Modoc Nation facts for kids
Tribal flag
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 200 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Oklahoma) |
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| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Quaker), traditional tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Modoc, Klamath, Yahooskin |
The Modoc Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Modoc people. They live in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, mainly in Ottawa County. Some Modoc people also live in Modoc and Siskiyou counties in northern California. This tribe is the smallest in Oklahoma.
The Modoc Nation members are descendants of Captain Jack's group. They were moved in 1873 after the Modoc War from their original lands in northern California and southern Oregon. They were sent to the Quapaw Agency in Indian Territory (which is now Oklahoma). There, they lived near the Shawnee people.
In the 1950s, the Modoc Nation and the Klamath Reservation (where other Modoc lived) lost their federal recognition. This meant they no longer received help from the government. But the Modoc tribe in Oklahoma later reorganized. They successfully gained federal recognition again in 1978. They have also bought land and brought bison back to their area. They have found different ways to build their economy in a challenging environment.
Contents
How the Modoc Nation is Governed
The Modoc Nation's main office is in Miami, Oklahoma. Most of their activities are in Ottawa County. Out of 250 tribal members, 120 live in Oklahoma. The tribe's chief is Bill Follis. He helped the tribe get federal recognition again in 1978.
The tribe had lost its federal recognition in the 1950s. This happened at the same time as the Klamath Reservation lost theirs. Chief Follis also helped the tribe get its own land. The Modoc tribal area is within Ottawa County, Oklahoma.
The tribe's government building has an archives and a library. This library is special because it is the only one in the area focused on Native American history and family records.
How the Modoc Nation Earns Money
The Modoc Nation runs several businesses. They have a housing authority. They also opened a casino in 1998 with the Miami Nation. This casino is called The Stables. It is in Miami, Oklahoma, and has a restaurant and a gift shop.
The tribe also operates Red Cedar Recycling, which started in 1996. This company helps the whole community. It offers free cardboard and paper recycling for local businesses and people. They also buy aluminum for recycling. Red Cedar Recycling teaches people about recycling and holds events to recycle tires.
The Modoc Nation also manages the Modoc Bison Project. They are part of the Inter-Tribal Bison Council. They even issue their own tribal license plates.
In the 21st century, the tribe became involved in "payday lending." This type of lending can be controversial because of high fees. The tribe formed a company to do this, which allowed them to operate under tribal law. The tribe states that they did nothing illegal. Today, the tribe continues to do "payday lending" on a much smaller scale. This helps them earn money for the tribe.
Modoc Nation History
The Modoc people traditionally lived in an area of about 5,000 square miles. This land was near what is now the California-Oregon border. Even though their territory was small, it had many different kinds of plants and animals. The Cascade Mountains were to the west. To the east were dry, flat lands. Pine forests were to the north. The Lava Beds National Monument formed the southern edge.
The Modoc people came from cultures that had lived in this region for 10,000 years. They had a unique culture. They spoke the Klamath language, like the nearby Klamath people. Sometimes, they formed war parties to protect their land or raid other tribes. The Modoc were hunters, fishermen, and gatherers. They moved with the seasons to find food. They lived quietly until European Americans arrived in the early 1800s.
When fur traders and settlers came to the Pacific Northwest, it changed Native American lives. The Modoc traded with fur traders for guns and horses. These were important for competing with other tribes. But soon, farmers and ranchers came. They wanted land and resources and did not respect the Native people. These new American settlers traveled west in the mid-1800s on the Oregon Trail. This trail went right through Modoc lands.
The Modoc tried to live peacefully with the new farmers and ranchers. They often worked for them and traded for supplies. But the large number of non-Indians coming into their homeland greatly changed Modoc culture. They started to adopt many of the settlers' ways. They began to wear clothes like non-Indians and socialized in the nearby town of Yreka, California.
The Modoc sometimes used names given to them by white settlers. For example, Keintpoos became known as Captain Jack. Other men were called Scarfaced Charley, Steamboat Frank, Bogus Charley, and Shack Nasty Jim.
More settlers needed more land for farming and grazing. Because of this pressure, the Modoc, Klamath, and Yahooskin Band of Snake tribes gave up their lands to the U.S. government. They signed a treaty in 1864 to live on a joint reservation. The Modoc agreed to live with the Klamath Indians, even though they had been enemies.
Life on the reservation was hard. The Klamath, who were more numerous, bothered the Modoc. The Indian agent also ignored the Modoc. The Modoc became very frustrated. By 1865, Captain Jack led his group off the reservation. They returned to their land in the Lost River (California) area of Northern California.
