What kind of food did the Yurok Tribe eat?
YUROK TRIBE. The Yurok tribe ate a lot of things like wild plants,fruits,berries,and nuts which the women gathered,but there is one most intresting and important food to the Yurok tribe it is salmon.
What did the Yuroks do with their dried salmon?
Yurok families often had a ton of dried salmon hanging from the house rafters. They also stored the dried salmon in baskets, separating each layer of fish with aromatic tree leaves; they believed the leaves "kept out the moths" (moth larvae would have eaten the fish), although the leaves may have added flavor to the dried fish.
What is the Yurok tribe known for?
Yurok tribes were known as the Pohlik-la, Ner-er-er, Petch-ik-lah, and Klamath River Indians. The Yurok lived in the northwestern corner of California along the lower Klamath River and along the Pacific Coast. In the 1800s the U.S. government moved the people to a reservation and several small rancherias.
What kind of baskets did the Yuroks make?
Most basketmakers no longer made mush pots, large regalia storage containers, or Jump Dance baskets; instead they designed fruit baskets, place mats, and miniature baskets made into earrings or pins. Yurok communities consisted of the aristocrats (the wealthy), commoners, and slaves. Wealthy people had homes at higher elevations.
What did the Yurok Tribe eat?
They hunted, fished, and gathered nuts, berries, and other wild plant foods. Their most important foods were salmon and acorns. The Yurok wove baskets and made dugout canoes from redwoods. They traded these items to other tribes.
Is the Yurok tribe still alive?
The Yurok Tribe is currently the largest group of Native Americans in the state of California, with 6357 enrolled members living in or around the reservation.
What was the Yurok good at?
Culturally, our people are known as great fishermen, eelers, basket weavers, canoe makers, storytellers, singers, dancers, healers and strong medicine people.
What did Yurok trade?
The Yurok traded redwood boats of their manufacture to the Hupa, Tolowa, and Wiyot. Division of Labor. Shamans could be either men or women. Men traditionally were the hunters, salmon fishers, and woodworkers.
What does the word Yurok mean?
Yurok definition A member of a Native American people inhabiting northwest California along the Pacific coast and lower Klamath River. noun. The language of this people, distantly related to Algonquian. noun.
What county is Yurok?
The Yurok Indian Reservation is a Native American reservation for the Yurok people located in parts of Del Norte and Humboldt counties, California, on a 44-mile (71 km) stretch of the Klamath River....Yurok Indian Reservation.Yurok ReservationCountryUnited StatesStateCaliforniaCountiesDel Norte HumboldtTribal NationYurok14 more rows
What did the Yokuts eat?
acornsThey are called the seed-gatherers because they did no farming at all in the days before Columbus. Their main food was acorns. The Yokuts also ate wild plants, roots, and berries. They hunted deer, rabbits, prairie dogs, and other small mammals and birds.
What did the Yurok Tribe do for fun?
Traditionally, only men and boys played tossle or the stick game. Yurok girls often played with dolls. Like many California Indians, Yurok mothers traditionally carried their babies in baby baskets on their backs.
What did the Yurok use for clothing?
Yurok men did not really wear clothes but sometimes they wore short skirts. Women wore long skirts made out of grass, shells, and beads. They did not wear shirts in hot weather but they wore deerskin ponchos when it was cold. Yuroks enjoyed basket weaving, canoe making, storytelling, singing, and dancing.
What were Yurok tools made of?
Yurok canoes were dug out of half of a redwood log, using fire and a stone-handled tool of mussel shell. The canoes were used both on the ocean and the rivers.
What language did the Yurok speak?
Yurok, North American Indians who lived in what is now California along the lower Klamath River and the Pacific coast. They spoke a Macro-Algonquian language and were culturally and linguistically related to the Wiyot.
When did the Yurok Tribe end?
With the discovery of gold along the Trinity River in 1850, the Yuroks' way of life nearly came to an end.
Where did the Yurok live?
The Yurok lived in the northwestern corner of California along the lower Klamath River and along the Pacific Coast. In the 1800s the U.S. government moved the people to a reservation and several small rancherias. The Yurok Reservation is now located near the Pacific Coast in northwestern California about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the Oregon border. Yurok territory extends 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) on either side of the Klamath River from the mouth upriver for 44 miles (71 kilometers). The rancherias are also located in northwestern California near the Oregon border.
