|
Our Past
Our Past
Before the onset of non-indian settlement, their once
was numerous traditional village up and down the Klamath river and
along the Pacific Ocean in Northern California. In 1938 the United
States of America purchased approximate 228 acres of land from the
current land owner Augusta Resighini, to be used for landless indians
of Humboldt and Del Norte counties. The indian people who returned for
the settlement of this land have historically exercised their
aboriginal rights to the lower Klamath River territory by fashioning,
hunting and gathering foods and materials used through cultural
methods, handed down from our ancestors to the present day tribal
members.
This land known as the Resighini Rancheria was
designated by the secretarial order and officially declares a
reservation in 1939. In 1975 a band of Yurok Indians stood together and
formally created a non-traditional form of government with a
constitution and bylaws which was approved and ratified by the last
indian commissioner Bruce Thompson from the department of interior of
the united states. However, curing the settlement of this land
disastrous flooding occurs periodically with a hundred year flood in
1964. This tragic event lends to the removal and evacuation of indian
families to other parts of the country. In 1979, the indian people
desiring to return to our known homeland began the challenge of
rebuilding.
Our members of the Resighini Rancheria have always been
known to have exercised the same rights as all other Yurok Indian
individuals. The use of traditional resource materials and foods, such
as hazel sticks, willow roots, alder bark, ferns, oliver shells, pine
nuts, acorns, salmon, steelhead, eels, huckleberries, blackberries,
herbs and deer meat are still being used today. By exercising those
rights to challenge are made by the new Yurok tribe of 1988 and
California department of Fish and Game. We encourage and support tribal
members to participate in local cultural activities offered in our
traditional areas.
Our tribal members participate by attending and/or
making of regalia of necklaces and ceremonial dress for the traditional
dances known as the Brush Dance held yearly; the Jump Dance and White
Deer Skins held every two years through the summer months at century
old sacred areas.
Today, our tribal government consists of a General
Council with an elected Tribal Council to operate our governmental and
private tribal affairs as well as represent the tribal needs of our
small membership. The Tribal Council consists of 5 tribal members who
are elected annually by staggered two year term of Chairman, Vice
Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and councilperson. Our general
membership serves on boards, committees, commission and corporations to
assist the Tribal Council. We have approximately 10 administration
positions and 26 casino employees.
Our tribal lands are located along the south bank of the
Klamath River and on the west by Highway 101 bridge and backed up
against privately owned land within what is now known as the Yurok
Reservation. We presently have increased our land base; we have five
homes, three tribal administration buildings, a tribally owned Gold
Bear Casino, a tribally owned Cher-ere Campground and are in the
process of other economic development projects.
In order to gain adequate services and programs to
increase employment social educational and health needs we united with
tribal organization such as United Indian Health, INC; California Rural
Indian Health Board, Northern California Indian Development,
Inter-tribal Council of California, California TANF Partnership, Del
Norte County Unified school district. We have also developed a small
tribal court to handle issues that occur on the Resighini Rancheria.
|