A House bill H.R. 3535, that would recognize the Ruffey Rancheria several decades after the tribe lost federal recognition is turning out to be controversial, mainly because of neighboring tribes that doubt the rancheria’s bona fides.
The Ruffey Rancheria is based in Siskiyou County, in Northern California, which is where the tribe would like to reestablish what was once a 441-acre rancheria.
The groups who want answers and another hearing before the bill is passed include the Karuk Tribe, the Consolidated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.
They are asking the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs to let them be heard.
Robert Smith, chairman of the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, told Indianz, “We are concerned to learn that several tribal commenters in California and Oregon have raised questions about the group affiliated with HR 3535 that have gone unanswered.”
The Northern California Tribal Chairman’s Association has also written to the author of the bill, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, chairman of the subcommittee. “These questions go beyond the bill’s text, and address a range of critical issues, such as whether the group are the lineal descendants of the final distributes.”
It adds, “Despite neighboring the original Rancheria, these tribes were never contacted about the bill, nor did they have the opportunity to participate in the first subcommittee hearing about a bill that impacts their rights and interests.”
The Karuk tribe first raised questions, quoting historical sources about the last known resident of the old rancheria, Frank Ruffy aka Old Man Ruffey, whose direct descendent is “Bud” Lester Smith, who is one of the oldest members of the Karuk tribe.
Other sources link Old Man Ruffey to the Shasta Tribe. That includes a book called “Shasta Nation” in which the current chairman of the Ruffey Rancheria, Tahj Gomes, is also profiled.
At an appearance before the House committee in September Gomes described his rancheria’s members as consisting of “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.”
The Trump administration is deferring to the sub-committee on the matter.
When questions were first raised by a tribe in Oregon that was concerned the tribe’s territory might interfere with its territory, LaMalfa’s chief of staff told the press that a new version of the bill would limit the areas that could be part of the tribe’s new homeland to California.
Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery of the Karuk Tribe wants a second hearing. “So far, the concerns that have been raised by area tribes that would have their rights and resources impacted have not been adequately addressed by Congressman LaMalfa,” he declared last week. “Why the rush, and why so much secrecy?”
Joshua Saxon, the Karuk Tribe’s executive director, added, “The thing is, who is his tribe? All we’re doing is asking questions.”
The Ruffey Rancheria was originally 480 acres that the federal government purchased for “Etna and Ruffey’s” in 1915. In 1961 the federal government terminated federal recognition.
More than one tribe appears to trace its ancestry to Old Man Ruffey. Gomes claims that no one tribe can exclusively claim him as an ancestor.
Normally tribes are recognized through a complicated process followed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But that process may not be used for tribes that were terminated by an act of Congress.
