Herald and News Guest Column: We need rational discussion about what the Tribes 'want'

We need rational discussion about what the Tribes ‘want’

By ROD CLARKE

Guest writer

Klamath Falls Herald and News

February 5, 2007

On Feb. 6, at 10 a.m., the Klamath County Commissioners have scheduled a public meeting. The Klamath Basin Alliance is recommending that the county take a position opposing a future land base for the Klamath Tribes.

Over the last few years I have seldom read the Herald and News because I have found myself to be hurt and frustrated by the publication of letters containing lies, distortions, scare tactics, demagoguery, and even racism regarding the Klamath Tribes. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but no one has a license to be uncivil or misrepresent historical fact.

The current Basin Alliance position is the last straw for me; I can no longer be silent.

The Klamath Tribes currently do not have a land base proposal. Accordingly, I expect more Indian bashing.

Have a public forum

To elevate the discourse, I am challenging the Basin Alliance to select any individual, including Commissioner Bill Brown, to participate in a public forum on the history, legal status and potential role of the Klamath Tribes in the economy and future of Klamath County. I ask the Herald and News to moderate such a discussion if the Alliance is willing to have a rational, public dialogue.

I am a lifelong county booster and a supporter of the Klamath Tribes. My belief is that the average resident of the county is likely to be fair and principled on any issue if presented with facts rather than distortions and prejudgment.

The real threat to our local economy and quality of life comes from Washington, D.C. Federal policies terminated the Klamath Tribes, shut down our logging industry, and jeopardized fish and game and the local farming community by promising more water than was available. The real threat to our quality of life and our economy comes from outsiders.

Congress has proven that we can’t depend on it.

Blaming one another for situations not of our own making is misdirected and counterproductive. If any of us believes that the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration care about Oregon and Klamath County, call Rep. Greg Walden’s or Sen. Gordon Smith’s offices and ask them whether the funds promised in the Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act are a priority to officials in Washington, D.C.

The Klamath Tribes ceded 22 million acres of ancestral land to the United States, the benefits of which all of us continue to enjoy, in return for the promises of protection and services on the lands we reserved.

This reservation was protected by treaty, the supreme law of the land under the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, the feds ultimately condemned the Klamath Reservation, took the property through the equivalent of eminent domain, and paid individuals based upon the value of the ponderosa pine.

Statements inaccurate

Letters to the editor repeatedly state that the Tribe sold the reservation — even that we were paid multiple times.

These statements are historically and factually inaccurate.

The citizens of Oregon, including Klamath County, recently overwhelmingly voted to protect property owners from having their property taken from them without just compensation. I ask the Basin Alliance to apply this majority value to the Klamath Tribes.

If the Klamath Tribes submit a plan to create a Klamath Reservation in any form, Congress and the Department of the Interior will require local support. This is standard long-term federal practice and policy. If a proposed land base does not have substantial local support, it is unlikely to move forward.

Tribes have sovereign political powers, unless, and to the extent they are limited by Congress. A Klamath Reservation bill would have to fully define the rights and responsibilities of the Tribes as well as the community.

For example, when other Tribes have had reservation lands restored, there were specific in-lieu-of-tax payments to counties to keep them whole. The counties within the Grand Ronde territory do not have to worry about whether Congress will continue to make payments available, since they are guaranteed in specific tribal legislation.

If a Klamath Reservation had been created by Congress our community would not be faced with the current budget crisis.

I am preparing a fact sheet for separate publication citing indisputable historical facts regarding the history and legal status of the Klamath Tribes with the hope that the Basin Alliance is willing to have a rational discussion on the benefits and disadvantages of recreating a Klamath Indian Reservation.