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Resource for facts, history, economy, location, etc.

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G. Beers, H. Hoodie, J. Louie, T. Beers, R. Bob

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Nine Oregon Tribes Map. Paiute on bottom right.

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Nine Oregon Tribes Map. Paiute on bottom right.

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Info about culture, demographics, history, etc.

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Info about culture, demographics, history, etc.

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The Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Harney County, Oregon, United States.

Members of the tribe are primarily descendants of the Wadatika band of Northern Paiutes, who were hunter-gatherers traditionally living in Central and Southern Oregon. The Wadatika lived from the Cascade Mountains to Boise, Idaho, and from the Blue Mountains to Steens Mountain. The Burns Paiute formed when homeless Northern Paiutes gathered in Burns, Oregon and the surrounding region, which was allotted to the tribe in 1897.

Wadadökadö or Wadatika (Waadadikady): "Wada Root and Grass-seed Eaters", also known as Harney Valley Paiute, they controlled about 52,500 square miles (136,000 km ²) along the shores of Malheur Lake, between the Cascade Range in central Oregon and the Payette Valley north of Boise, Idaho, as well as in the southern parts of the Blue Mountains in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Powder River, north of the John Day River, southward to the desertlike surroundings of Steens Mountain. They are federally recognized as part of the Burns Paiute Tribe and part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The tribe received federal recognition in 1968.

Hunipuitöka or Walpapi: "Hunipui-Root-Eaters", often called Snake Indians, they lived along Deschutes River, Crooked River and John Day River in Central Oregon. They are federally recognized as part of the Burns Paiute Tribe.

Location of Burns Paiute Reservation

Sign for the "Paiute Indian Reservation" in Burns

The tribe owns 13,736 acres (55.59 km ²) in acres in reservation and trust land, all of it in Harney County, Oregon. The tribe also holds about 10 acres (40,000 m ²) (the "Old Camp"), located about a half-mile west of Burns. The tribe also holds 71 scattered allotments about 25 miles (40 km) east of the Burns city limits.

The tribe's reservation is the Burns Paiute Reservation and Trust Lands, also known as the Burns Paiute Indian Colony, located north of the city of Burns.

The tribe's reservation, split into two tracts, was established by Public Law 92-488 on October 13, 1972. In 1935, an additional 760.32 acres (3.0769 km ²) acres was purchased for the tribe under Section 208 of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933; this land lies northwest of the City of Burns.

Tribal flag flying at the Walk of Flags near the State Capitol

In 1985, there were 223 tribal members.

In 1990, 151 tribal members lived on the reservation; in 1992, 356 people were enrolled in the tribe.

In 2008, there were 341 enrolled members of the tribe (about a third of whom lived on the reservation), making them the smallest federally recognized tribe in Oregon.

According to the Oregon Blue Book (accessed in January 2016), there are 349 members of the tribe.

The Burns Paiutes traditionally spoke the Northern Paiute language, which is part of the Western Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.

Traditionally, the Paiutes used willow, sagebrush, tule plant and Indian hemp to make baskets as well as sandals, fishing nets, and traps. They also made beads and drums, activities which are still continued today.

Tribal members have taken part in an oral history project to gather memories of tribal elders.

The tribe celebrates an Annual Mother's Day Powwow. The tribe also celebrates its Reservation Day Festival and Powwow on October 13 each year, in honor of the anniversary of the date when the land held in trust for the tribe became a reservation.

Tribal police

The Constitution and Bylaws of the Burns Paiute Colony was adopted on May 16, 1968. The Constitution and Bylaws created the General Council, a body consisting of all qualified voters (i.e., tribal members 18 years of age or older who live on the reservation or are absentee voters). The General Council meets twice a year for deliberation and voting on matters of importance.

The General Council also nominates and elects a seven-person tribal council to handle the day-to-day affairs of the tribe. The tribal council meets several times a month, and council members serve three-year terms. (The tribal council was created by an amendment to the Constitution and Bylaws in 1988; the council replaced a five-member business council). The council consists of a chair, vice-chair, secretary, sergeant at arms, and three members at large.

There is a tribal police force and tribal court, consisting of a tribal judge and associate judge.

According to the Oregon Blue Book, the tribe employs 54 people. Tribal employees are organized into nine departments, each dealing with a particular area, such as health, education, the environment and energy, cultural preservation and enhancement, and law enforcement.

In 2009, the tribe became the first Native American community to complete full weatherization and installation of energy-efficient lightbulbs in all reservation housing.

The defunct Old Camp Casino, owned by the tribe

For economic development, the Burns Paiute created the Old Camp Casino outside Burns. The facility was 17,000 square feet (1,600 m ²) in area and opened in 1998. It included a casino, the Sa-Wa-Be Restaurant, a bingo hall, an arcade, a gift shop, conference facilities, an RV park, and other amenities. The tribe closed the casino on November 26, 2012, due to safety concerns stemming from structural problems with the building.

