Editing Burns, Oregon (section)

===Tribal===
Archeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the general vicinity of Burns that pushed the possibility of human habitation from the previous estimate of 10,000 to 18,000 years ago.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} <ref>{{cite web|title=Archaeologists find new evidence in Southern Oregon that pushed possibility of human habitation from 10,000 to 18,000 years ago|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2023/07/15/archaeology-southern-oregon-human-habitation-18000-years-ago/|work=Oregon Public Broadcasting|year=2023|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref>
Members of the contemporary [[Burns Paiute Tribe]] of Harney County, descended mainly from the Wadatika band of Paiutes, were hunter-gatherers throughout central and southern Oregon. The Wadatikas were named after the wada seeds collected as food from near Malheur Lake.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} Their territory covered about {{convert|5300|mi2|km2}} from the [[Cascade Range]] to near [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]] and from the southern Blue Mountains to south of Steens Mountain.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} Scattered in the 19th&nbsp;century by clashes with white settlers and soldiers and through forced removal to distant reservations, some of the Paiutes eventually returned to Harney County.<ref>{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Cain|title=Malheur Indian Reservation|url=http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=63029619-9698-B33E-18180586E8AA762E|work=The Oregon History Project|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|year=2005|access-date=April 8, 2013|archive-date=November 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110221829/http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=63029619-9698-B33E-18180586E8AA762E|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1930s, the Burns Paiute Tribe began buying land near Burns and holding tribal elections.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} By the late 1960s, the [[Tribe (Native American)|tribe]] had adopted a constitution and tribal bylaws, and in 1972 the Burns Paiute formally became an independent tribe, eligible to enter into contracts with other governments and legal entities.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} The tribe owns the Burns Paiute Reservation, {{convert|770|acre|ha}} north of Burns, and individual members of the tribe own more than {{convert|11000|acre|ha}} of land elsewhere in the county.{{sfn|Jenks|2013|pp=34–37}} In 1991, the tribe had about 350 members, and about 200 lived on the reservation.<ref>{{cite web|author=Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project|title=Appendix 1–2: American Indian Background Information|page=19|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|year=1997|url=http://www.icbemp.gov/pdfs/deis/eastside/volume2/apx1-2.pdf|access-date=April 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309060321/http://www.icbemp.gov/pdfs/deis/eastside/volume2/apx1-2.pdf|archive-date=March 9, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>