Sheldon SmilingCoyote observed the ebb and flow of the waves, his gaze fixated on the mesmerizing motion before him. Suddenly, with deft precision, he thrust his hook into the water, capturing a slimy prehistoric fish. He skillfully maneuvered the lamprey, preventing its escape, and hurried to a hole he had previously dug in the sand. There, he released the fish among its fellow creatures. On a late February day, SmilingCoyote proudly added two dozen lampreys to his catch. These nutrient-rich fish have long been a vital source of sustenance for the Yurok people during the winter months. However, the construction of four dams along the Klamath River decimated 400 miles of their historical spawning habitat, endangering the lamprey and other native species. Thankfully, a change is on the horizon. Yurok and Karuk tribal members have embarked on a project to restore the river’s natural flow by planting native plants, such as Oregon ash and Klamath plum, near the Iron Gate Reservoir, which is located approximately 200 miles east of the river’s mouth. This reservoir is the first of three pools that will be restored to their former state once the dams are dismantled. This ambitious dam removal project, currently underway, may be the largest of its kind in the nation. The Yurok and Karuk tribes have an ancestral connection to the Klamath River spanning thousands of years. However, the construction of dams over a century ago severed this relationship. After experiencing the largest fish die-off in U.S. history, the tribes launched a prolonged battle to have the dams removed. Now, their efforts are nearing fruition, with the lower Klamath River on the verge of being restored to its original state, known as “the creator’s country.” The Seattle Times embarked on a journey, tracing the course of the Klamath River from its mouth amidst the towering redwood forests of Northern California, through the ancestral lands of the Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa tribes, up to the concrete dams destined for demolition, and finally to the farms and ranches that rely on the river’s water. Along the way, the stories shared shed light not only on the decades-long fight to restore the river’s flow and a way of life, but also on the unique challenges posed by water scarcity in an era of climate change. Although the removal of the dams will not solve the growing water crisis, it carries significant implications for other dammed rivers throughout the American West. The Indigenous communities of the Klamath have drawn inspiration from the successful dam removal efforts of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe of the Northwest. They aim to heal the environmental damage inflicted over the past 150 years of colonization. Restoring balance to the river holds the promise of reclaiming food sovereignty and repairing the relationship between the Salmon People and the land. Moreover, it could serve as a model for the Salmon People of the Columbia Basin, who are fighting for a similar future for the Snake River, which once teemed with Chinook salmon. However, there is a major obstacle impeding their progress: the support of Congress. In a region plagued by drought, restoring historical flows to rivers is a monumental task. These waterways crucially sustain government-subsidized farms, cattle ranches, and the transformed identity of these regions. While Indigenous people were promised the right to continue their subsistence lifestyle in exchange for their vast homelands, the federal government also promised settlers water for a new tradition: draining wetlands and irrigating foreign crops, taming rivers and valleys. Consequently, a political tug-of-war is currently unfolding as these broken promises are being confronted. In the coastal town of Klamath, situated on the westernmost edge of the Yurok Reservation, grocery stores are a rarity. Instead, a gas station minimart with a distinct scent of evergreen-tree-shaped car air fresheners stands in their place. The options are limited – Hot Pockets, frozen burritos, and a selection of TV dinners. Here, the lampreys are regarded as “salvation fish.” After the adult salmon have spawned and perished in the fall, the Yurok people rely on these odd-looking fish to sustain them through the winter. SmilingCoyote learned the art of hooking lampreys at the tender age of 5, and by the time he turned 12, he embarked on solo journeys to the river’s mouth. He affirms their significance, stating, “Everything is valuable here. Even if it’s not edible, it’s sustainable to the earth. If this river was to ever dry up and go away, we wouldn’t be the people that we are. The river is everything.” The struggles that have unfolded over the past century have taken a toll on the Yurok people. According to their creation story, the creator first fashioned the land, water, and creatures before creating the Yurok people. The story dictated that if the people took care of the land, water, and creatures, and only took what they needed, abundance would be their constant companion. The grandmother of Susan Masten, former chair of the Yurok Tribe, resided in a redwood plank house overlooking the mouth of the Klamath. Today, the worn-out planks lie in a heap on the family property. Masten’s grandmother lived off the land, gathering roots, berries, fish, and mussels. Prior to the arrival of colonizers during the gold rush, the Yurok people had inhabited the area for tens of thousands of years, faithfully fulfilling their part of the creation-story pact. However, as Masten explains, “the only people bearing the burden of conservation were the Indian people on the river.” The fishing wars commenced in 1969, when California game wardens arrested Masten’s uncle, Raymond Mattz, and seized his and his friends’ gillnets. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the fishing rights of the Yurok people on the reservation. Nonetheless, a few years later, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife prohibited tribal fishing on the Klamath, citing conservation concerns, while sport and commercial fisheries continued their operations. This sparked fierce clashes between protesters and federal officials. Law enforcement agents donned bulletproof vests and helmets, with some even ramming Yurok boats and destroying nets. Masten recalls an officer telling her that they were there to “protect the salmon.” Sadly, the media narrative only focused on the “Indians taking all the fish.” Bill Bowers, an elder of the Yurok tribe and tribal court judge, began fishing on the river at the tender age of 5, just like SmilingCoyote. Sitting in The Historic Requa Inn one rainy February day, Bowers reminisced about the fishing expeditions of his youth. These trips were often filled with misadventures, from accidentally setting his tent ablaze to harrowing encounters with bears. He went to great lengths, even fishing in darkness without flashlights, to avoid detection by law enforcement. Bowers emphasizes the profound connection between the salmon and the Yurok people. He asserts that the salmon, which have sustained the genetic heritage of the Yurok people for thousands of years, are intertwined with their DNA. This relationship, he believes, should take precedence over any competing claims to the river’s resources. He imparted this understanding to his children, including his daughter Amy Cordalis. Cordalis, who returned to the reservation for an internship with the tribe’s fisheries department in 2002, recalls a time when the Klamath River teemed with Chinook salmon. However, during the Bush administration, water from Klamath Lake was diverted to irrigate farms in the basin rather than supporting the river’s ecosystem. This decision was made in response to a protest by farmers who had been denied their usual water allocation the previous year. Cordalis vividly recalls cruising down the river in an aluminum fisheries boat that year…
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