Yurok and the Klamath River: Yurok Historical Context and Data for Assessing Current Conditions and the Effects of the proposed Klamath Restoration Project on Yurok Tribal Trust Assets and Yurok Resources of Cultural and Religious Significance Report Prepared for the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs For Use in the Secretarial Determination Overview Report and NEPA/CEQA Analysis Under Grant # 81333AG053 from US Fish and Wildlife Service Prepared by: Dr. Kathleen Sloan Yurok Tribe Environmental Program February 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction: Purpose of Report 3 II. Yurok Tribe: Overview of Yurok History 7 III. Yurok Traditional Knowledge and the Klamath River 25 IV. Yurok Resources of Cultural and Religious Significance 43 V. Yurok Fishing Sites and Fishing Rights 47 VI. Yurok Beneficial Uses of the Klamath River and Tributaries 56 VII. Environmental Justice 70 VIII. Tribal Trust and Potentially Impacted Trust Assets 110 IX. Conclusions and Recommendations 120 X. References Cited 125 XI. Attachments 130 A. 1851 Treaty with the Poh-lik-lah B. 1973 USC 412 US 481 Mattz v. Arnett C. 1993 DOI Solicitors Opinion: Fishing Rights of the Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribes D. 2006 DOI Cooperative Agreement: Cooperative Management of Tribal and Federal Lands and Resources in the Klamath River Basin in California 2 I. Introduction: Purpose of Report This report has been prepared under contract with the US Fish and Wildlife Service for the purpose of providing information to the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Secretary of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and all federal agencies involved in the Secretarial Determination and compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA) currently underway for the purposes of evaluating the proposed action of removing four Klamath River dams and implementing provisions set forth in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The primary focus of this report is the impact of the current conditions of continued operations of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project on Yurok trust resources and implications regarding the federal government’s trust responsibility to the Yurok Tribe. Much of the contents of this report are historical in nature due to the fact that historic context is required to adequately assess the direct and cumulative impacts of current conditions and current operations of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project on tribal trsut resources and the Klamath River ecosystem and its fishery. The Yurok Tribe, its history, culture, identity, spirituality and economic survival have always relied upon the Klamath River. For Yurok people, the Klamath River is “the Bloodline: the life blood of the people”. The dependence and interdependence of the Yurok on the River and its resources cannot be overstated. It has always been and remains the central feature in Yurok life, ceremony and traditions. Reliance on the Klamath River fishery is not simply for economics, but most importantly for subsistence and cultural survival. Prior to the arrival of non-Indians into the region, the Yurok Tribe was considered one of the most prosperous and wealthy tribes in the area. This wealth was a result of an abundant year-round fishery that provided the basis for the entire Klamath River tribal economic system. Fish were traded and sold to neighboring tribes for a range of resources used in daily and ceremonial life. Abundant food provided by the year-round fishery allowed for the development of a highly developed social and economic system that was reinforced through a highly structured ceremonial and cultural cycle that still persists today. Klamath River fish are irreplaceable to the Yurok Tribe's culture, religion and economy. From time immemorial, Yurok people have depended on the Klamath River. The River is central to Yurok society by providing food, transportation, commercial trade, and numerous other activities essential to Yurok life. Throughout history and today, the identity of the Yurok people has been intricately woven into natural environment including the Klamath Basin watershed. Tribal religious and ceremonial practices focus on the health of the world; the Klamath River and its fisheries are a priority. The Yurok Tribe’s obligation to protect the fishery has always been understood by Yurok people. The ancestral territory of the Yurok Tribe included coastal lagoons, marshes, ocean waters, tidal areas, redwood and other ancient forests, prairies and the Klamath River. The Preamble of the Constitution of the Yurok Tribe identifies: 3 Our people have always lived on this sacred and wondrous land along the Pacific Coast and inland on the Klamath River, since the Spirit People, Wo’ge’ made things ready for us and the Creator, Ko-won-no- ekc-on Ne ka-nup-ceo, placed us here. From the beginning, we have followed all the laws of the Creator, which became the whole fabric of our tribal sovereignty. In times past and now Yurok people bless the deep river, the tall redwood trees, the rocks, the mounds, and the trails. We pray for the health of all the animals, and prudently harvest and manage the great salmon runs and herds of deer and elk. We never waste and use every bit of the salmon, deer, elk, sturgeon, eels, seaweed, mussels, candlefish, otters, sea lions, seals, whales, and other ocean and river animals. We also have practiced our stewardship of the land in the prairies and forests through controlled burns that improve wildlife habitat and enhance the health and growth of the tan oak acorns, hazelnuts, pepperwood nuts, berries, grasses and bushes, all of which are used and provide materials for baskets, fabrics, and utensils. (Yurok Tribe Constitution 1993) Because of the rivers' importance, one of the Tribe's highest priorities is to protect and preserve the resources of the rivers, and in particular, to restore the anadromous fish runs to levels that can sustain Yurok people. When the original Klamath Reservation was established in 1855, the rivers were filled with abundant stocks of salmon, steelhead, eulachon, lamprey, and green sturgeon. Today, the abundance of fish in the Klamath River and its tributaries are only a small fraction of their historic levels. Many species of fish have gone extinct, many other species, such as fall Chinook, are in serious trouble. Nonetheless, anadromous fish continue to form the core of the Yurok Tribal fishery. The Yurok Tribe is pursuing its fishery restoration goals through a fish management and regulatory program, participation in various forums to reach long term solutions to Basin problems and when necessary, litigation. The Tribe has devoted a large share of scarce funding resources to budgets for fishery management and regulation. The Tribe has enacted a fisheries ordinance to ensure that the fishery is managed responsibly and in a sustainable manner and has a longstanding record of resource protection. The Tribe's fisheries department is well respected and recognized as a knowledgeable and experienced fisheries entity in the Klamath Basin. The Yurok Tribal Council and the Tribal members they represent are well known for taking and supporting responsible actions to protect fisheries resources. The management of the Klamath River and its ecosystem was radically altered due to historical events that led to the dispossession of lands and resources from Yurok and other Tribal people in the Basin during the settlement and expansionist era of American society, starting in the mid 1800s. Loss of lands and political autonomy resulted in the loss of management authority by Yurok and other Tribes over the River and the resources on which they relied upon since time immemorial. Subsequent management decisions regarding commercial fisheries, the establishment and abolition of canneries, and the construction of a series of dams in the upper basin have had a cumulative impact on tribal society, economy, culture and traditional lifeways. The Yurok Tribe had no say in these 4 decisions when they occurred, yet have born the disproportionate burden of the ecological and socio-economic impacts of these management decisions over time. During the Reservation Era, the Termination Era and prior to the Self-Determination Era the Tribe has suffered the consequences of these short-sighted management decisions by state and federal managers and agencies with regards to the Klamath River and its resources. These management decisions have resulted in extirpation of numerous runs and species of culturally significant anadromous and riverine species that were relied upon by Yurok and other tribes. Today, Candlefish (once an important subsistence food) no longer exist in the Klamath River. Coho Salmon and Green Sturgeon are on the Endangered Species list. Pacific Lamprey have experienced dramatic decreases and Chinook Salmon have declined to such numbers that only a short commercial fishing season can be practiced for the fall run, and all other runs have diminished to the extent that they are no longer viable for economic harvest. Impairments to Klamath River water quality as a result of the ecological impacts of the Klamath River dams and their artificial reservoirs have resulted in recurring annual blooms of toxic blue green algae that exceed World Health Organization and state and county public health standards resulting in the posting of closures throughout the basin on an annual basis, always during the peak time for commercial and