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Livelihood and tribal government on the Klamath Indian Reservation

Human organization20 • Published In 1962 • Pages: 172-180

By: Stern, Theodore.

Abstract
This article is an examination of the vitality and effectiveness of the Klamath Indian tribal government and its relationship to the tribal economy. By privatizing reservation land, the Dawes Act (1895) was designed to break up the tribal 'mass' and to 'individualize' the Indians. However, in the case of the Klamath, a large tract of forest land (860,000 acres), unsuitable for farming, continued to be held in common and administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which later leased it to commercial lumber interests. In 1950, the per capita income earned by reservation Indians from commercial lumbering exceeded the median county family income. This dependency on an assured income and contentment with the status quo undermined Klamath economic diversification and development, weakened tribal solidarity, and engendered general political apathy. The more politically active did form factions and vied for control over various executive committees within the General Council, however, the factions did not have wide support because they did not control the tribes most valuable resource: its timberland.
Subjects
Real property
Tribe and nation
Deliberative councils
Public welfare
Political parties
Elections
culture
Klamath
HRAF PubDate
1998
Region
North America
Sub Region
Plains and Plateau
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 1996
Field Date
1949-58
Coverage Date
1864-1958
Coverage Place
Klamath County, Oregon, United States
Notes
Theodore Stern
Includes bibliographical references
LCCN
47033317
LCSH
Klamath Indians