I am focusing on the perspective of the
tribes who are local to the area. My original research questions were: what are
the causes of environmental damage to the river area? How does this damage
affect the tribes who rely on the river’s natural resources? What can be done
to attempt to reverse the negative effects?
I began with background research into the history of issues, getting the
majority of my information from internet resources. The Tribal perspectives I
gained from various writings, stories and presentations from Native Peoples.
The Klamath River runs from the Upper
Klamath Lake in southwest Oregon, through northern California (Friends of the
River). There are four Tribes living in the vicinity of the River: the Klamath,
Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa. These groups rely on the natural resources of the river
for their subsistence and cultural practices, therefore the degradation of the
environment has a direct impact on their ability to maintain their way of life
in the present (Klamath Riverkeeper).
The main cause of damage to the Klamath
environment can be attributed to PacifiCorp’s hydropower project. This project
consists of six dams total; however the removal efforts have been focused
around four in particular: the Copco 1 and 2, J.C. Boyle, and Iron Gate
developments. The first dam (Copco 1) was completed in 1918, and is a 126 foot
high powerhouse dam, with no ladder allowing upstream fish travel, in fact, all
but the JC Boyle Dam are lacking upstream passage for fish runs. The final and
tallest dam to be installed (Iron Gate) was completed in 1962 and stands 173
feet high. The generating capacity for the four problem dams combined is 145
megawatts (American Rivers). This amounts to 1% of PacifiCorp’s energy demands
(Friends of the River).
One of the most prominent effects
stemming from the dams is the occurrence of a toxic blue-green species of
algae, Microcystis aeruginosa. This algae is native to the Klamath River,
however it is not known to flourish in flowing water. The stagnant waters created
by the imposing dams create an ideal breeding ground. Microcystis aeruginosa
produces a compound that has been known to cause liver failure, and the levels
in the Klamath have been measured up to four thousand times what the World
Health Organization would consider a moderate risk to human health (Klamath
Riverkeeper).
The effects of
the algae are not only seen in water quality, but on fish populations as well.
There has been a significant decrease in the numbers of Coho Salmon, Chinook
Salmon, Bull Trout, and Steelhead just to name a few. Above the Iron Gate Dam,
all anadromous salmon and steelhead are extinct (Friends of the River).This
affects the culture and subsistence to Native tribes, who in the past exercised
great legal control over the way they caught fish, in order to preserve their
population numbers and ensure subsistence for all who lived in the river
vicinity. Lucy Thompson, a Yurok author documented her story, relaying the use
of small, traditional fish dams. She says the downriver people would only take
as much salmon as they needed, then remove the dams so that the tribes upriver
could catch some as well. The dam laws were highly enforced, so that all people
and animal kind could benefit, and they always left enough salmon to spawn the next
year (Margolin 52-53). Indigenous cultures share a worldview that is very
different from the western perspective. Instead of seeing resources as
something that is quickly running out, they understand the earth’s capacity to
renew itself. These ideas were once understood by Europeans (for example, the
word resource is derived from a French word meaning “to rise again”), but have
since been forgotten (Anderson 9).
There
are many other issues other than the PacifiCorp hydropower project that affect
the local Tribes. Industrial pollution and agricultural practices introduce
chemicals to public lands. Many tribes rely on clean water and non-toxic plants
for cultural subsistence, and these natural resources have become tainted
(Klamath Riverkeeper). Pesticide spraying is especially threatening to cultures
who utilize the plants, as many basket weavers harvest and prepare resources
using their mouth (Anderson 319). Placer (hydraulic mining) which began in the
gold rush era but is still occurring sporadically disrupts sediment in the
river, and washes it downstream. Another big issue has been the suppression of
tribal burning. This is the practice of controlled burning in specific,
carefully monitored areas, which clears brush and helps to prevent more uncontrollable
wildfire (Klamath Riverkeeper). Because this practice has been ended, the
forests surrounding Klamath are more subject to wildfire, which bears the risk
of a decrease in forest. Less forest means a decline in the availability of
traditional foods.
It is not only
subsistence for the Tribes that is negatively affected; there are many
repercussions to their culture as well. Many Tribes have close ties with their
environment, and use many natural resources for traditional clothing, baskets,
and housing. Theodora Kroeber’s book The
Inland Whale depicts a story as told by Robert Spott, a member of the Yurok
Tribe. This story tells of a woman and her would-be daughter-in-law who make
use of the natural resources around them. They used salmon and acorns as food,
and used grasses to make baskets to hold their excess. They also used bark from
trees to make skirts and aprons (Kroeber 21). When access to these resources is
threatened, it diminishes the ability to maintain cultural practices, which
causes stress on the mind and physique of Native Peoples. They are thrown into
a culture of confusion, one that is off balance.
This world out
of balance became manifested at the beginning of the fall semester, in an
incident where a gray whale found its way upriver and became trapped. This was
seen by many natives as an omen, one that had been described in the same Inland Whale story that was recounted by
Robert Spott:
To a world in
balance, the flat earth’s rise and fall, as it floats on Underneath Ocean, is
almost imperceptible, and nothing is disturbed by it. Doctors know that to keep
this balance, the people must dance the World Renewal Dances, bringing their
feet down strong and hard on the earth. If they are careless about this, it
tips up and if it tips more than a very little, there are strange and terrible
misplacements. One of the worst of these occurred before Nenem’s grandparents’
time…This was the time when the earth tipped so far that Downriver Ocean came
over the bar and flowed up the river, filling and overflowing the canyon,
carrying its waters and its fish and other sea life far inland, past even the
Center of the World-farther than it had ever penetrated before. With prayers
and dancing, balance was eventually restored and the ocean flowed back down the
canyon and outside the bar, carrying the fish and other sea life with it,
except for a young female whale [Ninawa] who had been washed all the way into
Fish Lake and was left stranded there (Kroeber 25).
Although no specific cause of death
could be determined, the omen surrounding the death of the gray whale in the
Klamath brought the environment to front and center attention.
What can be done to help the Klamath?
There are several activist organizations dedicated to reversing the damage, for
example the Klamath Riverkeeper, who focus on restoring water quality and
fisheries along the river. There has also been a huge movement to undam the
Klamath, which thanks to the efforts of such activists and Tribal opposition
has been scheduled to occur by the year 2020 (American Rivers). This process
however, has a big price tag; 90 million dollars (Friends of the River).
There are also efforts to educate the
youth and public about the native perspective of the environment. Ron Reed has
been working with department of interior to put together Klamath Basin Youth
Employment Education Initiative- traditional knowledge courses taught in
western style, based on holistic ecosystem perspective (which is basically If
one part of system fails, it affects others); will help spread knowledge on how
to sustain these natural resources of the Klamath.
American
Rivers: http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/restoring-rivers/dams/projects/restoring-klamath-river.html
Anderson,
Kat. Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources. Berkeley:
University of California, 2005.
Friends
of the River: http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/site/PageServer?pagename=KlamathBackground
Klamath
Riverkeeper: http://klamathriver.org/
Kroeber,
Theodora. The Inland Whale. Indiana U.P.; M. Paterson, 1959.
Margolin,
Malcolm. The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs &
Reminiscences. Berkeley,
Ca. Heyday, 1993. Print.
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