Oregon’s total "American Indian" population, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, included 185,723 people as "American Indian or Alaskan Native." Oregon’s "American Indians" live in all 36 counties and are about 4% of Oregon’s total population. In addition to members of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, there are a significant number of enrolled members of many tribes based outside of Oregon who also reside within our state. Members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes speak of being in this area from time immemorial. Village sites and traditional ways are known to date back many thousands of years.

Tribal governments are separate and unique sovereign nations with powers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their enrolled members and to govern their lands. This tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the State of Oregon. The members residing in Oregon are citizens of their tribes, citizens of Oregon, and since 1924, citizens of the United States of America.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, oversees tribal interests and administers the federal government’s trust obligations. At times, the federal government has been supportive of tribal self-determination, and in other periods, has adopted policies and passed legislation having a negative impact on the ability of tribes to govern as sovereigns. “Termination,” one such policy in the 1950s, was an attempt to sever federal trusteeship and support for tribal sovereignty. Of the 109 tribes and bands terminated nationwide, 62 were in Oregon. In 1975, the federal government recognized the failure of its termination policy and passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, and later, the Tribal Self-Governance Act.

Several tribes began the process to restore their status as sovereign nations. In 1977, The Confederated Tribes of Siletz was the second tribe in the nation to achieve restoration. Following Siletz was the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians in 1982, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in 1983, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw in 1984, the Klamath Tribes in 1986 and the Coquille Indian Tribe in 1989. Another three federally recognized tribal governments exist in Oregon: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (Treaty of 1855), the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla (Treaty of 1855) and the Burns Paiute Tribe (1972 Executive Order). Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe is a federally recognized tribe with reservation lands straddling Oregon and Nevada, but the tribe’s population center is in Nevada. Celilo Village is a federally recognized tribal entity near The Dalles, jointly administered by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, and the Yakama Indian Nation (Washington).

 

All Oregon tribal governments have reservation or trust lands created by treaties, statutes or executive branch actions. Tribal governments have regulatory authority over these lands, unless that authority has been removed by Congress. Nearly 904,000 acres, or at least 1.6% of land within Oregon’s boundaries, are held in trust by the federal government or are designated reservation lands. Tribal governments have the authority to decide their own membership qualifications and have a right to exclude individuals from their reservations. Just as Oregon does not collect tax on federal lands nor tax federal or local governments or non-profit corporations, Oregon does not tax tribal governments, but all tribal members as individual citizens pay federal taxes and most pay state taxes, with the exception of those who live and work on a reservation or earn money on reservation or trust lands or from trust resources.

Public Law 280 gave the state certain civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribes with the exception of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla and the Burns Paiute Tribe, which are "non Public Law 280" tribes. Notwithstanding Public Law 280, all Oregon tribes have the authority to elect their own governments and adopt laws and ordinances. Oregon tribal governments have their own departments dealing with governmental services, including law enforcement and tribal court systems. In addition, each tribal government operates programs in the areas of natural resources, cultural resources, education, health and human services, public safety, housing, economic development and other areas to serve their members. ​Oregon maintains a government-to-government relationship with the tribal governments as directed in ORS 182.162 to 182.168.