Flooded by Progress: Law, Natural Resources, and Native Rights in the Postwar Pacific Northwest By John James Dougherty A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Thomas Biolsi, Chair Professor Mark Brilliant Professor Shari Huhndorf Professor Beth Piatote Spring 2014 Flooded by Progress: Law, Natural Resources, and Native Rights in the Postwar Pacific Northwest Copyright © John James Dougherty All Rights Reserved Abstract Flooded by Progress: Law, Natural Resources, and Native Rights in the Postwar Pacific Northwest By John James Dougherty Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Thomas Biolsi, Chair This dissertation examines the politics of federal Indian law and the changing economic and environmental landscape of the postwar Pacific Northwest. In particular, it contends that the changing legal status of Native lands and resources was instrumental in both the massive industrial expansion, and subsequent environmental transformation, of the postwar Pacific Northwest. It traces the relations between economic and environmental changes and their connections to the dramatic policy shift in Indian affairs from the early 1950s, when the federal government unilaterally terminated tribal status of 109 Native communities, most of them in the Pacific Northwest, to the Native sovereignty movement, which precipitated new national policies of self-determination in the 1970s. Not only does the dissertation illuminate how Native communities in the Pacific Northwest were inequitably burdened by the region’s environmental and economic transformations in the second half of the 20th century, it also demonstrates how these transformations fueled the national economy in the postwar years as well as the emergence of Native activism, and how Native communities actively navigated and influenced seminal directions in federal Indian policy. Lastly, it illustrates how Native communities in the Pacific Northwest responded to the economic and environmental struggles of the early sovereignty era. This dissertation remaps the field of Native American history, by foregrounding its critical intersections with 20th-century environmental and economic histories. It relies heavily on materials from the National Archives & Records Administration Regional Office in Seattle, Washington, and agency archives from the Bonneville Power Administration, US Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, all in Portland, Oregon. In addition, the dissertation utilizes a variety of additional evidentiary support, and records from tribes in the Pacific Northwest. 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents i List of Figures ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction vii Chapter 1 Indians in the “World of Tomorrow:” Federal Indian Law and Postwar Development in the Pacific Northwest 1 Chapter 2 A “Withdrawal from Supervision:” the Rhetoric of Native Dispossession and Displacement in the Postwar Pacific Northwest 25 Chapter 3 “Talk the Language of the Larger World:” Fishing Rights, Natural Resources, and the Birth of the Native Sovereignty Movement 50 Chapter 4 “More Rhetoric than Action:” Tribal Natural Resources, Economic Development, and the Challenges of the Early Sovereignty Era 78 Conclusion “I want to go fishing whenever I feel like it. With no strings attached.” 108 Bibliography 114 i List of Figures Figure 1: Map of population density in the Pacific Northwest, circa 1942. Figure 2: Map of hydroelectric power grid in the Pacific Northwest, 1948. Figure 3: Columbia River Power System kilowatt-hour production growth, 1946 to 1958. Figure 4: Columbia River Power System revenue growth, 1946 to 1958. Figure 5: Timber production in the Pacific Northwest national forest and public lands, 1950- 1958. Figure 6: Value of timber harvest in the Pacific Northwest national forest and public lands, 1950- 1958. Figure 7: Pacific Northwest timber harvest and the United States 1950-1958. Figure 8: Nuclear energy production at Hanford facility, 1946-1958. Figure 9: Population growth in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1960. Figure 10: Racial demographics in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1960. Figure 11: Map of proposed hydroelectric sites by the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee, 1958. Figure 12: Map of federal Indian tribes under the supervision of Portland Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1946. Figure 13: Map of Western Washington tribes included in Western Oregon Termination Act, 1954. Figure 14: Map of Klamath Reservation included in Klamath Termination Act, 1954. Figure 15: Columbia River tribes with treaty rights established in 1855. Figure 16: Organization of fishing zones on the Columbia