1. ^ Burns Paiute Tribe, Oregon Blue Book (Oregon Secretary of State) (accessed January 4, 2016).

2. ^ "The Old Camp Casino." 500 Nations. 2009 (retrieved December 8, 2009)

3. ^ Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown & Cary C. Collins, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest (3d ed.: University of Oklahoma Press: 2010).

4. Zucker, et al., ^ Oregon Indians: An Atlas and Introduction (1983), revised by the Legislative Commission on Indian Services (reprinted online by the American Inns of Court).

5. ^ Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1. p. 226

6. ^ Burns Paiute Tribal Administration Today Archived December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Burns Paiute Tribe (September 15, 2008).

7. ^ Samantha White (November 28, 2012). "Casino closed temporarily". Burns Times Herald. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.

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The Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Harney County, Oregon, United States. Members of the tribe are primarily descendants of the Wadatika band of Northern Paiutes, who were hunter-gatherers traditionally living in Central and Southern Oregon.

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General Tribe Information

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The Burns Paiute Reservation is located in rural eastern Oregon. The Burns Paiute Tribe is primarily comprised of the descendants of the Wadatika Band of Northern Paiutes. The traditional homelands of the Burns Paiute include 5250 square miles of land in central-southeastern Oregon, Northern Nevada, northwestern California and western Idaho. The Burns Paiute still maintain aboriginal title to much of our aboriginal territory. The Tribe currently has 402 enrolled members of which 142 people call the Reservation their home. We are a relatively "young" community with over 50% of our population being under the age of 18.

Our history is both tragic and inspiring to living tribal members. We are the last truly free people in Oregon. Our ancestors resisted encroachment of settlers, refused to cede any of our lands, and fought to preserve our traditional life ways. Because of ancestors' resistance to Euro-America intrusion in our extermination campaigns against our people. A treaty of "Peace and Friendship" was eventually signed, but never ratified. An Executive Order Reservation was established setting aside 1.8 million acres for our people in 1869 but the Malheur Reservation was short-lived. An uprising to the east, the Bannock War, came to our homeland and when our people abandoned the Malheur Reservation to escape further conflict, a heavy price was paid. After the "war," our surviving ancestors were forcibly marched over 300 miles in knee-deep snow to Fort Simcoe and Fort Vancouver in Washington State. After a time, our ancestors began sneaking away from the forts. After five years, those remaining at the forts were given the option to leave. Those Wadatika who returned to the Harney Valley found that the tribe was now landless. In our absence, our Malheur Reservation was returned to "Public Domain." A makeshift tribal encampment was established on the outskirts of the town of Burns, Oregon. Since those dark days, the community has worked to improve our situation. We have purchased by the tribe and later converted to federal trust status. The purchased land is now our Reservation. We continue to work very hard to meet the needs of our people including preserving our traditional way of life as best we can.

For numerous reasons, the tragic post-contact treatment of the Wadatika also allowed for preservation of the language and many traditional subsistence and cultural practices. Our tribal ways endured because of returning survivors lived in a tight-knit tribal encampment with very limited resources, and they relied on one another to stay alive. Our children weren't allowed in public schools, and until the 1920's we were basically a forgotten tribal people. When the Indian agents did come to our remote encampment to take children to boarding school, people often successfully hid their children. When a small tribal school was established in the 1920's, attendance was ephemeral, and the Wadatika children continued to use their Paiute language outside of school hours. By the 1940's more of our children were being sent to boarding schools and later were admitted to the public schools in the town of Burns, Oregon. A gradual shift toward increased use of English as a first language didn't occur in earnest until the 1960's. Many traditional cultural practices endured and are still practiced among living tribal members.

Financial resources to protect our cultural resources and preserve our heritage are scarce. Because of our limited financial resources, we only recently re-established and have been able to maintain a Culture & Heritage Department. In addition to the federally mandated cultural resource management activities on and off the reservation, the Culture & Heritage Department is tasked with seeking and acquiring resources to assure our tribal history, language, and traditional life ways are preserved and sustained. Such preservation and revitalization is of highest priority while funding for such efforts is extremely difficult to acquire.

Our elders are our most precious "cultural resource" and we want to make sure their knowledge lives on. Culture & Heritage Department activities provide opportunities to gain stronger familial and community ties with each other as we work toward the common goal of saving our culture.

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The Burns Paiute Reservation is located in rural eastern Oregon. The Burns Paiute Tribe is primarily comprised of the descendants of the Wadatika Band of Northern Paiutes. The traditional homelands of the Burns Paiute include 5250 square miles of land in central-southeastern Oregon, Northern Nevada, northwestern California and western Idaho.

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Photo Gallery

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G. Beers, H. Hoodie, J. Louie, T. Beers, R. Bob