territory

Yurok Tribe: Jurisdiction/Territory Excerpt

Year

ARTICLE I - TERRITORY , JURISDICTION AND AUTHORITY

SECTION 1 - Ancestral Lands

The Ancestral Lands of the Yurok Tribe extend unbroken along the Pacific Ocean coast (including usual and customary off­shore fishing areas) from Damnation Creek, its northern boundary, to the southern boundary of the Little River drainage basin, and unbroken along the Klamath River, including both sides and its bed, from its mouth upstream to and including the Bluff Creek drainage basin. Included within these lands are the drainage basin of Wilson Creek, the drainage basins of all streams entering the Klamath River from its mouth upstream to and including the Bluff Creek and Slate Creek drainage basins, including the village site at Big Bar (except for the drainage basin upstream from the junction of Pine Creek and Snow Camp Creek), and the Canyon Creek (also known as Tank Creek) drainage basin of the Trinity River, the drainage basins of streams entering the ocean or lagoons between the Klamath River and Little River (except for the portion of the Redwood Creek drainage basin beyond the McArthur Creek drainage basin, and except for the portion of the Little River drainage basin which lies six miles up from the ocean). Our Ancestral Lands include all submerged lands, and the beds, banks and waters of all the tributaries within the territory just described. Also included within the Ancestral Lands is a shared interest with other tribes in ceremonial high country sites and trails as known by the Tribe, as well as the Tribes usual and customary hunting, fishing and gathering sites. The Ancestral Lands are depicted on the "Map of Yurok Ancestral Lands", on file in the Yurok Tribal Offices.

SECTION 2 - Territory

The territory of the Tribe consists of all Ancestral Lands, and specifically including, but not limited to, the Yurok Reservation and any lands that may hereafter be acquired by the Tribe, within or without Ancestral Lands.

SECTION 3 - Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Yurok Tribe extends to all of its member wherever located, to all persons throughout its territory, and within its territory, over all lands, waters, river beds, submerged lands, properties, air space, minerals, fish, forests, wildlife, and other resources, and any interest therein now or in the future. 

Sovereignty and Peoplehood

Author
Producer
University of Arizona, American Indian Studies
Year

The term "sovereignty" perplexes students of the American Indian policy perhaps more than any other concept. The word comes from the Old French soverain or souverein and was usually used in reference to a king or lord who had the undisputed right to make decisions and act accordingly with or without the benefit of counsel, religious sanction or consent of the governed. The word is also very likely linked to the Old French rene from which, in turn, the English derived the word "rein." Reins, of course, are used to control horses and the terminology aptly applies to those who maintained absolute control over particular populaces and territories under the European feudal system, mounted, arms-bearing, property-owning "thugs in armor" known as knights. Sovereyneté, which was imposed on the English by the Norman conquest of 1066 and hence became an Anglo-French word, has come to mean the acknowledged legal authority of a ruler or a state. Sovereignty, then, is a Western European concept that is often associated with taking and holding ground in a military sense. The authority to wield power, simple coercion, underpinned the concept of sovereignty...

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Holm, Tom. "Sovereignty and Peoplehood." Red Ink: A Native American Student Publication. Vol. 8, No. 2. American Indian Studies Program, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2000: 41-44. Article.