The Price of Disposal: Colville Reservation Opens to Homesteading
Federal authorities announce the opening of 350,000 acres of the Colville Reservation to white homesteaders, touting the financial management of tribal wealth.
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In the last three years, the federal government has aggressively moved to open reservation lands to settlers. The Port Peck reservation in Montana has been opened, and the opening of the Colville reservation in Washington state is now underway, making 350,000 acres available for homestead entry. Officials claim this is part of a broader, successful administration of Indian lands, pointing to the collection of millions in tribal royalties from coal, oil, and asphalt, and the ongoing alienation of reservation acreage through government-managed sales.
“The opening of the Colville reservation in the state of Washington, making available for homestead entry 350,000 acres.”
The opening of the Colville Reservation for homesteading reflects the era's policy of eroding communal land rights to encourage white settlement. Today, the legacies of these land-alienation policies remain a central point of contention in Washington, as tribes continue to fight for the restoration of ancestral lands and sovereign control over their remaining territory.
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