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Yurok Indian Tribe
History
Yurok (from Karok yuruk,
'downstream'). A tribe living on lower Klamath river, California,
and the adjacent coast constituting the Weitspekan linguistic
family. They have no name for themselves other than Olekwo'l
('persons'), sometimes written Alikwa. The territory of the
Yurok extended from Bluff Creek 6 miles above the mouth of the
Trinity, down Klamath River to its mouth, and on the coast from
beyond Wilson creek, 6 miles north of the mouth of the Klamath, too
probably Shad river. Their settlements in the valley were confined
closely to the, river, and those along the coast were close to the
beach or un the lagoons. They had no settlements on Redwood creek
except at the mouth. Along Klamath river the Yurok language was
everywhere uniform, but along the Coast south of the mouth of the
Klamath there were three slightly varying dialects, one spoken at
Gold bluff, one at Redwood creek, and a third at Trinidad, the last
differing most from that of the river.
Most of the so-called wars of the Yurok were private
feuds, participated in by villages. These took place as frequently
between Yurok village's as against alien tribes. In all cases
payment for the dead and for all property destroyed was made at the
conclusion of peace. Apart from a few vessels that touched at
Trinidad in the 18th century, and a few trappers that visited
Klamath river, whites did not come into contact with there and were
utterly unknown to them before 1850. After the Coming of the
Americans the Yurok never engaged in war with them as a body, though
certain villages became involved in conflicts with the miners and
early settlers. The lower 20 miles of Klamath river were constituted
a reservation as early as 1855. Of recent years this has been
discontinued, the few surviving Indians having allotments in
severalty. The river above this former reservation, up to the mouth
of the Trinity, forms at present a nominal part of the Hupa
Reservation. Actually the Government has interfered very little with
the Yurok who have always been self-supporting. They now number 500
or 600 along Klamath river, those on the coast being very few. In
1870 the number on the, river was said to be 2,700.
The Yurok are fairly tall for Pacific Coast Indians
(168 (cm.) and considerably above the average Californian in
stature. Their cephalic index is 83 being the highest known from
California. It is probable that they do not belong to the
Californian type physically, but are a mixture of this with an
Athapascan type. Their facial expression is different from that of
their neighbors, the Karok and the Hupa, but they do not appear to
differ much in their measured proportions from the Hupa. The men are
less, inclined to he stout than in the interior and in central
California. Deformation of the head is not practiced, but the women
tattoo the chin.
The Yurok, together with several other tribes of north
west California especially the Karuk and Hupa, formed a distinct
ethnographic group, characterized among other things by the
considerable influence which ideas of property exerted on social
conditions and modes of life, There, was no chieftainship,
prominence depending altogether on the possession of wealth, to the
acquisition of which all efforts were directed. The potlatch of the
north Pacific coast did not exist among them. Marriage was
distinctly a property transaction. The medium of exchange consisted
chiefly of dentalium shells, though woodpecker scalps and large
worked pieces of obsidian were also regarded as valuables. The men
wore no regular clothing, using skins as occasion required. The
women wore skirts of dressed or some times of bark, basketry caps as
there was need, cloak of furs. Along the river acorns, were much
eaten, but salmon and lampreys made up a large part of the food,
Along the coast products of the sea were more important as food. The
Yurok houses were 18 to 25 feet square, built of split and dressed
planks about a square or octagonal pit, with a gabled roof. Their
canoes were less than 20 feet in length, square at both ends, made
of redwood. They were particularly adapted for use on the rapid
river, but were also used for going out to sea. The Yurok and
neighboring developed a number of specializes ceremonies, especially
the Deerskin and Jumping or Woodpecker dances. These were held only
at certain localities and differed somewhat in each place.
The mythology of the Yurok is characterized by a well-developed
conception of the Wage, a race largely responsible for the present
condition of the world, who disappeared before the coming of men,
and by myths centering about "Widower-across-the-sea" and other
creators or culture-heroes. All the myths of the Yurok refer to the
country which they now inhabit, most of them very specifically
localized. I historically they are lacking except for the most
recent generations. Like all the tribes of north west California
they were essentially unwarlike, engaging, in war only for purposes
of revenge. The most important contest that they remember took place
in the first third of the 19th century between the village of Rekwoi
and one of the Hupa villages, in the course of which both
settlements were destroyed.
The Yurok were altogether without tribes or political
divisions, other than the purely local ones of villages and lacked
totems. Their principal villages on the Klamath, in their order
Bluff creek down, were as follows: Atsepar, Loolego, the three
villages Pekwuteu, Weitspus and Ertlerger at the confluence of the
Trinity with the Klamath, Wakhshek, Atsep, Kenek, Merip, Kepel, Shaa,
Murek, Meta, Nakhtskum, Sheregegon, Yokhter, Pekwan, Kootep, Wakhtek,
Wakhker, Tekta, Serper, Enipeu, Ayotl, Erner, Turip, Wakhkel, Hoopeu,
and Wetlko and Rekwoi on opposite sides of the mouth of the river at
Requa. On the coast, 6 miles north of the mouth, was Amen' to the
south successively were Ashegen, Eshpeu, Arekw, Tsahpekw, Oketo and
other villages on Big lagoon and Tsurau (Trinidad).
Index of Tribes or Nations
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Order Family Tree Maker 2012