The treaty signed in 1864 was not approved by the U.S. Senate until 1870. For two years, Captain Jack refused to go back to the Klamath reservation. He asked for separate land on the Lost River for the Modoc. But because his group was breaking the treaty, the U.S. Army decided to capture them. They wanted to force them back to the Klamath reservation in Oregon. This led to the Modoc War.
The Modoc War
When the fighting started, the Modoc warriors, with their wives and children, went to the nearby Lava Beds. They used the many caves there for defense and safety. For almost six months, Captain Jack and his 57 warriors fought against an army of over 1,000 men. The soldiers had small arms, mountain howitzers, and mortars.
Captain Jack lost only six men in direct combat. The U.S. Army lost 45 soldiers. This included E.R.S. Canby, the only U.S. Army general to die in an Indian war. The Modoc War cost the U.S. government at least half a million dollars. Considering the small number of warriors, it was a very expensive Indian war. The land the Modoc wanted on Lost River would have cost only about $10,000.
The war finally ended on June 1, 1873. The Modoc surrendered because they could not get enough food. Captain Jack and five of his warriors—Schonchin John, Black Jim, Boston Charley, Barncho, and Sioux—were charged with war crimes. They were the only Native Americans ever tried by a military court for such charges. Gallows were built before the trial, making it clear they would be sentenced to death. The execution date was set for October 3, 1873. Captain Jack, Barncho, and Sioux were found guilty and sentenced to death.
But just before the executions, the sentences of Barncho and Sioux were changed to life in prison at Alcatraz Island in California. The men were not told of this change until after they, along with other Modoc men, women, and children, were forced to watch Captain Jack's execution.
Journey from Oregon
To solve the problems between the Modoc and Klamath on the reservation, the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs decided to move the Modoc far east. They were sent to the Quapaw Agency in northeastern Indian Territory. The Modoc were told to pack their belongings for a long trip but were not told where they were going. On October 12, 1873, 155 Modoc people—42 men, 59 women, and 54 children—were loaded onto 27 wagons. They left Fort Klamath, Oregon, guarded by Captain H.C. Hasbrouck and soldiers.
A week later, the group stopped near Yreka, California. When they reached Redding, California, military guards took Barncho and Sioux to prison at Alcatraz Island. The remaining Modoc were put on a train in cattle cars. None of them had seen a train before, and they were scared by the noise and movement. Their four train cars were placed between two other cars filled with soldiers. Guards with loaded guns stood at the doors day and night. All the men and boys who could fight were chained inside the cars, which added to their fear. They were taken to Fort D.A. Russell in Wyoming Territory.
Near the fort, the Army officers received new orders. They were to take the Modoc prisoners to Fort McPherson, Nebraska. They finally arrived there on October 29. Captain Hasbrouck handed them over to Captain Melville C. Wilkinson, who was in charge of Indian removal. The prisoners were temporarily placed on an island in the Platte River, a few miles from the fort. There, they hunted and fished for food.
Because of the detour to Nebraska, the Modoc had to travel 2,000 miles during the cold late fall. They did not reach Baxter Springs, Kansas until November 16, 1873. The 153 Modoc men, women, and children arrived in this part of Indian Territory cold and hungry.
In Baxter Springs, Captain Wilkinson talked with Hiram W. Jones, the Indian Agent at the Quapaw Agency. They decided to place the Modoc group on Eastern Shawnee land. Agent Jones would supervise them directly. But Jones' Quapaw Agency did not have enough supplies for the prisoners. The 153 people had little more than blankets. With Scarfaced Charley in charge and some help, the Modoc built their own temporary wooden barracks. Some lived in tents. These places were their homes until June 1874. Then, the Office of Indian Affairs bought 4,000 acres for their reservation from the Eastern Shawnee.
The Quapaw Agency was on Eastern Shawnee land in the northeast corner of Indian Territory. This is now Ottawa County, Oklahoma. It was bordered by Kansas to the north and Missouri to the east. The Cherokee Nation was to its west and south. The agency oversaw several tribes, including the Peoria, Eastern Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Quapaw, Seneca, and Wyandotte.
Captain Wilkinson stayed with the Modoc until the second week of December. When he left, he reported to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He said the Modoc were "obedient, ready to work, cheerful," and that they only needed fair treatment to be a "reliable people."
