Proceeds to credit of Yuma Indians. Interest. Proviso. Prior depredation claims. Lands open under general laws. Irrigating canal Water rents. realized from the sale of said lands, after deducting the That all of the lands ceded by said agreement which are not susceptible of irrigation shall become a part of the public domain, and shall be opened to settlement and sale by proclamation of the President of the United States, and be subject to disposal under the provisions of the general land laws. That the Colorado River Irrigating Company, which was granted a right of way for an irrigating canal through the said Yuma Indian Reservation by the Act of Congress approved February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, shall be required to begin the construction of said canal through said reservation within three years from the date of the passage of this Act, otherwise the rights granted by the Act aforesaid shall be forfeited. That the Secretary of the Interior shall have authority fro time to time to fix the rate of water rents to be paid by the said Indians for all domestic, agricultural, and irrigation purposes, and in addition thereto each male adult Indian of the Yuma tribe shall be granted water for one acre of the land which shall be allotted to him, if he utilizes the same in growing crops, free of all rent charges during the period of ten years, to be computed from the date when said irrigation company begins the delivery of wate on said reservation. Mr. SAVILLA. I submit to you that the United States has failed to carry out its trust responsibilities to the Quechan Indians by allowing agents of the trustee, namely the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, and local governments, such as the State of California, the State of Arizona, and others, to encroach upon, destroy and deprive the rightful use of the resources given to the Quechan Tribe. The Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have failed to give our claims and complaints the attention that is deserved and mandatory. This is for the record. Senator ABOUREZK. Those will be admitted to the file. Mr. SAVILLA. As late as this past July we attempted to bring_our land matter before the Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C. We first took our case to Marvin Franklin, the Assistant to the Secretary, for presentation. He listened politely and then told us that he felt that he could not do anything for us. He suggested that we talk with the Secretary, Rogers C. B. Morton, with whom we thought we had an appointment. Secretary Morton refused to see us and when we insisted on seeing him we were referred then to the new Solicitor, Kent Frizzell. After a 2-hour session, Mr. Frizzell said that his Department would review our case and make a recommendation to the Secretary. He also said that he would write a letter to us for forwarding to the Indian Claims Commission. He would have this letter to our office written immediately. Three weeks later I still had not received the letter. I phoned him to remind him of it. Several days later I did receive a letter from him, but the letter said nothing about the disposition of our case. He knew the importance of this letter, so that the Claims Commission would table our claim in their files. I have a copy of Mr. Frizzell's letter for you. This has been the kind of runaround and nonaction that we have always received. Mr. Frizzell said that he would have to consult with the Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Land Management before he could make a recommendation to the Secretary. I insist that these agencies should have nothing to do with the decision. They have always been our enemies in matters concerning land and water. If the Secretary's decision is in our favor then these two Bureaus should accept it without question. This obvious and unconscionable conflict of interest within the Department of the Interior cannot be tolerated any longer. I believe that I can safely say that it will not be tolerated any longer by Indians all over America. [The letters referred to above follow:] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR, Mr. ELMER SAVILLA, President, Quechan Tribal Council, DEAR MR. SAVILLA: This is to confirm your meeting with me in my office on August 1, 1973. Thank you for the packet of information relative to the Quechan land problems. I have asked the attorneys in the Division of Indian Affairs to process this material promptly, and I will get back to you as soon as possible relative to this matter. In the interim. if there is anything that I can do to assist you, please don't hesitate to call. Sincerely, KENT FRIZZELL, Solicitor. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Imperial, Calif. QUECHAN TRIBAL COUNCIL, FORT YUMA INDIAN RESERVATION, CALIF., IMPERIAL COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, El Centro, Calif. RONALD REAGAN, Governor, State of California, Sacramento, Calif. DEAR SIRS: The Quechan Indian Tribe of the Fort Yuma, California Federal Reservation had their reservation boundaries defined and located by Presidential Executive Order in 1884. In 1893, a fraudulent contract was perpetrated upon the Quechan Indians and it was later ratified by the Congress of the United States. There were certain conditions of the contract which were to be performed by the United States and a time limit set for performance. The United States failed to carry out the conditions of the contract. The United States has also failed to carry out their responsibilities as Trustee for the Quechan Indians by allowing agents of the Trustee, namely the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, and local governments such as the State of California, the State of Arizona, the County of Imperial and others to encroach upon, destroy and deprive the rightful use of resources given to the Quechan Tribe to pursue their own destiny. Because of either or both of these two known facts, 1) a fraudulant contract, 2) non-performance, it is now my duty to inform you that the Quechan Tribe is re-affirming our position that we have held since 1884, regarding the ownership and jurisdiction of the area described in the Executive Order of January 9, 1884, which describes the reservation boundaries as follows: Beginning at a point in the middle of the channel of the Colorado River, due east of the meandor corner to Sections 19 and 30, township 15 South, Range 24 East, San Bernadino Meridan; thence west on the line between Sections 19 and 30 to the range line, between Townships 23 and 24 East; thence continuing west on the section line to a point which, when surveyed, will be the corner to Sections 22, 23, 26 and 27 in Township 15 South, Range 21 East; thence south on the line between Sections 26 and 27, in Township 15 South, Range 21 East, and continuing south on the section lines, to the intersection of the International Boundary, being the corner to fractional sections 34 and 35, in Township 16 south, Range 21 east; thence easterly on the International Boundary to the middle of the channel of the Colorado River; thence up the said river, in the middle of the channel thereof, to the place of the beginning; Provided, however, That any tract or tracts included within the foregoing-described boundaries to which valid rights have attached under the laws of the United States are hereby excluded out of the reservation. The Department of the Interior in 1931 caused a survey of the reservation boundaries to be performed and the corners marked. Since that time, correspondence