Museum After Hours: A New Lease on Old Lifeways

A New Lease on Old Lifeways: Leasing & Allotment on the Umatilla Indian Reservation “The decision to allow the Indian to lease his land was fraught with grave consequences for the whole allotment system. Probably it was the most important decision as to Indian policy that was made after the passage of the Dawes Act.” - Felix S. Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law Allotment was the policy of giving individual Tribal Members their own title to a piece of land on their reservation once the federal agent deemed them competent. In practice, this resulted in another immense loss of land for Indian tribes who were already relegated to a diminished area as recipients too often sold their land to white farmers. Even those who kept their land were expected by policymakers to abandon traditions and take up the plow along with the culture of white American farmers. This presentation starts from a transcript of a 1918 Senate Committee hearing with delegates of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Here, the Indians protested a policy that aimed to guarantee that they received higher rents for their lands and asked that fewer of their people receive full control of their land. While these stances may seem counter-intuitive, they actually helped protect the tribes’ culture and sovereignty. While allotment policies created many challenges, leasing was an alternative that made the best of a bad situation. Over time, the Indians of the Umatilla Reservation were able to use leasing to cultivate better neighbors and maintain more of their traditional lifeways. The leasing system and customs that Indians on the Umatilla Reservation created allowed integration with white neighbors without forcing assimilation. This month’s speaker will be Groover Snell, Operations Manager of the Fort Walla Walla Museum.