Agent Jones reported no problems with discipline. However, a small issue arose: some Modoc gambled and lost their few belongings. When Scarfaced Charley, who had become chief, refused to stop this, Jones appointed Bogus Charley as chief. Bogus Charley served as chief until 1880. At that time, the federal government ended formal Modoc tribal government in Oklahoma for almost 100 years. Officials were appointed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Life in Indian Territory
The first years after moving to Indian Territory were very hard for the Modoc. They suffered much sickness and hardship. This was partly due to the unfair actions of Agent Jones. During their first winter, the government did not provide them with food, clothing, or medicine. Jones and the Quapaw Agency did not receive money to support them for nearly a year. Then, $15,000 was given.
Because of these conditions, many children and elderly people died. By 1879, after six years at the Quapaw Agency, 54 people had died. Only 99 members of the tribe remained. By 1891, when communal land was divided among Modoc families under the Dawes Act, only 68 adults were left. Many of these had been born after the move. Especially in the early years, the Modoc relied on gifts of money and clothes from groups in the east. These groups were upset by how the government treated the Modoc.
In the 1870s, the Office of Indian Affairs had many problems with unfair practices. Indian agents were known to charge the U.S. Government for supplies meant for tribes, but then sell them for their own profit. These groups, called "Indian Rings," involved a politician, an Indian agent, and at least one local merchant.
President Ulysses S. Grant tried to stop these problems. He appointed religious groups and leaders to run the Indian agencies. The Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends, were often chosen as new Indian agents. The Quakers in charge of the Quapaw Agency in the 1870s were from the same group that suggested the original Indian "Peace Policy" to President Grant.
Quaker Hiram W. Jones was the Indian agent at the Quapaw Agency when the 153 Modoc prisoners arrived in 1873. He reported to fellow Quaker, Enoch Hoag, who was the Superintendent of the Central Indian Superintendency. Jones' wife and Hoag's wife were cousins. Grant's efforts to stop unfair practices did not work here. As historian Albert Hurtado wrote, "the Modoc were victims of a Quaker Indian ring." Of the 12 agency employees, 11 were relatives of Agent Jones or Superintendent Hoag.
Soon after the Modoc settled at the Quapaw Agency, Agent Jones stopped them from trading with anyone except a store next to the agency building. They could not go to merchants in nearby Seneca, Missouri. Superintendent Hoag's cousin ran this store. When people in Seneca complained about the Modoc's terrible living conditions, the government ignored them. Congress thought these complaints came from upset merchants who were angry about losing the Modoc trade.
The Modoc death rate continued to rise. Because of constant complaints from the Modoc and their neighbors, Jones' agency was investigated in 1874 and again in 1875. But few changes were made, and no one was charged. After a third investigation in 1878, his system of favoritism and unfair practices was officially reported. Jones and his family were said to be getting money from local merchants for overpriced and poor-quality goods and services. It was not until 1879 that Hiram Jones and his family were removed from their duties at the Quapaw Agency.
The Modoc men and women worked hard to survive. They took any job that brought income. The men worked on their white neighbors' farms and hauled supplies to nearby towns. The women sold their beadwork and finely woven baskets. Both men and women worked in the fields.
Soon, they were farming their own land. They continued to improve their farms and livestock. They were described as getting better each year at adopting new ways of dress, farming, and house care. They also encouraged their children to attend reservation and other schools. The Quapaw Agency staff thought they were among the best tribes they supervised.
In the fall of 1874, Alfred Meacham visited the Modoc at Quapaw Agency. He was one of the four peace commissioners who had met Captain Jack during the Modoc War. Meacham was planning a lecture tour and tried to get Modoc men to join him. He received permission for Scarfaced Charley, Shacknasty Jim, and Steamboat Frank to go on the tour.
The Modoc were very interested in their children getting an education. Six weeks after they moved, 25 of their children started attending the Quapaw boarding school. Less than a year later, the children were quickly learning English. Many adults also learned to read and write. In 1879, the government built a building on the Modoc Reservation that served as both a school and a church. Some children later attended the Carlisle Indian School. However, after Adam McCarty, a stepson of Schonchin John, died at Carlisle, Modoc families were hesitant to send their children away to school.
The Modoc also became active in the church built for them by the Society of Friends. By 1881, most had become Quakers. Three of Captain Jack's warriors, once called "savage," became recorded ministers of the Friends Church. Steamboat Frank, who later took the name Frank Modoc, was the first full-blood American Indian to become a recorded minister of the Society of Friends. He was also the Modoc Church's first minister.
To prepare for ministry, Frank asked to attend Oak Grove Seminary in Vassalboro, Maine. While there, he became ill. Realizing he was dying and wanting to return home to his only child, Elwood, he left the seminary. He traveled as far as Portland, Maine, where he died on June 12, 1886. He is buried in the Friends Cemetery there.
