For thousands of years many of Oregon’s tribes have lived and thrived along the Klamath river. Prior to settler contact the Klamath, Modoc, Yurok, Yahooshkins, Karuk and others, fished along the river that carried salmon so plentiful Native oral stories told that you “could cross the river on the backs of the salmon” (p6. May. 2014).

The c’waam are a scared fish to the Klamath, who reference the c’waam in there ancient stories and used c’waam as sacred gift giving to elders during ceremonies. The Salmon dance was a year event of celebration and reverence to the abundant and honored fish of the Klamath. These fish are deep rooted in there cultural practices, and the tribal people stewarded the river in a way that kept the river full of life while being able to sustain their food resources and cultural practices.

As settlers moved west, Native lands were encroached upon and conflict over land was getting violent. In “1853 Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs was sent to Oregon” (p122. Berg. 2007) to quell the fighting and to corral the Natives into more convenient locations. The Klamath ceded thousands of acres of land during the treaty making process, but what they fought for and what was ensured in the treaties was their water rights. The right to fish in areas they were accustomed to, clean water, and uses of the river for cultural practices.

Treaties were written in a fashion that once ratified by Congress they superseded the laws of the land. Treaties recognized tribes as sovereign nations with rights that were as concrete as the constitution itself.

References

Laura Berg. The First Oregonians. Oregon Council for the Humanities. Book. 2007

Theresa May. Salmon is Everything. Oregon State University Press. Playwright. 2014.