BACKGROUND & RESOURCES
A General California History ;
Study on Indian-White Relationships in Northern California 1849-1920
United States CodeTITLE 25 - INDIANS
California's Salmon and Steelhead (Early Indian Fishery)
Yurok; Hoopa; Karuk; Shasta; Klamath
The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Trust Obligation to American Indians - Robert McCarthy
UCLA Report "A Second Century of Dishonor"; UCLA American Indian Studies Center
Indian Affairs Laws & Treaties Compiled by Charles J. Kappler
The McCarrin Amendment and the Administrtaion of Tribal Reserved Water Rights Jay F. Stein Simms & STein, P.A. Santa Fe, New MexicoThe Federal Trust Responsibility In A Self-Determination Era by Lynn H. Slade of Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, P.A.
Pre-Contact map of Indian territory
***********The Federal Government has a trust responsibility to federally recognized Indian tribes that arises from Indian treaties, statutes, Executive orders, and the historical relations between the United States and Indian tribes. While the exact legal boundaries of the Federal trust responsibility have not been fully defined, the trust responsibility consists of general and specific components (although the line between these two components is not always clear).
The general component of the trust responsibility relates to the United States' unique legal and political relationship with federally recognized Indian tribes. It informs Federal policy and provides that the Federal Government consult with and consider the interests of the tribes when taking actions that may affect tribes or their resources. Courts have not required particular procedures, but generally have looked to see whether Federal agencies have sought the views of tribes and considered their interests. The general trust provides one basis for the legal principle that ambiguities or doubts in statutes must be construed in favor of Indians.
The specific component of the trust responsibility ordinarily arises only from a formal action of the United States such as a statute, treaty, or Executive order. The trust is a fiduciary relationship when Congress directs a Federal agency to manage resources such as timber or lands for the benefit of tribes.
