KTLA News: "1972 California Indian Judgment payment" (1972)

[Unidentified interviewed man] I'm positive that they will eventually get their money. I hope it's going to be no more than 60 days after July the first, after we complete the role. We don't know what the payment is going to be. This is a big question among all people. How much how are we going to get? The law states that the amount of the money that's available at the time we make the payment will be divided by the number of people who are eligible. And payment will be determined by that means. There will be no money left over. And the money is invested in banks, and it said it's at the present time, total between the two funds is about 40 million. [laughter] [Interviewed man] So you know, [unintelligible] and speak softly. [Stan Chambers] What is the purpose of the news conference today? [Interviewed man] The main purpose of this news conference today, I believe, is that the need for the California Indian people... those Californian Indian people who have filed applications with our office, and who have... who haven't furnished sufficient evidence, and documentary evidence, to our office in order for us to make a... value on their evaluation on their eligibility... the need for those people to get this information to us when they get a rejection notice, which states on that rejection notice they have 30 days in which to file this information to us. If they don't file it within this 30 days, then their chances of sharing in this California Indian judgment fund, will be lost. [Chambers] About how many have filed up to the state that would be eligible for this fund? [Interviewed man] Well, we've had 70, approximately 76,000 people who have filed now. This office in Sacramento is in the process of determining which ones of these people will be eligible. Up to the present time, up to the end of this last month, we've had about 56,000 people who have been determined eligible. We've had 1,200 people who have been rejected. We have 1,700 people who are of mixed ancestry, you know. There are some Indians, California Indians who are excluded from this 29 million dollar payment, because their lands that overlap into California, are also connected with claims in Arizona, Oregon, Northern California, and Nevada. They will not share in the 29 million dollar judgment. They're splinter tribes. We have people in that category who are half California Indian, as we refer to them, and a half splinter, who have to make a selection on whether they want to go with a claim of the tribe that is a splinter, or the claim of the tribe that's California Indian. We have 1,700 people in that category, who have to make a selection. The process is being done at the present time, as far as them making selections. [Chambers] How are people able to verify that they're eligible for this? [Interviewed man] There are three basic ways in which you can be eligible to share in this payment. The first, and the easiest, is to have your name listed on a previous roll. Now, we have a 1928 census roll, and we have a 1940... payment roll... revised roll as we refer to it, in which $150 payment was made in the '50s. If you're on this roll and file an application, then that's pretty routine. Now the law also says that if you have a lineal or collateral relative on this roll, then, and you file an application and you furnish the necessary documentary evidence to establish this relationship, then you're eligible. The last, and the most difficult, is to trace your ancestry back to an Indian in California in 1852. Now, we have had, so far, 589 people who have done this, and who have established their eligibility. I would say 99% of those people are in Southern California. [Chambers] How would you have records at that time in 1852? [Interviewed man] Well, the reason that most of those people that have proved their eligibility through this means that are in Southern California, is because the missions are the only areas where this information is still available. Now, as you know, Indian people didn't keep written records. So, the mission people have records that go back beyond even 1850. And in most cases, fortunately for some people, this information has been found and family trees have been developed that have gone back to this point, and even beyond. [Chambers] Now there's an urgency to your news conference today, because we're close to a deadline. Is that correct? [Interviewed man] That's right, we have established the deadline of July the first, for completing this role. Now, in order for us to give those people who are rejected, there are 30 days in which to file this information to us. And if the information isn't sufficient, and the rejection is sustained in our office, their rejection is forwarded to Washington, D.C., where a final decision is made by the Secretary of the Interior. And in order for the time element to be so that everyone's application will get full value of this review, it is necessary that this information is gotten back to us immediately. [Chambers] Do you believe that all of those who are eligible will eventually get the... [Interviewed man] Eventually will be eligible. We don't know how many of those people are going to choose to go with that tribe, that is not considered California Indian, and will share in a different claim. So therefore we are unable to make a determination at the present time on how large... [audio ends]