We, the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a nation of First Americans, have
survived many trials and tribulations since the creation of the original
Colville Indian Reservation in 1872 when 12 bands or tribes of indigenous
native people were ordered to live within the boundaries of tract of
land located in what was then called Washington Territory.
At its inception
by a Presidential Executive Order on April 9, 1872, the former Colville
Indian Reservation was in a different location and covered several million
acres of our aboriginal territory. Another Presidential Executive Order
issued on July 2, 1872, moved the Colville Indian Reservation to its
present location on the west side of the Columbia River and diminished
its size to less than three million acres.
On July 1, 1892,
the north half of the Colville Indian Reservation was ceded to the United
States by an Act of Congress. The 1892 cession of the north half reduced
the reservation to 1.4 million acres, the acreage that is located within
its boundaries today, 125 years later.
The Colville Indian
negotiators of 1892 were able to reserve the right for members of the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to hunt and fish on
the former north half of the reservation for time immemorial.
Other significant
Congressional Acts and federal policies have directly influenced the
destiny of the Colville Indian Reservation such as the Reservation Allotment
Act of 1887, the McLaughlin Agreement of 1905, two Presidential Proclamations
in 1900 and 1916 and further federal decisions in 1935 and 1956.
Today, the Colville
Indian Reservation covers 2,100 square miles of tribal government and
tribal member owned lands held in federal trust and thousands of non-trust
status acres owned by others. Our reservation homelands are diverse
with natural resources such as standing timber, varied terrain, streams,
rivers and lakes plus native plants, fish and wildlife.
We are proud to
be one of 26 American Indian Tribes located within the State of Washington.
With over 8,000 members in our tribal society, we are the second largest
tribe in the Northwest. We are the descendants of the First Americans
who came before us and lived in harmony with their natural surroundings
more than 125 years ago.
As we celebrate
the survival of the Colville Indian Reservation this year, we thank
the Creator for our sovereign nation and the diverse resources of our
tribal confederation including Colville Indian People, the strength
of our civilization, the land and its bounty.
NOW, THEREFORE I,
JOSEPH A. PAKOOTAS, Chairman of the Colville Business Council, by virtue
of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and By-Laws of the
Confederation of the Colville Reservation, do hereby proclaim the year
of 1997 for recognition and celebration of the 125th Anniversary of
the Colville Indian Reservation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF,
I have hereunto set my hand this twenty sixth day of September, also
known in the United States of America as American Indian Day, in the
year of our Creator nineteen hundred and ninety seven, and of the creation
of the Colville Indian Reservation the one hundred and twenty fifth.
The Honorable Joseph
A. Pakootas
Colville Business Council
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