Klamath Basin History
Draft of Klamath Basin History- will be updated soon!
1775- Contact with the Oohl peoples at T’surai during the arrival of Spanish explorers (Yurok Tribe)- When we reference people from the down river on the Klamath, we call them Pue-lik-lo' (Down River Indian), those on the upper Klamath and Trinity are Pey-cheek-lo' (Up River Indian), and on the coast Ner-'er-ner' (Coast Indian).
1825- Contact with Maklaks peoples on Klamath Marsh (Klamath Tribes) by Peter Ogden
1828- Contact with Na:tini-xw peoples due to the Gold Rush (Hoopa Valley Tribe) Na:tini-xw: People of the place where the trail returns
1850- With the discovery of gold along the Trinity River, the Yuroks' Existence was critically threatened
1851- The U.S. government negotiated a treaty with the Karuk Tribe (Hurtado 1988). “Treaties that conflicted with agriculture and mining interests had little hope of finding support in California’s state government,” which “did everything possible to thwart them.”
1851-1852- the state of California spent $1 million per year to exterminate native peoples (Chatterjee 1998).
1852- Due to pressure from the Governor of California, Congress refused to ratify Karuks and other California treaties of that time. As a result, 18 California tribes, including the Karuk, who had agreed to treaty terms in good faith, were left without any protections, land, or rights they reserved in their treaties (Hurtado 1988).
1856- The governor issued a bounty of $0.25 per Indian scalp, increasing it to $5.00 per Indian scalp in 1860, and reimbursed bounty hunters for ammunition and other supplies.
1864- Klamath Tribes Treaty Signed
1864- Hoopa Valley Tribes Treaty Signed ~and all Karuk people were ordered to leave their ancestral lands along the mid-Klamath and lower Salmon rivers and relocate to the reservation. Many people did so. Others fled to the high country or escaped and returned. Yet due to this overt displacement, many Karuk people continue to live on the Hoopa reservation, in cities on the coast and spread across California and Oregon.
1865- Klamath Tribes Ceremonies become illegal ~they end
1873- Modoc Leaders Hung
1905- The U.S. government declared the Karuk territory public land. The Karuk lost their villages and the associated hunting, fishing, and gathering areas.
1950s- An area that included Katimin was sold to a non-Karuk person. The Karuk could no longer use Katimin to perform their ceremonies.
1961- Klamath Tribes terminated
1964- Christmas Flood
1978- FISH WARS BEGIN (still currently going)
Our peoples, from the headwaters to the mouth of the ocean, have lived the loss of our waters, fish, and existence. With this loss (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual), we have also faced the physical consequences of colonial anger, being beaten, targeted, threatened, harassed, tear gas, thrown off our boats, and killed for being tribal peoples directly tied to our places.
1983- Jessie Short, et al., Appellants, v. the United States, Cross-appellant and Appellee, and Hoopa Valley Tribe, Cross-appellant and Appellee, 719 F.2d 1133 (Fed. Cir. 1983)
1986- Klamath Tribes federal recognition restored, but land base not restored
2002- Fish Kills on the Klamath River left over 34,000 fish dead. Most were adult Fall chinook salmon, along with one green sturgeon on the lower Klamath River.
2003- Beginning of the Klamath River Salmon Run, running for our Chinook and Coho Salmon from Requa (mouth of the Klamath) up the Klamath River to Wood River Headwaters (tributary to Upper Klamath Lake)
Late 1900s and early 2000s- Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk revitalized the flower dance ceremony.
2019- The Yurok Tribe made a resolution recognizing the rights of the Klamath River and gave it legal personhood. The resolution declares that the Yurok Tribal Council will adopt an ordinance establishing tribal law, which will grant the Klamath River standing in causes of action
2023- Karuk village site Katamin returned to tribe
2023- Patrick’s Point State Park renamed Sue-Meg State Park (Yurok)
2024- Klamath Dam Removal: decommissioning JC Boyle Dam, Iron Gate Dam, Copco 1 Dam, and Copco 2 (Link River Dam and Keno Dam will remain on the Klamath)
2024- Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk all to this day still practice their ceremonial traditions.