River, as established in 1957. Figure 17: Average annual fish harvest in Puget Sound by both non-Indians and treaty Indians, by percentage from 1958-1967. Figure 18: Average annual fish harvest on the Columbia River by both non-Indians and treaty Indians, by percentage from 1958-1967. ii Figure 19: Federal spending on Indian Affairs before and after tribal self-determination, 1973 and 1981. Figure 20: Average minimum numbers by millions of salmon and steelhead entering the Columbia River by decade from 1965 to 1994. Figure 21: Percentage of the non-Indian and treaty Indian commercial fish landing on the Columbia River from 1965 to 1994. Figure 22: Map of the Columbia River Basin showing tribal regions and access to salmon spawning areas. Figure 23: Average daily water temperature of the Columbia River by decade from 1940 to 1999. Figure 24: Map of all dams in the Pacific Northwest. Figure 25: Value of Alaska timber before and after Native Claims Settlement Act. iii Acknowledgements Needless to say, the contributions of many made this project possible. From ideas and observations, to guidance and support, these contributions seamlessly thread together the following pages. First and foremost, I need to acknowledge the Committee that guided this project, Professors Tom Biolsi, Beth Piatote, Shari Huhndorf and Mark Brilliant. I was so very fortunate to have such a dream team of advisors overseeing this project since the beginning. I only hope that the following pages offer a proper expression of my sincere gratitude for their many years of unrelenting encouragement and support. To my Chair, Tom Biolsi, it has been a great pleasure in my life to be your student. Your intellectual and scholarly guidance over the past ten years has been a tremendous gift. Several other faculty members had both direct and indirect guidance of this project, particularly, Professors Catherine Ceniza Choy, Keith Feldman, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Michael Omi, and Richard Walker. In addition to faculty, the support staff in the Department of Ethnic Studies assisted in the logistical and procedural obstacles of day-to-day campus life, especially, Francisca Cazares, Lourdes Martinez, Anjelica Gonzalez, Carmen Foghorn, Eric Fong, and Dewey St. Germaine. This project relied greatly on a supportive group of public historians and archivists, who graciously sought out many of the original materials presented in this project. Particularly, Ken House of the National Archives & Records Administration Regional Office in Seattle, Mark Rogen of the Bonneville Power Administration Library in Portland, Mary Ellen Haug of the US Army Corps of Engineers Portland District Library in Portland, David Liberty of Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission in Portland, and Tamara Vidos Glencross of the Knight Library at the University of Oregon. It’s difficult to envision how this project could be completed without their generosity. In addition, I want to thank several organizations for providing the necessary financial and institutional support required for a project like this. Specifically, at UC Berkeley, Joseph Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, Center for Race & Gender, Institute for the Study of Social Issues, Department of Ethnic Studies, and Native American Studies Program; and at Portland State University in Oregon, the Department of Anthropology. I also want to specifically thank the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley for the 2013-2014 University of California Dissertation Fellowship, which provided me the generous support needed to finish this project. And to the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, for agreeing to see this project through the upcoming manuscripts stages. As a graduate student at UC Berkeley, I am indebted to the many colleagues I’ve encountered in my department and across campus. I want acknowledge the original members of my graduate cohort, Daniela Bazan, Hyunsun Chung, Mattie Harper, Yomaira Figueroa, Jason Kim, Janey Lew, Craig Santos Perez, Julie Thi Underhill and Marisol Silva. I also want to thank my writing, research, and teaching partners, Jason Kim, Joshua Troncoso, Annie Fukushima, and Jennifer Reimer. To the many undergraduate students I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years, thank you for being a supportive audience as I worked through the ideas and concepts of this project, and for then taking them into the real world. And finally, to my closest family and friends I owe the greatest debt. To mentors from the past, Irving Petite and Orestes Yambouranis to my dear family, Mom, Dad, and Dawn, thank you for your constant encouragement and support. To my best non-human friends,