What is the name of the Yurok tribe?
Yurok tribes were known as the Pohlik-la, Ner-er-er, Petch-ik-lah, and Klamath River Indians.
What happened to the Yurok after the Red Caps surrendered?
After the Red Caps surrendered, the U.S. government relocated the Yurok to the Klamath River Reserve along with other tribes, including the Tolowa, enemies of the Yurok. Many Tolowa fled, and another reservation was established for them at Smith River. In 1860 the Mad River and Eel River Indians moved onto the Klamath Reservation. The following year floods destroyed the reservation and left two thousand Native Americans starving. The government tried to move the Yurok to Smith River, but they refused to go.
How many Yurok were there before the Europeans arrived?
Before the Europeans arrived approximately 2,500 Yurok lived in fifty villages. In 1910 the U.S. Bureau of the Census counted the population at 688 Yurok; in 1930 there were 471. The Bureau of Indian Affairs showed 1,917 Yurok in 1981. The 2000 census indicated 4,029 Yurok lived in the United States, and 5,873 people had some Yurok blood. The Yurok tribe is California’s largest Native American tribe with 4,466 enrolled members as of 2004. In the early years of the twenty-first century most of the people live on the Yurok Reservation (formerly the Hoopa Extension Reservation).
What did Colonel Redick McKee do to help the Yurok tribe?
Concerned that Native American retaliation for the killings would lead to war, Colonel Redick McKee, a U.S. Indian Agent, negotiated a treaty with most tribes in the area. The Yurok signed this Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1851, which promised them a reservation along the Eel River. McKee gave them food, oxen, and farm implements. The Yurok kept their part of the bargain. They moved to the reservation and maintained peaceful relations with the whites in the area. The U.S. Senate, however, failed to ratify the treaty.
How deep was the Yurok cabin?
The Yurok dug a hole 4 to 5 feet (1–2 meters) deep and 12 to 15 feet (3–5 meters) in diameter that served as a fire pit and eating area. This formed the center of the 20-foot (6-meter) square cabin built of redwood or cedar planks split from fallen trees or cut from large trees, allowing the tree to heal and remain alive. The single or double pitched roof had moveable planks to let in more air in warm weather. It also had an opening for smoke from the fire pit.
When did the Yurok government take office?
The Yurok wrote a constitution on November 24, 1993, and their tribal government took office in 1994. As of 2007 the council is housed in a new office complex constructed in 2002. One of the government’s first concerns was stimulating tribal economy.
What did Yuroks eat?
Yurok ate varied berries and meats, but whale meat was prized above others. Yuroks did not hunt whales, instead, they waited until a drift whale washed up onto the beach or place near the water and dried the flesh. Salmon is another vital source of food.
What did Yurok do to heal people?
Another shaman would then assist her in a ritual dance. Shamans would use plants, prayer, and rituals to heal people and also performed ceremonies to ensure successful hunting, fishing, and gathering.
What happened to the Yurok tribe in 1855?
In 1855, following the Klamath and Salmon River War, the Lower Klamath River Indian Reservation was created by executive order .
What river is Yurok on?
Klamath River Yurok") refers to Yurok who live along the Klamath River. Pueleeklaa / Pueleekla' ("down river/downstream people, i.e. River Yurok") is used to distinguish themselves from the upriver (Klamath River) ...
What were the Yurok villages?
Yurok Villages ('o'loolekw - "village") were composed of individual families that lived in separate, single-family homes. The house was owned by the eldest male and in each lived several generations of men related on their father's side of the family as well as their wives, children, daughters’ husbands, unmarried relatives, and adopted kin. Yurok villages also consisted of sweat houses and menstrual huts. Sweat houses were designated for men of an extended patrilineal family as a place to gather. While during their menstruation cycles, women stayed in separate under-ground huts for ten days. Additionally, inheritance of land was predominantly patrilineal. The majority of the estate was passed down to the fathers’ sons. Daughters and male relatives were also expected to acquire a portion of the estate.
How many sacred artifacts were returned to the Yurok tribe in 2010?
