The statement which was issued 1 August 1953 by the United States Congress announced the official beginning of the federal Indian termination policy.
[1] The tribes that were listed as being ready for immediate termination had been placed on a list prepared by acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, William Zimmerman, because they met four primary criteria: adequate resources, they had adopted to a certain degree the cultural traits of the larger American culture, they were willing to terminate federal trust obligations, and the state was willing to assume jurisdiction over their criminal and civil matters.
[7] In spite of testimony from experts, BIA officials and tribe members,[2] the Klamath were terminated in 1961 as a result of constant pressure by Republican Senator Arthur V.
The politically-influential Crown-Zellerbach paper corporation of San Francisco obtained 90,000 acres, and the remaining 93% was converted to the Winema and Fremont National Forests.
In 1909, the US Congress passed an Act allowing those Modocs to return to their traditional home in Oregon and take up residence on the Klamath Reservation.
William Randall, Representative from Missouri's 5th District, observed on 13 May 1965 that he had reviewed notices that appeared in the Federal Register between 14 January 1955 and 12 August 1961 regarding the Klamath termination and none mentioned the Modoc.
His and other testimony presented at the hearing made it clear that many western Modoc had not registered for the final roll, were unaware that the Klamath termination applied to them, and felt that they should not be excluded from claim reparations due by the United States to the tribe as a whole for historic breaches.
The court looked at the stipulation in Public Law 280, providing that no state could deprive a Native tribe (or individual members) of hunting and fishing rights guaranteed to them by federal treaty.
Termination directly caused decay within the tribe including poverty, alcoholism, high suicide rates, low educational achievement, disintegration of the family, poor housing, high dropout rates from school, disproportionate numbers in penal institutions, increased infant mortality, decreased life expectancy, and loss of identity.