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JPR: Cow Creek Band thrives despite broken government treaty






Headquarters of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon. Photo from Cow Creek Band

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon has prospered despite a broken treaty and being subject to termination:
The territory of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians once extended from Crater Lake to the Willamette Valley, and south to the Rogue River watershed. But in an 1853 treaty, the Cow Creek Band ceded 800 square miles of land for less than three cents an acre in return for protection, housing, and education.

The U.S. government mostly ignored the treaty provisions after 1855, but many members of the Cow Creek band and their descendants remained in Southern Oregon, electing tribal leaders, holding councils, and creating an endowment with funds secured in a land claims suit in 1980. As a result, the Cow Creek Tribal Nation has survived and today has some 1,600 members.

Get the Story:
Cow Creek Umpquas Prosper Despite Broken Treaties (Jefferson Public Radio 1/12)

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