In 2010, 217 sacred artifacts were returned to the Yurok tribe by the Smithsonian Institution. The condor feathers, headdresses and deerskins had been part of the Smithonian's collection for almost 100 years and represent one of the largest Native American repatriations.
Why is Yurok society socially stratified?
Some sources refer to it Yurok society as socially stratified because communities were divided between syahhlew ("rich"), wa's'oyowok' / wa'soyowok' ("poor"), and ka'aal ("slaves"). The syahhlew were the only group allowed to perform religious duties.
History
- Early History
Archaeologists (scientists who study objects of the past) found evidence of Yurok civilization dating back to 1310 at present-day Patrick’s Point State Park. This village operated until white settlement occurred in the nearby area of Trinidad in 1850. Scientists also discovered a site off t…
Important Dates
- 1310:Earliest Yurok archaeological discoveries date back to this time. 1775:The Yurok first encounter Europeans. 1850:California becomes a state. 1851:Gold Rush begins at Gold Bluff. 1983:The Yurok, Karok, and Tolowa win ten-year battle over sacred site in Six Rivers National Forest. 1988:Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act divides the reservations. 1993:The Yurok write a cons…
Religion
- Traditional beliefs
According to Yurok oral history, the “Immortals” showed humans the correct forms of behavior, dances, and interaction. After the Yurok people arrived, the Immortals departed, except from one place, Sumeg, which today is called Patrick’s Point. The three main “Beforetime People” were Wo… - Other religious practices
In the late 1800s the Ghost Dance spread to the Yurok from the Shasta, Karok, and Tolowa, but it lasted only a short while. The Indian Shaker Church came to some villages during the late 1920s. This religion with its emphasis on dancing, shaking, bellringing, and candles combines element…
Language
- In the early days tribes living near boundary lines often spoke the language of their nearest neighbors. Thus some Yurok spoke their own language as well as Tolowa or Karok. Unlike most Native peoples of northern California, the Yurok speak an Algic (Ritwan) language. Yurok is related to Wiyot, but not to the other Native languages of Northern California. Wiyot and Yurok are actua…
Yurok Words
- Aiy-yue-kwee.… “Hello.”
- O’ -lo’ mo.… “Come in.”
- mullah… “horse”
- puuktek… “deer”
Government
- In the past the position of headman was not hereditary. More often than not, the richest man in the village served as leader. The chief’s main function was advisory; he gave his opinion, but others did not have to heed it. One of the main functions of a village leader was to organize the dances and provide the regalia for them. The Yurok developed a system of laws that specified th…
Yurok Population: 2000 Census
- In 2000 U.S. Census takers asked tribes in the United Statesto identify the groups to which they belonged. Those who identified themselves as Yurok lived in the following areas. The numbers also reflect members of other tribes who share some of the rancherias. “2000 Census of Population and Housing. Matrix 7: American Indian and Alaskan Native summary file.” Washingt…
Economy
- Early economy
Most Native Americans believed that land belonged to everyone, and they shared their possessions freely. The Yurok, though, not only owned land, they measured wealth by it and sold it to each other. Although some land was used by all tribe members, most hunting and fishing gro… - Modern economy
Major income producers on the rancherias in the early twenty-first century include casinos, service and retail businesses, and tourism. Some also have forestry, fisheries, farmland, mining, or real estate development. At Elk Valley proceeds from the tribe’s casino and investments fund so…
Daily Life
- Families
In most Yurok households several generations of men (related on their father’s side) lived with their wives, children, unmarried relatives, adopted kin, and daughters who had in-marrying husbands (see “Marriage”). The eldest male owned the house. If the family grew too large, they b… - Buildings
The Yurok dug a hole 4 to 5 feet (1–2 meters) deep and 12 to 15 feet (3–5 meters) in diameter that served as a fire pit and eating area. This formed the center of the 20-foot (6-meter) square cabin built of redwood or cedar planks split from fallen trees or cut from large trees, allowing th…
How Thunder and Earthquake Made Ocean
- This Yurok tale explains how the oceans were formed and filled with fish. Thunder, Earthquake, and Kingfisher all played important roles in the creation of the Earth. The story takes place in the time when animals were like people. Bruchac, Joseph. Native American Stories.Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1991.