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The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua tribe of Indians, located in Douglas County, Oregon, signed a treaty with the United States of America on September 19, 1853 which was one of the first treaty's from the Pacific Northwest to be ratified by the Senate on April 12, 1854. By that agreement, the Cow Creeks became a landless tribe ceding more than 800 square miles of the Umpqua watershed in Southwestern Oregon to the United States.Unfortunately, the Treaty was ignored by the Federal Government for nearly a century until the Termination Act in 1956 which terminated federal relations with the Cow Creeks, along with 60 other tribes and bands in western Oregon.
The Cow Creeks received no prior notification of the Termination Act, and because of that were able to obtain presidential action in 1980 to take a land claims case to the U.S. Court of Claims. On December 29, 1982, nearly 125 years after the Treaty was signed, P.L. 97391 was passed by Congress and the Tribe regained federal recognition.
With federal recognition, the tribe was able to negotiate federal contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service to administer such programs as Housing, Education, and others related to health for the enrolled membership of the Tribe within the tribal service area.
Current enrollment for the Tribe is over 1200 members. Nearly half reside in the tribe's seven county service area consisting of Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lane Counties. These counties were determined by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service as required by the CFR to define "on or near the reservation" for the tribe.
In 1985 the Tribe purchased 29 acres in Canyonville, Oregon which was eventually taken into "trust" by the federal government and became the Tribal Reservation. This property is only 6 miles from where the Treaty was signed in 1853.
The tribe has maintained strong cultural ties to the area. The traditional Cow Creek Powwow is held annually at South Umpqua Falls, an area that has tremendous importance to the tribe's culture and tradition.
Another area of great historical, cultural, and traditional use is an area known as the Huckleberry Patch on the RogueUmpqua Divide. This area was a traditional use area for the tribe and has great historic importance.
The Tribe has remained steadfast in the realization of tribal economic self-sufficiency. After years of planning and financial packaging, the Tribe opened the Cow Creek Bingo Center on April 30, 1992. Through careful management of tribal assets, the tribe was able to initiate several a series of expansion that resulted in the Seven Feather Hotel and Casino Resort.
With proceeds from the resort, the tribe has developed an aggressive economic development program that includes land acquisition and business development. The Tribe currently has ownership of several businesses including:
- Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort - a premiere resort and gaming experience with "Nevada Style" gaming, fine dining, cabaret entertainment and a convention center.
- Seven Feathers Truck & Travel Center - a state of the art travel center catering to both the trucking industry as well as 15 travelers.
- ciMediaGroup / ciPrinting - specializing in all forms of media and production.
- KBar Ranch - of a hay and cattle operation on nearly 2,500 acres.
- Cubby Holes Storage - including various sized and types of storage space in South Douglas County.
- Umpqua Indian Foods - features multiple flavors of beef jerky, meat products and various Oregon products with distribution in 26 states.
- Rio Communications - a telecommunication/Internet Service Provider.
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