Lava Beds National Park Effort Revived

This article was in Tuesday’s (June 19th, 2018) Herald and News

Written By: Lee Juillerat

A proposal to re-designate Lava Beds National Monument as a national park, a change supporters believe would significantly increase visitation and provide an economic boost to the Tulelake Basin, is back for another try.

Elizabeth Norton, one of the leader’s of last year’s efforts to attain national park status for Lava Beds, said people and representatives of groups supporting the change will meet 1 p.m., Friday, June 29, at the Natural Resource Conservation Service office in Tulelake at 611 Main St.

“There was strong support for the re-designation and there still is. It’s a long-term project and it’s worth pursuing. It’s good for the park, it’s good for the community,” Norton said. “It’s a persistent group …. We just can’t let it (the proposal) die.”

The re-designation proposal, however, faces many hurdles.

Adverse impacts noted

The effort appeared dead in May 2017 after representatives from Indian tribes, including the Klamath Tribes and the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, opposed re-designation, claiming increased visitation could adversely impact tribal sites.

At that meeting, an aide for Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, Calif., whose Congressional district includes Siskiyou and Modoc counties, questioned the value of changing Lava Beds’ designation. The change would require an act of Congress and is extremely unlikely without support from LaMalfa and California’s two senators.

In an interview after last May’s meeting, the aide said LaMalfa is concerned the Tule Lake Committee, which hosts biannual pilgrimages to the World War II Tule Lake Segregation Center, might try to use the re-designation issue to extend the boundaries of the former segregation center, which is part of the larger Tule Lake Unit of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. A long-term general management plan for the Tule Lake Unit released last month says there are no plans to extend boundaries of the former camp.

“I’m hopeful we can change his position,” Norton said of LaMalfa. “I’m hoping the general management plan can help.”

Part of a partnership

Norton said efforts for the national park designation stem from ongoing discussions by the Volcanic Legacy Community Partnership. The Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway is a 500-mile-long All American Road that extends from Crater Lake National Park to Lassen National Park and includes the Lava Beds. She said the Partnership is finalizing a corridor management plan.

At the upcoming meeting, Norton said the group — it has no name — wants to find ways to gain support from the Klamath Tribes, Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma and other tribes. She emphasized last year’s meetings were organized by the committee, not by Lava Beds staff or National Park Service officials, and said tribal representatives were contacted after the April 2017 meeting.

“We tried to make things right,” Norton said of contacting tribes and other possibly interested groups. “We need to revisit how we can be responsive to what their (the tribes) concerns are.”

Don Gentry, the Klamath Tribes chairman, said the Tribes have not taken a formal position on whether they support re-designation and said a decision would need to be made by the tribal council. At the May 2017 gathering, Perry Chooktoot, the Tribes heritage director, voiced comments opposing re-designation.

Opposition and support voiced

Strongly opposing re-designation was Blake Follis, attorney general for the Modoc Tribe, both in a letter sent to Siskiyou County Supervisors in April 2017 and at the May 2017 meeting. Several of his points of opposition have since been discredited by Cheewa James, a tribal member who worked as a seasonal ranger at Lava Beds and has written books about the Modoc War and its aftermath, when Modocs were sent to Oklahoma, where the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma was created.

James believes re-designation as a national park would help preserve Modoc heritage and cultural sites while also boosting the regional economy. She said she plans to attend the upcoming meeting, not as a representative of the Modoc Tribe but as a concerned individual.

Norton said there is no timetable for when the group may seek congressional support, noting, “I want to at least keep (re-designation) alive. It’s a long-term goal and it’s worth pursuing.”

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Cheewa James challenges claims by Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma leader

By LEE JUILLERAT

For the Herald and News

Cheewa James, a member of the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma and author of a book about the 1872-73 Modoc War and its aftermath — “Modoc: The Tribe That Wouldn’t Die,” is challenging claims by tribal leaders opposed to re-designating Lava Beds National Monument as a national park.

James, who spent two summers as a seasonal ranger at Lava Beds, is critical of claims made by Blake Follis, a member of the Modoc tribal council and the tribe’s attorney general, in a letter sent to Siskiyou County Supervisors in April 2017.

Follis sent the letter before participating in a tour of the Lava Beds, in May 2017. During the tour, organized by a group of people promoting the change, Follis also expressed opposition to the proposed re-designation.

