Wednesday June 22,2005

Klamath Falls Herald and News Editorial

The story of termination of the Klamath Tribes permeates Klamath County history and culture.

But which story is it? The one that says the Indians were swindled out of their land, or the one that says they knowingly made a deal to sell it? Or is it a story that contains elements of both?

It's important, we think, for local residents to know the facts - or at least the facts as best the Herald and News can determine them. Today's movement to re-establish a tribal reservation grows from the belief that tribal members were cheated. The justification for that belief turns on the termination process.

These feelings also play a role in continuing conflicts over water, and in other relations between tribal members and the rest of the people in the Klamath Basin.

During the past 16 months, Dylan Darling, the newspaper's natural resources writer, spent hundreds of hours talking to people and reviewing documents at the Shaw Library at Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath County Museum and the University of Oregon.

The result is the five-part series that began Sunday and ends Thursday.

We don't expect it to settle the issue.

We do expect, however, to put a well-researched context to stories and opinions that are common about what happened 50 years ago in the process that ended the 1.2-million acre Klamath Indian Reservation, and the Klamaths' status as a tribe.

We think that certain facts can be agreed on, and we especially invite those who can present verifiable facts that disagree with material presented in the series to write to us. Our e-mail address is heraldandnews@heraldandnews.com. The postal address is Herald and News, Box 788, Klamath Falls, OR 97601, the street address is 1301 Esplanade Ave., Klamath Falls, and our fax number is (541) 885-4456.

We want your opinions. What should happen next - anything? How is fairness best served? Or has it been served already?

We're not presenting this series with the idea that it's going to settle the arguments. It won't. It may even start some new ones. But these disagreements are worth having because they can help Basin residents understand the past and present, and point some direction for the future.

Editorial board

Pat Bushey wrote today's editorial, which represents the view of the Herald and News editorial board.