire to make to the Commission, of course, is up to them to determine. Mr. GRORUD. I am an attorney for these people. In regard to the Indian Claims Commission, we had a hearing on March 15. These people have no money to travel, and I did not know it at that time and certain people came down here and told a lot of falsehoods and perjured themselves in my judgment and, of course, the Commission, I asked for further time, but-this may be off the record. Senator FANNIN. Yes, sir. (Discussion off the record.) Senator METCALF (presiding). The next witness, unless there are any more witnesses representing the Colville Indian Association Mrs. WONG. I have a short statement for inclusion in the record. Senator METCALF. It will be included. (The statement referred to follows:) THE BIRTH OF THE COLVILLE INDIAN ASSOCIATION AND ITS PURPOSE The Colville Indian Association (CIA) was formed to uphold the Indian's rights. Its aims were to bring everything out into the open, to investigate, to hear grievances, to right wrongs. The CIA is a nonprofit organization. The CIA flourished in a good yearwe have boasted a membership of 721 persons-paid memberships, and many unpaid members who were the followers but not on our books. We have had a rough road to travel. Time and time again we have been denounced by our tribal business council as an ineffective group with no power of any kind. The business council has continually used our money to fight us. We depend on the $2 membership dues and donations from our members and we do not publish our members' names for fear they may be reprimanded in the form of loss of jobs and receiving tribal loans. All this may sound a bit farfetched to you. In order to understand an Indian problem you have to be an Indian and be one who has lived on an Indian reservation. I have always taken a great interest in our Indian problems. This stems from the fact that my uncle was the Chief of the Colvilles. My whole life, it seems to me, has been wrapped in a round of Indian meetings. And now my children are also becoming interested and have found themselves in the same situation. The Indian problem has yet to be resolved. We have waited so long-how much longer must we wait to have our property and our lives turned free?—to enjoy the privileges of a free people. Most of our problems we create ourselves. We become fearful and bored. We feel that the CIA is dragging its feet. Too little progress is being made so we stray away from the mother organization, form splinter groups, jump from one bill to another, hoping for a just solution to the problem-only to find that we are right back from where we started. This must be confusing to the ones who are sincere in their efforts to help us. It is no wonder some give up, throw up their hands and say, "The Indian does not know what he wants." The past, present, and our future are closely related. The road we are on today is well worn by others before us. Everything we have today was held intact by our forefathers of yesteryear. They must not be forgotten. Without their experience, their encouragement for us to take part in legislation, the careful preparation. The careful preparation to those who were interested to take their places, to ready themselves to learn, observe, to wait for a day such as this. I am here to ask that justice be done to my people. It is long overdue in arriving. And also I want to go on record in my defense concerning testimony given at the Indian Claims Commission recently where it was stated I had not made a tabling motion when I had. I made that motion and it should have been recorded on the tape recorder the tribal council had at the meeting. Last but not least I wish to thank Senator Jackson for giving the association the opportunity to be heard. MARY HALL WONG, Treasurer, Colville Indian Association. Senator METCALF. The next witnesses will be those representing the petitioners party and, Frank, that is your group and Mr. T. B. Charley. Mr. GEORGE. Yes, and Dr. Sherman. Senator METCALF. And Dr. Sherman. STATEMENTS OF T. B. CHARLEY, CHAIRMAN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, PETITIONERS PARTY OF THE COLVILLE CONFEDERATED TRIBES; FRANK GEORGE, ENROLLED AND ALLOTTED MEMBER; AND LOUIS CAMILLE, ENROLLED AND ALLOTTED MEMBER, CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE INDIAN RESERVATION; AND DR. PASCHAL SHERMAN, AN ENROLLED MEMBER, COLVILLE CONFEDERATED TRIBES Senator METCALF. Would you identify yourself for the reporter. Mr. GEORGE. Mr. Chairman, we are the petitioners party. Senator METCALF. Yes. Mr. Charles, T. B. Charley, Louis Camille, Frank George and Dr. Paschal Sherman. 46-705-65-10 |