by
Dr Calvin Hunt,
Calvin L. Hunt began
his medical practice in
The Klamath Indian Agency, a department of
he U.S. Government, supplied free medical care to all Indians and paid Dr. Hunt
for his services.
Schools were built by the government and
students received a stipend of $100 to $270 for books and tuition. There was a
60% drop out rate before graduation.
1956 census: Revealed only 351 full blood
Indians in
Senator Mark Hatfield believed integration
into the white community was better than segregation and welfare.
Public Law 587 was passed in 1954, which
provided for termination of the reservation and the formation of a committee of
management specialists consisting of: Tom Waters, Gene Favill of Lakeview,
and Bill Phillips. Representing the tribe were Seldon Kirk, Wade Crawford,
Lawrence Witt, and Dibbon Cook.
May 1956: A tribal executive committee was
formed consisting of: Seldon Kirk, Dibbon Cook, Boyd Jackson, Barclay L.
Nathan-Davis, Jesse Kirk, Joe Ball, O.T Anderson, Irwin Crume, Vincent Bodner,
Belford Lang, and Hi Robbins. The administrative assistant was Idella
Edgar (a white person) who served from 1955 to 1958. All of these men and
women were highly respected throughout
Termination procedure and education:
a. Information bulletins were sent to every
member.
b. Many tribal member informational meetings were
held.
c. Information bulletins explained what the vole
would entail.
d. Registered letters were sent to every person
certifying they received a ballot.
There were 2,133 voting members. 77%
of the Klamath Indians chose to sell. The land was not taken from the
Klamath Indians - it was their choice to sell.
Terms of the termination contract:
Klamath Indians retained their right for fishing, hunting, trapping and
gathering on 600,000 acres. The tribe was paid $243 million dollars.
The appraised value of the timber at that time was $91 million dollars.
The approximate value of land and forest in the year 2001 is over $1 billion
dollars.
A national forest plan for sustained yield
from Winema National Forest was developed by Lawrence Shaw (Modoc Lumber
Company), Nelson Reid, Tom Waters, Senator Wayne Morris, Senator Richard
Neuberger, and Oregon Gov. Douglas McKay.
March 1994: The Economic
Self-Sufficiency Committee of the Klamath Tribe developed a Management Plan,
which anticipated annual harvest of timber of 54 million board feet, growing to
68 million in future years.
In 1986, the Klamath Tribe was recognized
as a sovereign nation by the
Constitution of the Klamath Tribes
and Amendments dated
Section III: The sovereign powers,
authority and jurisdiction may extend beyond the geographical boundaries of the
Klamath Tribes territorial jurisdiction.
Comment by Dr. Hunt: The management
of the
The slogan of the Klamath Indians is:
"Heal the land and heal the people." The land doesn't need
healing and belongs to all
The brazen gamble of the Klamath Indians to
get a free gift of $1 billion dollar value of land and forest from the
Sources:
1. Economic self-sufficiency committee of the Klamath Tribes
2. Constitution of the Klamath Tribes
3. Carroll B. Howe, historian, Superintendent of Klamath County
Schools, Oregon State Legislator.
4. Herald and News newspaper
5. Sustainability strategy of the
Dr.
Calvin L Hunt, M.D.
Klamath Falls,