Centuries of Genocide: Modoc Indians, Part V (Termination Era, 1954-1986)

by: nulwee

Wed Nov 30, 2011 at 16:33:40 PM PST

^{photo credit: Aaron Huey}

Don't worry if you missed previous installments. This diary will serve as a stand-alone and as part of the series.

In the 20th century, there were two separate, legal, Modoc entities: the Klamath Tribes of Oregon, which includes the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahuskin peoples (a band of Snake Indians), created by an 1864 Treaty, and the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, who were created out of the US Army's POWs from the Modoc War of 1872-1873.

Blogging is a self-reflexive and responsive activity. Several commentators have appeared, calling these diaries "whining" about the past. Not relevant to present concerns.  That is not true.  This is a generational series, and by starting off with contact, we've worked our way with a context to the 20th century. We've covered the eras of (Fur) Trade, the First Reservation System (they stay over there) the Second Reservation System, (they move to there) the Indian Wars in the West, (kill the people) forced removal (we send them there) the Assimilation Era (save the man, kill the Indian) and now we come to a forgotten time. It's forgotten even though many of its survivors are still alive: The Termination Era. And many of you were alive then, too.

What is Termination? If I was to tell you that an Indian tribe legally existed and then it later didn't, you might find that a little surprising. But that's exactly what happened, multiple times, in modern American history.  So along came a proponent of assimilation.  He was a Western senator, a Mormon, moderately conservative, of the Republican Party. And he had a plan that would legally extinguish Modoc people in Oregon.

S.1200/H.R.1328 and the Future of Native American Health

by: CodeTalker

Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 12:07:31 PM PDT

I'm a (mostly) white grandfather with a bit of Mohawk in my background, and I live on the border of the Onondaga Nation in Central New York, USA. I've been disabled since 1995, and am a "handyman", computer whiz and googlegeek, or as my kids used to say: "My Daddy can fix anything!" (not true)

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