Introduction

Mr. Chairman, I am Sue Shaffer, chairman of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Thank you for inviting me to appear and testify in these proceedings.

While I am proud to appear here on behalf of our Tribe, I sincerely regret the necessity of appearing to defend our sovereignty in proceedings apparently generated from issues having little or nothing to do with the Cow Creek Tribe.

I hope that the persons and groups responsible for the necessity of these hearings will soon come out from behind technical arguments, isolated cases and media-friendly catchphrases to candidly state their apparent belief - that tribes have no right to exist if we might cut into a non-Indian constituent's profit margin. I pray that these modern day tribal terminators be released from action against tribes based on fear, greed or revenge.

Tribes do not exist to deprive anyone of rights or property as we struggle to reconstitute our shattered and dispersed people. We do not deserve scorn, insult or to be terminated yet again under the guise of "equal justice."

Mr. Chairman, I have 2 primary points that I would like to make today after providing a bit of important background information/ these are: 1) Cow Creek Tribal sovereignty has and will continue to benefit our local non-Tribal community as well as the Tribe; 2) Cow Creek Tribal sovereignty has not been and will not be a barrier to good business and community relations. The corollary of these points is simple but profound: limitation on Cow Creek sovereignty are limitations not only upon our Tribe but also limitations on our ability to effectively work with and support the non-Tribal community.

Tribal Sovereignty in the Context of Cow Creek History and Goals

The mission of the Cow Creek Tribe is to create an opportunity for our members to live well and raise their children in their ancestral homeland - the center of our world - in peaceful concert with our neighbors. Three elements absolutely essential to the fulfillment of this mission are Tribal sovereignty, Tribal membership support and the good will of our neighbors. These three elements are not incompatible. Each of these elements - especially Tribal sovereignty - is indispensable to the creation and protection of the social and economic foundations from which the Cow Creek Tribe is building toward its goals.

A summary of Cow Creek Tribal history is simple, tragic and necessary to an understanding of the importance of our sovereignty to us and our neighbors. Our homeland was opened to non-Indian settlement by the United States government before the U.S. legally owned the land. Noting this oversight, the U.S. sent its Indian Agent to negotiate a treaty with our Tribe - people who at the time had no clear understanding of the English language or anglo-American conceptions of property boundaries. Our 1853 treaty, ceding over 800 square miles of our homeland without anything resembling fair consideration, was executed, ratified by the U.S. Senate and then completely ignored for 128 years during which there were no promised treaty benefits or services provided. During the following generation, our people were systematically rounded up and removed or killed if they did not manage to hide far enough back in the hills or fully integrate into non-Indian society. The following two quotes provide a glimpse of the anti-Indian sentiment of that era:

". . . outrages at variance with every principle of justice and revolting to humanity have been committed against the Indians in this district, and the perpetrators are running at large... a few arrests would be a wholesome example... How mortifying that we have so reckless a population as to demand the presence of troops to protect the natives against the barbarities of our own citizens. Scenes have been enacted by whites in this district against the Indians, that would disgrace the most barbarous nations of the world..." [Indian Agent Joel Palmer, May 12, 1854, writing to Washington D.C. from Port Orford]

"General Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, has decided to take the Indians now collected on the Umpqua reserve, to the Willamette, and our people are much pleased with the prospect of deliverance from the nuisance of an Indian reserve in their neighborhood. These reserves afford protection to hostile Indians, as well as friendly, and our people are either in favor of extermination or colonization." [From "Volunteer" at Deer Creek, Oregon [Roseburg], December 28, 1855, printed in the Oregon Statesman of January 8, 1856] Because of this physical annihilation, the Cow Creek Tribe was not in a position to successfully assert its sovereignty for many years. However, despite being forcibly dispersed, the Cow Creeks continued to meet and provide for each other as much as possible and our Tribe did not die. Even legislative "termination" in 1954 did not shake us from our certainty in our Tribal sovereignty.

Most of our tribal families remained in or returned to our aboriginal homeland, even though the land reservation promised in our 1853 treaty (an area over 100,000 acres against which non-tribal governments have collected taxes ever since) never occurred. The Cow Creek Tribe has had to purchase every square foot of our present Tribal trust lands. As a result, unlike the majority of western tribes, we are not yet able to provide even basic residency to our membership. Because we have no residency reservation, Cow Creek families have always struggled to buy their own homes and have paid property taxes; there have been no tax exemptions available for Cow Creek Tribal members.

Despite our history, Tribal development efforts continue to focus on benefitting our surrounding communities as well as our Tribal membership, and we have not asked for any handouts or bailouts. All we have insisted upon is the recognition of our sovereignty; from which no one has been harmed and many people (Tribal and non-Tribal) have benefitted.

Cow Creek Sovereignty Benefits the Non-Tribal Community

Since the legal restoration of our sovereignty in 1982, the Cow Creek Tribe has created a Tribal economy from scratch. We have been fortunate enough to translate the combination of Tribal sovereignty, Tribal membership support and the good will of our neighbors into our present position as the second largest employer in our area, providing over 750 jobs (primarily for non-members, many of whom have never before had steady employment) in our timber depressed region. We are proud to provide Tribal employees fully paid health insurance (as well as heavily subsidized dependent coverage), to pay over fourteen million dollars ($14,000,000) annually in wages, benefits and payroll taxes into our community and that Tribal jobs have allowed many families to wean themselves from reliance on state and federal welfare programs.

