From Yokuts to Tule River Indians: re-creation of the tribal identity on the Tule River Indian Reservation in California from Euroamerican contact to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
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University of California, Davis
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to show the path of tribal development on the
Tule River Reservation from 1776 to 1936. It ends with the year of 1936 when the Tule
River Reservation reorganized its tribal government pursuant to the Indian
Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. This dissertation also looks at the historical
experiences of the Yokuts Indians, who became the main constituents on the Tule River
Reservation, and how the IRA affected their political, cultural, and social organization.
The Yokuts cultural past tells us that they were living as small, independent
political groups, each sharing a common language with various dialects. However, they
were eventually placed within a limited geographical area, called Tule River Reservation
in 1856. Since then, the people on the Tule River Reservation created a more
comprehensive identity as "People of Tule River."
The IRA recognized the Tule River Reservation as one political entity, even or as a
quasi-sovereign entity, and added them to the list of federally recognized tribes. Under
the IRA, the people of Tule River Reservation shared a common political belonging. In
practice, the IRA provided a new opportunity for Tule River Indians, who did not have any treaty contract with federal government, to survive as political entities, and to deal
with the national authorities up to the 21st century.
Having been negatively affected by the rapid growth of the Euroamerican
population after the California Gold Rush, tribal depopulation by the disease and warfare
in the 19th century, and the confused land policy under the so-called 18 unratified treaties
and the reservation system, Native people in California became ignored, and "invisible
people." Furthermore, urbanization and economic diversity are all issues which made the
Native American experience in California somewhat different from the other Native
peoples' experience. However, as recent studies have revealed, contemporary California
Natives have been active in maintaining their political, economic and social power
through the regional, tribal and intertribal organizations. This study contributes to the
historical understanding of how the Yokuts acquired modern tribal autonomy and the
building of the Tule River Indian Tribe.
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Noguchi, K. (2009). From Yokuts to Tule River Indians: Re-creation of the tribal identity on the Tule River Indian Reservation in California from Euroamerican contact to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (AAT 3385709