article

Livelihood and tribal government on the Klamath Indian Reservation

Human organization • 20 • 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.

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