between the various federal agencies has regarded this survey and markers to be the correct reservation boundaries. The principal trespassers are the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, the State of California and the Imperial Irrigation District. All trespassers, please be advised that the Quechan Tribal Council will not tolerate any activity upon the reservation which would 1) destroy the natural state of the resources, 2) remove sand, gravel or ground water. No activity of any kind that would be adverse to the ownership interest of the Quechan Tribe including but not limited to construction or erection of structures will be permitted without the express permission of the Quechan Tribal Council. Any action contrary to this declaration will immediately be met with an assertion and prosecution to sustain our legal rights. Sincerely, ELMER M. SAVILLA, President, Quechan Tribal Council. Mr. SAVILLA. Quechan rights to the waters of the Colorado River are also being threatened. The Winters Doctrine of 1907 established our priority date for the river water. The Supreme Court case of Arizona v. California quantified our supply. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has admitted that the irrigable acreage used to quantify our water was only a poor estimate. Acreage that long ago was classified as nonirrigable has become indeed irrigable using modern methods and technology. Yet we face uncooperative attitudes from the trustee's agents in getting our lands reclassified. About 75 percent of the lands which we wish to recover in our claim is presently classed as nonirrigable. In fiscal year 1973 the Bureau of Indian Affairs had $50,000 budgeted for our area for a water survey. When we asked to have such a survey made on our reservation a team of Department of Interior solicitors spent all 1 day telling us why it could not be done. Not enough time, they said-3 months. Not enough money, they said $50,000. When we persisted, and they agreed, the survey that was performed took 16 hours and cost $7,000. I am insisting that the so-called survey was not properly performed. This is another example of how the trustee refuses to carry out its responsibility. The various States are constantly pushing legislation that seeks to rescind our rights to Colorado River water, yet they continue to steal Indian water. A good example is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California which annually takes more than 800,000 acre-feet of water more than their allotment. This is from the Colorado River. This is a well-known and admitted fact, yet they are not made to stop. Yet we Indians are told that there is not enough water for the expansion and development of our reservations. The Southwest tribes have been attempting to organize to defend our water rights. The foremost expert in the Indian water rights field is Mr. William Veeder. He is employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Various Indian organizations have requested that Mr. Veeder be allowed to speak to their meetings and advise them. Mr. Veeder has a wealth of knowledge regarding Indian water rights, yet, the Secretary of the Interior has continually ignored telegrams and letters from Indian groups requesting to be allowed to use Mr. Veeder's expertise. This is a clear indication of the Secretary's unresponsibleness and unwillingness to help the Indian people. I might mention, too, Mr. Veeder is also a land expert. He knows more about our land claim than the tribe itself does. He has searched through the Archives in Washington finding bits of information and forgotten papers and letters and in our land claim he is an expert. Yet, we are denied his expertise. At this time I want to say that the Quechan Indians condemn the now defunct National Water Commission and their report, chapter 14, as being detrimental to Indian water rights. We wish to recommend to you that Indian representatives be used to provide Indian input to rewrite chapter 14. If allowed to become law, chapter 14 would demoralize the western tribes by destroying tribal sovereignty, such as it is, and allow non-Indian water users to trespass even more on Indian water. I don't believe the entire chapter 14 is bad, but being afraid, just reviewing portions of it might not serve the purpose. The last item that I wish to bring before you is the matter of Public Law 280. As you know, Public Law 280 was publicly acknowledged to be the first step toward termination of the Indian tribes. Additionally, it was imposed only on certain tribes without their consent, and in some cases even without their knowledge. In the case of the Quechan they did not realize the importance or the serious implication of Public Law 280. The people themselves did not know of the change from Federal to State jurisdiction. The State of California submitted a resolution to Congress stating that they were both unwilling and unable to provide the necessary service to the Indians. They later sent in a resolution memorializing Congress to carry out Public Law 280. During the past years the truth of this resolution has been very apparent to the Quechan. Our reservation is isolated from Imperial County services by 60 miles of hot, burning desert sands. Because of this the social services that we receive is very limited. Our older people suffer hardships and sometimes die because of this. The social workers do not, and make no attempt to, understand the great cultural difference between white and red. Up until very recently the county and State law was enforced to the point of almost "gestapo" methods. Arrests were made in great numbers with no thought of good police methods. Our game warden, who is a Federal officer and an Indian, was arrested while doing his duty. He was surrounded by five deputies holding shotguns and treated like a desperate criminal. The charges were dropped an hour later, but the damage had already been done. Senator ABOUREZK. If I might break in, I suppose it would be appropriate to comment at this time that that kind of activity is not restricted just to Indian people. It happens to everybody in the country, as witnessed by the Treasury Department's raids upon innocent people out in Illinois and Indiana, when they made the so-called drug raids and broke into the wrong houses and mistreated the people there. I used to be a defense lawyer before I got into politics, and I don't know how many times I defended people who had been wrongly accused, mistreated by the police, and so on. Some of them were Indians, some were white, some were black. It doesn't seem to matter, when you give people that kind of authority and they abuse and misuse it. It shouldn't happen to anybody, but I guess it can happen to anybody. Mr. SAVILLA. I guess that is the point, Senator, it should be stopped. Our public school system is among the poorest, monetarily, in the State of California and operates on an education system geared for an all non-Indian population. Neighboring States employ bicultural and bilingual methods of teaching and use Indian teachers. I voiced our complaints to the Imperial County Board of Supervisors almost 3 months ago and as of this date I have received no response from them. Because of President Nixon's statements of repudiating "termination" as a policy, the Civil Rights Act which guarantees equal treatment to all, the Quechan Tribe wishes to be treated like the tribes who are not under Public Law 280, and hereby requests your help in achieving retrocession of Public Law 280 for the Indians of California. |