In 1891, the Society of Friends bought the church building. They moved it to its current location on County Road S679 next to the Modoc Cemetery. The building was made larger to include living quarters for the Friends missionary and his family. Services were held on Sunday, and prayer meetings on Wednesday night. With fewer people attending, and some Native Americans returning to traditional ways, the Society of Friends held the last meeting in the church in the fall of 1978.
Ending and Regaining Recognition
The Modoc Tribe in Oklahoma lost its federal recognition in the 1950s. This was part of a government plan to encourage Native Americans to blend into mainstream society. But members of the tribe kept their identity. They applied to get official recognition back, and they succeeded in May 1978. This restored the tribe's special relationship with the federal government. It also made members eligible for federal help. One of their first actions was to buy the Modoc Church and its four acres from the Society of Friends. They received a grant to restore the church. An additional $24,000 from the Oklahoma Historical Society helped complete the restoration.
The Modoc Friends Church and Cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It was the first site in Ottawa County, Oklahoma to receive this honor. Renovation of the church began soon after. Its dedication on June 10, 1984, celebrated the completion. In 1988, a historical marker was placed at the church by the Major William McBride Chapter, National Society United States Daughters of 1812.
The first marked grave in the Modoc Cemetery belongs to Rosie Jack, who died in April 1874. Rosie was the daughter of Captain Jack. Many important people from the Modoc War were buried in unmarked graves in the cemetery. The church and cemetery represent the losses suffered by the 153 Modoc prisoners of war from the 1800s.
After the Nez Perce War with the United States, Chief Joseph and his people were forced to move from their homelands. They were sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1877. Eight months later, they were moved by train to Baxter Springs, Kansas. The weak and sick Nez Perce could not walk to the Quapaw Agency. The Modoc were hired to drive wagons and transport the Nez Perce to Modoc Springs on the reservation. There, they set up a temporary camp.
The Nez Perce did not stay long with the Modoc. Less than six months later, Agent Jones moved them a few miles north to the Peoria Reservation. Eventually, they were moved to the Ponca Agency in the western part of Indian Territory. Later, they were moved to places in Washington State and Idaho.
The 1900s and Beyond
In 1909, the U.S. government allowed the Modoc to return to Oregon. Records show that 29 people returned, but some had gone back before 1909. Both the Modoc who returned and those who stayed in Oklahoma were registered at the Klamath Agency. As years passed, the Modoc language, customs, and culture were slowly forgotten.
The Modoc and Klamath tribes lost federal supervision under the Indian termination policy. This happened with the Klamath Termination Act, passed on August 13, 1954. During Congressional hearings in 1965, it was shown that the Modoc living in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri were not properly told that their tribe would lose recognition at the same time as the Klamath Reservation. None of the public notices mentioned the Modoc.
Several years later, all the tribes in the northeast corner of Oklahoma joined together. They formed the Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. of Northeastern Oklahoma. At that time, the Modoc created an unofficial tribal government. Bert Hayman, whose mother was one of the youngest prisoners of war, became the first tribal chairman. He was followed by Vernon "Dutch" Walker, who was the grandson of James Long, the "Youngest Modoc Warrior."
A special part of the "Reinstatement Act" on May 15, 1978, reversed all the Oklahoma Termination Acts. It specifically stated that the Klamath Termination Act did not apply to the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. However, it did allow them to share in future claims against the United States.
Bill G. Follis, great-grandson of James Long, became chairman in 1973. When the tribe received federal recognition in 1978, Chief Follis became the first federally recognized chief of the Modoc in Oklahoma since Bogus Charley died in 1880. There were other Modoc chiefs at the Quapaw Agency after Bogus, but only the Modoc people recognized them.
Chief Follis, who loves horses and ranching, continues to lead the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. He was key in getting federal recognition for the tribe and reestablishing tribal land. The Modoc Tribal Complex, located at 515 G Street, S.E., Miami, Oklahoma, was finished in early 1982. This complex houses the tribal headquarters, tribal archives, and library. The library is the only one in the area focused only on Native American history and family records. Chief Follis has also started many economic programs, like Red Cedar Recycling, which opened to the community in 1996. In 1998, the Modoc and Miami tribes worked together to open The Stables. This is a betting and bingo place next to the Modoc Tribal Complex. Also, under Chief Follis's leadership, the tribe has brought bison back to the Modoc prairie. They now have a strong and growing herd. Today, the tribal office manages many federal and state programs that help tribal members and other Native Americans in the area.