Earlier this month, Modoc Chief Bill Follis, Blake’s father, sent a letter to the Herald and News saying James “is not authorized or permitted to speak on the behalf of our sovereign nation. Any opinions or information offered by Ms. James are purely her own and are not attributable (to) the tribal government. Furthermore, I have served as Chief of the Modoc Tribe for more than 40 years. In all that time, Ms. James has never been a representative of the Tribe.” He terms James “a putative tribal member,” which usually is defined as supposed or alleged.

Collaborative efforts

In the letter dated June 4, Bill Follis also notes the Tribe “possesses strong historical and sustained connections to California and Oregon — including the dozens of tribal members residing there. We are working collaboratively with federal, state and local governments to effectuate government activities with the states.”

(Blake Follis has not responded to telephone calls and emails sent and made on a daily basis since June 9 for comment on his letter, his father’s recent letter about James, or on James’ response, which, among other things, says it was written “in my own name, which any citizen can do.”)

In both letters, James says Blake Follis’s letter has “inaccuracies” and in a telephone interview said she believes other aspects of his criticism is unfounded and-or misinformed.

“The comments on the economic figures, which are not accurate, should be addressed by Klamath Falls and Tulelake officials as well as others in the business/economy of the area,” James wrote in her initial letter, noting she believes a national park designation would boost the region’s economy.

“It is my understanding that there are figures supporting the fact that the economy of towns and areas surrounding the LBNM would be enhanced. Certainly Native-run businesses would also be in that category.”

‘Rank speculation’

In his letter, Blake Follis termed “unsupported arguments” that re-designation would boost the regional economy by $25 million to $35 million because of increased visitation as “rank speculation.”

James also downplays Blake Follis’ claim that, “The Lava Beds National Monument sits centrally in our ancestral territory and is home to many artifacts and cultural items of our Tribe.”

In her letter, she says Lava Beds “is mostly covered with jagged lava rock, deep ravines, and no running water. It has always been a no-man’s land with no living sites or spiritual worship sites from any tribe or any other group of people.

The comment by Blake Follis as to, ‘It is also the location of the Modoc War, and as such, there are countless remains of our ancestors there,’ is untrue. The only connection to the tribe to the Lava Beds National Monument is the Modoc War.

According to James, historical records indicate seven Modocs died in the lava beds area during the war while nine others died away from the area, three by hanging at Fort Klamath and others by suicide and a raid on medical patients. In comparison, she said 143 military men, volunteers and scouts died during the war while 14 settlers living on neighboring lands were killed by a band of Modocs after the Nov. 29, 1872, Lost River Battle, the first battle of the Modoc War.

Appropriating history

In his comments, Blake Follis wrote, “The Tribe {Oklahoma Modocs} receives no payment, and has never received a payment, from the Monument or the National Park Service for their actions in appropriating our history for financial gain. A re-designation of the Monument to a Park would only solidify the position of the Park Service, that the Park Service is in the business of profiting off our Tribe and our history.”

In her response James writes, “If this ridiculous claim of payment were correct, in addition to the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, settlers in the area and U.S. Army should also ask for payment. The Klamath Tribe(s) has a number of Modocs who are descendants that fought in the war, and the Warm Springs scouts’ tribe should also be asking for payment.

“The reality is, the concept of payment from the NPS has no basis. The Navajo did not ask compensation from the NPS for use of their history in Chaco Canyon or Canyon de Chelly.”

She says she’s unaware of any other tribes seeking payments at NPS sites, and notes tribal representatives at the Little Bighorn Battle site in Montana “sit on an advisory board composed of historians, nearby town representatives, and others supporting the welfare of this NPS site. The NPS protects, researches, and interprets Native history. Perhaps,” she writes, “it makes more sense to have the Tribe pay the NPS for services rendered.”

In his letter, Blake Follis criticizes the National Park Service and Lava Beds Superintendent Larry Whalon for not contacting the Modocs and other regional tribes about the re-designation proposal and not being invited to the first field trip. Other tribal representatives, including Perry Chocktoot of the Klamath Tribes, also had the same criticism. The re-designation proposal, however, is being made by an ad hoc committee, not the NPS or Lava Beds.

“The issue of attack was that the Tribe was not directly notified of the re-designation efforts by the National Park Service or Lava Beds administrators. Certainly,” James said, “attacks on (Lava Beds Superintendent) Larry Whalon are untrue and unjustified. There was no reason to contact any of these people, except possibly out of courtesy. If the Tribe were contacted, so should the Klamath and Warm Springs Tribes, U.S. Army, settlers and whoever else was involved in the war.”

