A bill in the U.S. House to restore federal recognition to the Ruffey Rancheria in Northern California’s Siskiyou County is being amended so gaming could only happen in the original reservation and not in land the tribe has in neighboring Oregon.
The tribe was terminated by an act of Congress in 1958, and would be restored by an act of Congress. Chairman Tahj Gomes told Indianz.com “We are a Californian tribe, and we don’t have any territorial claim in Oregon.”
In a recent written testimony to a congressional committee, Gomes stated, “The Ruffey Rancheria’s membership consists of the descendants of the historic Indian villages of central Siskiyou County, California, who have long intermarried, traded, and shared in an interconnected cultural and political life.”
Concerns had been raised by the Consolidated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, which has a casino, and wants to build a new one; and by the city of Ashland, Oregon.
The bill, H.R. 3535, which was introduced by Rep. Doug LaMalfa, would restore 440 acres to the tribe.
Critics claim that the proponents, including Gomes, have no lineal connection to the original Rancheria.
According to one of those critics, Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery, chairman of the Karuk Tribe, writing in the Record Searchlight, “What we do know is that the original Rancheria’s namesake—Old Man Ruffey—was documented by the Department of Interior in 1905 as a landless Karuk Indian living in Etna. In 1907, DOI purchased land in Etna and created the Ruffey Rancheria for Old Man Ruffey and others. In 1961, Congress ended its federal relationship with the Ruffey Rancheria and distributed its 441-acre reservation to the four remaining members who were Karuk relations of Old Man Ruffey. Those four members of the Ruffey Rancheria are deceased and it’s unknown whether they had children.”
The claim is that someone not related to that last descendent saw “restoration” as a way to get around the lengthy Bureau of Indian Affairs recognition process.
The Karuk Tribe is poised to open the Rain Rock Casino in Yreka, the northernmost city in California, about an hour’s drive from Ashland. The Karuk tribe has been trying to get answers to where the new tribe would put its reservation since the bill would allow it to be situated on the Sacramento or Klamath rivers, even though the original reservation was near the town of Etna.
Officials in Ashland, Oregon, just across the border, are concerned the Ruffey Rancheria Native Americans who historically have lived in Siskiyou County, California, may use trust land to build a casino.
However, Gomes said, “We are a California tribe, and we don’t have any territorial claim in Oregon. We welcome and appreciate support from the city of Ashland for the restoration bill.”
In response to the Ashland City Council, which unanimously advised city staff to draft a letter “expressing concerns” over a potential casino in the city, LaMalfa’s Chief of Staff Mark Spannagel said, “We are working on an amendment to restrict the legislation to eastern Siskiyou County only. There’s no possibility of a casino in Ashland under any circumstances.”
Acting City Administrator Adam Hanks said city staff is aware of the pending amendment, but the letter was drafted as a cautionary measure. Staff members were told the letter should focus on the casino portion of the bill and support restoring federal recognition of the tribe, which Congress removed in 1958. “We are happy that the congressman will be restricting the land use within Siskiyou County, and our letter will latch onto that,” Hanks stated.
Councilor Dennis Slattery said the letter only is meant to “express concerns that we would be forced into doing something we might not want. We are not in the position to consider this matter. We don’t have any say in this, except for expressing concerns.”
