Critics of a bill in Congress that would restore the Ruffey Rancheria in Siskiyou County nearly a lifetime after the federal government abolished the tribe, are saying that there is something rotten about the process.
The neighboring Karuk Tribe says there are too many holes in the stories of the Ruffey Rancheria, and the people it claims as its ancestors, people claimed by other tribes too.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa is the author of H.R. 3535, which would reestablish the rancheria and create a process for the tribe to put land into trust, enroll members and establish water, fishing and land rights in what it claims to be its historical territory in Siskiyou County, near the Oregon border.
H.R. 3535 was recently approved by the House Natural Resources Committee 19-18.
The Karuk Tribe casts doubts on the people who seek to be members of this tribe, claiming they can’t prove they are descended from those who formed the original rancheria in 1906. It is one of several tribes that have raised issues with the bill.
The Karuks also say LaMalfa’s bill is politically motivated because the members of the Ruffey tribe oppose the plans to remove four Klamath River dams, which the congressman and Siskiyou County also opposes.
Karuk Tribe Executive Director Joshua Saxon told the Times-Standard, “This is a ploy by LaMalfa and Siskiyou County to reinvent the tribe that is a check on all the other tribes in the basin on the issues of water, fish and dam removal.”
Tahj Gomes, who is the tribal chairman of Ruffey Rancheria, counters, “For our families, federal restoration isn’t about providing a ‘check’ on other Indian Tribes in the Klamath River Basin, and it is unfortunate that Mr. Saxon believes that our Tribe’s basic sovereign right to be a Tribe should be denied on those grounds.” He added, “To us, restoration is about being recognized as a Tribe that survived the Termination era as an intact Indian community.”
A spokesman for the congressman says he has worked with descendants of the rancheria for many years, since he served in the Assembly.
Communications Director Parker Williams told the Times-Standard, “This issue with the bill has never once been raised with Rep. LaMalfa or his office. The text of the bill provides that: ‘Nothing in this Act shall expand, reduce, or affect in any manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and its members.’ Under this bill, the tribe would be afforded the same rights afforded to all federally recognized Indian tribes.”
Another organization that has raised questions about the Ruffey Rancheria includes the Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association.
Rep. Jared Huffman, who voted against the bill, commented last week, “[T]his is about whether the process is respecting the rights of the dozens of California tribes who are raising serious concerns.”
LaMalfa calls those “11th hour concerns.”
The bill is set to go before the House Rules Committee and could be voted on this summer. It would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to set aside land for the rancheria in Siskiyou County, but doesn’t set a limit. The fact that it jumps over procedures other tribes have to go through troubles some critics.
Gomes calls “the possibility of Federal restoration for our Tribe is a momentous occasion. It isn’t a question of politics; it is a question of social justice. For us, this legislation is an opportunity for us to be a federally recognized tribe once again.”