Returning home

According to James, “The key to this entire issue is in the line: A better and more expedient option of support and financial improvement in Siskiyou County would be to work with the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma in assisting our return to our ancestral homelands … the initiative of investing in the local rural communities by establishing business and tribal offices … our economic footprint spans over 150 jobs in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Utah, and Texas.”

James said that because the Modoc Tribe has been involved with “an illegal payday lending scheme, it would be wise of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors to look into this. To assume the Tribe could create more ‘… financial improvement for Siskiyou County’ than a Lava Beds National Park is a very vain claim.”

“As to the ‘150 jobs in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Utah, and Texas,’ this was not announced at our recent annual Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma meeting in Miami, Oklahoma, that was attended by some 30 staff and Modoc tribal members” — that was the number of people who voted on major issues but James said she was not sure who was staff and who was Modoc.

“The Lava Beds National Monument issue,” the proposal to make it a national park, “was not even mentioned nor voted on.”

James also said episode two of the Jan. 26, 2018, television documentary, “Dirty Money: Payday,” includes comments made by Blake Follis on the Modoc Tribe’s participation in a Payday loan program. Promotional material says the episode’s focus is, “Targeting unsuspecting Americans, a group of payday lenders made millions off small loans with undisclosed charges, inflated interest rates and incomprehensible rules. But the way the laws are written, is that a crime or just business?” I suggest you view the second episode of “Dirty Money” on Netflix.

As of Monday afternoon, repeated attempts made since June 9 to contact Blake Follis on, as Bill Follis’s letter states, “any position of the Tribe,” have been unanswered. The June 9 telephone call was answered by Blake Follis, but after the caller identified himself as being from the Herald and News the line went dead. Follis shortly send a text message saying, “Bad reception, please leave a message,” which was done.

Cheewa James: A letter in response to the chief of the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma

I am writing this letter in response to one published in this paper by Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma Chief Bill Follis. First of all, he seems to have some confusion with my name which he lists as Patricia “Cheewa” James.

I was born on the Klamath Reservation and given the name Chee-wa-wee by Jennie Clinton, the last survivor of the 1873 Modoc War. From my mother’s German side I was given the name Patricia. In 1980 when I was hired as a talk show hostess, then news anchor, by Medford TV station KOBI, which also airs into the Klamath area’s KOTI-TV, the station felt neither name worked well for them as a screen name. That is how the name Cheewa emerged. I changed my first name legally to Cheewa. The quote marks can be eliminated.

As to: “Ms. James has never been a representative of the Tribe.” The Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma has about 300 members, living in approximately 20 states. That means most tribal members cannot be in a position of tribal representation because of distance. At the last annual tribal meeting in June which I attended, there were only some 30 people present at the vote for tribal officers and representation. I did not know for sure who were even tribal members.

The letter to the Siskiyou Board of Supervisors authored by Mr. Follis is one of public record. Because of inaccuracies I saw in the letter, I commented on it. I am not speaking on “behalf of our sovereign nation,” as Mr. Follis’s letter criticized but responded to the letter in my own name, which any citizen can do. I spoke as a tribal member for decades of the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. I spoke as an author, historian, former ranger-interpreter in the Lava Beds National Monument, and former news reporter.

One of the Modoc history books I wrote includes the post-history of the Modocs. After the Modoc War, some 150 Modoc men, women, and children were exiled to Oklahoma Indian Territory following the 1873 Modoc War. In 1909 the Modocs were released from POW status. Some stayed, including my grandfather and father, a nine-year old boarding school student at the time. But many returned and today I have many relatives in the Klamath Tribes whose ancestors fought in the Modoc War just like mine.

Mr. Follis’s original official letter to the Siskiyou Board of Supervisors and others, did not support the move to take the Lava Beds National Monument to national park status. I — along with other Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma individuals and families — feel the move to Lava Beds National Park will bring responsible economic growth to Klamath Falls and surrounding towns. It will also accentuate the amazing geological attractions and nature features. It will stimulate more research and attention to the Modoc War. It will provide an upgraded, outstanding geological and historical classroom for local children and families, as well as other American youth and families.

The decision of the National Park Service to include the Japanese-American Tule Lake Incarceration Camp in the Lava Beds National Monument brings another significant American story to this area and to travelers from throughout the United States and abroad. I whole-heartedly welcome this new addition.

Cheewa James

To read this articles and others on the Herald and News website, please refer to the following link:

Lava Beds National Park Effort Revived (H&N)