Ashland
Klamath Tribes
Klamath Falls
The Klamath Tribes The largest freshwater lake in Oregon, Upper Klamath Lake is the heart of the Klamath Basin — and the soul of the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin-Paiute people who have lived here since ancient times. Together they make up the Klamath Tribes, whose ancestral lands encompass a breathtakingly beautiful and diverse landscape of forest, grassland, mountains and waterways across (and beyond) what is today Southern Oregon. For hundreds of generations, the tribes of the Klamath thrived in this rich land east of the Cascades. They fished its lakes and rivers, hunted in its forests and marshes, and survived the lean winter months on their prudent reserves from the abundant seasons. The self-sufficiency of the Klamath Tribes endures today, even in the face of broken treaties, the loss of tribal lands, the brutal Modoc War and ongoing battles to maintain their water rights. The Klamath Tribes Aquatics staff is working to heal waterways and restore sustainable fisheries. The Klamath Tribes Cultural and Heritage Department teaches tribal language, hosts tribal ceremonies, runs a Culture Camp for tribal youth, and is designing a tribal museum and interpretive center. The tribal-owned KLA-MO-YA Casino, Sleep Inn & Suites and Crater Lake Junction Travel Center in Chiloquin create jobs and strengthen the local economy. With a traditional greeting of Waq’li’si, the Klamath Tribes welcome you to their homeland. As you marvel at bird-filled skies and shimmering lakes, take a moment to appreciate how these and so many other special places are an integral part of the Klamath people. Respecting the land and the water also respects those who came before and hold these places sacred.
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G U I D E TO O R EG O N I N D I A N CO U N T RY
of wetlands to provide habitat for young fish along the southeast shore of Klamath Lake, and are raising hundreds of c’waam in the Klamath Tribal Aquatics Center. The tribe continues to fight for the water rights guaranteed in the Treaty of 1864. And tribal members continue to gather on the banks of the Sprague River in March, drumming and praying for their sacred fish in the annual Return of the C’waam Ceremony. The 2021 PBS documentary Killing the Klamath details the damage done and the efforts of the Klamath Tribes to restore a sustainable c’waam and koptu fishery and their full treaty rights. Visitors can contribute to their work with a donation through the Ambo Fund. TRIBAL CELEBRATIONS A highlight of the Klamath tribal calendar is the annual Restoration Celebration. Held the fourth weekend of August, it marks the anniversary of the Congressional act that reinstated federal recognition of the Klamath Tribes. The three-day event in Chiloquin includes a parade, a youth rodeo, food and craft vendors, and a large competition powwow with dancers from many tribal nations. The public is invited to attend this colorful and festive weekend. In October tribal members participate in the Modoc Ancestral Run, a relay route through tribal
GIIWAS (CRATER LAKE)
Tribal ancestors witnessed a sudden, violent volcanic explosion, which collapsed the summit of Moyaina (Mt. Mazama) and left behind an immense crater that eventually filled with snowmelt and rainwater.
PAUL WILSON
SAVING THE C’WAAM AND KOPTU Upper Klamath Lake has forever been fundamental to the ceremonial practices and first foods of the Klamath Tribes. Utmost in importance are two of its fish species, the c’waam and koptu, that live in this lake and nowhere else in the world. Because they spawn in late winter, the arrival of the fish from the lake to the rivers had always provided an essential, protein-rich food source when the people needed it most. For that reason, the cultural, spiritual and economic health of the Klamath Tribes is inextricably linked to the health of the sacred c’waam and koptu. Yet in the early 1900s, the federal Bureau of Reclamation embarked on a massive infrastructure project on Klamath Lake. In a blatant breach of tribal treaties, it dammed, diked and drained the lake for agriculture. In due time, irresponsible water management and agricultural runoff led to pollution, toxic algae blooms, low water levels and high water temperatures. The effect was devastating to c’waam and koptu populations. Once numbering in the tens of millions throughout the Upper Klamath River drainage, today fewer than 45,000 fish exist, in isolated spawning populations and near the end of their life spans. The Klamath Tribes are taking several steps in an attempt to bring the fish back from the brink of extinction. Tribal fisheries biologists are restoring 40 acres