Over the last three years Tribal construction projects have added over thirty six million dollars ($36,000,000) to the Oregon economy. Furthermore, the Cow Creek Tribe voluntarily donates six percent (6%) of its net gaming revenues to local governments and charities; an amount far in excess of any local taxes our Tribe would pay without sovereignty. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg and none of it would have been or will continue to be possible if Tribal sovereignty is diminished. Even as I testify here today, our Tribe is aggressively pursuing several economic diversification projects which should provide several hundred new jobs in our area; for Indians and non-Indians alike. All of these prospective jobs depend on Tribal sovereignty and are particularly important since yet another resource based business (Glenbrook Nickel) has recently closed in our area, putting another 300 persons in the unemployment lines.

Our track record clearly reveals that the Cow Creeks are far from tax evaders and rights abusers. Being cast as such, as we along with other tribes have been in earlier tribal sovereignty hearings, is truly offensive. Despite and because of our sovereignty, the Cow Creek Tribe is generous with, protective of and concerned over our local non-Tribal community and our generally high level of community respect underscores this fact. Our sovereignty is apparently only offensive to those who have no firsthand knowledge of our Tribe.

Cow Creek Sovereignty is not a Barrier to Good Business and Community Relations

Our way of conducting Tribal business is non-confrontational and cooperative. The Cow Creek Tribe is not an angry or vengeful sovereign. We have no desire to take anything from anybody just because we may have the right to do so or because it might be to our short term political or economic advantage. While we have had every opportunity to do so, we have not beat the drum of sovereignty in protracted court battles or in an aggressive manner. Rather, we believe, and have experienced, that it is possible to conduct ourselves in a manner that is fair to our partners, as well as our detractors, without being destructive of Tribal sovereignty. As a result, despite our rapid growth over the last eight years, the Cow Creek Tribe has not raised sovereign immunity as a defense in legal proceedings either internally or externally, nor have we been accused by any of our neighbors or members of denying or restricting property rights or due process.

When law or common sense requires us to negotiate formal agreements with neighboring governments, organizations or business partners, we do so without hesitation and with every intention of carrying our full share of whatever burden such arrangements may impose. All we ask is that our negotiating partners accept and respect our sovereignty. As a result, despite being protective of our sovereignty, we have been able to preserve and promote our sovereignty in a manner beneficial to the Cow Creek Tribe as well as those with whom we do business. For example, when undertaking construction projects we have contracted with the county building department to undertake inspections and apply local building code standards as a matter of Tribal law, so long as the county agreed that it could not force us to obtain a non-Tribal building permit. Another example is our local fire service arrangement under which we pay the local fire district at the prevailing rate for local property owners, so long as the fire district accepts our Tribal property valuations. Yet another example is our agreement with the Oregon State Police (OSP) whereby the OSP is paid eighty dollars ($80) per hour per officer for regulatory and oversight activities on certain Tribal lands. These arrangements have resulted in remuneration that all parties agree is cost effective and fair.

It has always been our Tribal philosophy and practice to build our communities (Tribal and non-Tribal) in a cooperative manner for the common good in furtherance of our desire to help build and support strong and independent families. As a result, our Tribe has enjoyed local support at a level almost unheard of in Indian Country. Examples of nonbusiness community efforts with which our Tribe has been actively involved include our joint efforts with the local offices of the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management on cultural resources matters and our strong interaction with the South Umpqua Historical Society and the Pioneer/Indian Museum in Canyonville, Oregon. Right now, our Tribe is working with the YMCA and the City of Canyonville to establish a Day Care/Learning Center in Canyonville through which needed services to Canyonville as well to the surrounding communities of Myrtle Creek, Riddle, Days Creek, Tiller, Azalea and Glendale.

Conclusion

Any effort to limit tribal sovereignty as it currently exists would be a great injustice to the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. To quote the honorable Senator Mark 0. Hatfield at the dedication of Chief Miwaleta Park in the heart of our homeland in 1987:

". . . there has been justice denied for many generations; stains on the history books of our nation which relate to the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe . . . but the wonderful thing is, even though we cannot remove those stains on our history, we can rewrite history. And we have the freedom, and the privilege, and the responsibility to rewrite history to correct the wrongs of the past, to compensate through restitution and other methods that are open to us for things that have happened to our history for which we are not very proud.,"

The Cow Creek Tribe is not looking for any handouts from this Committee or any other group. We intend to use our own resources to the greatest extent possible to provide our people with the opportunity to live and raise their children peacefully and fruitfully in their ancestral homeland. Congressional limitation of tribal sovereignty is but another impending stain on the history and reputation of the United States. Restriction of Tribal sovereignty would expose and reduce our resources in a manner destined to return us to the brink of extinction as a people.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, let me state firmly that Cow Creek Tribal sovereignty is not for sale and we will not remain idle in the face of threats to strip away our sovereignty by a congressional act. Cow Creek sovereignty has survived the "exterminators" of the mid 1800's, bounty hunters who physically hunted us down, as well as the congressional terminators of the 1950's who sought to destroy us with legislation. Please do not allow our sovereignty to be stripped by modern tribal terminators; people we have never harmed and have no intention of harming. Please do not advance or endorse anti-tribal sovereignty legislation and allow the shameful repetition of a history we all should have learned so much from already.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to answer any questions you or the members of the Committee may have.