Klamath-Salmon Natural History Library | Subject Guides | Salmon and the Indigenous People of the Klamath River

Introduction
Sources
Missing Elements
Search Terms
Bibliography

Introduction

Salmon was historically one of the most abundant natural resources in the Klamath River region, and was central to the religion, diet, and way of life of the indigenous people living in the area. In the mid-1800s, European settlement of the Klamath River began, and both the salmon fishery and indigenous cultures underwent major changes as a result. Since this time, extremely complex social, biological, political and legal factors have affected the health of the Klamath River salmon fishery and the health of tribal cultures in the area, who continue to depend on access to the salmon resource.

This bibliography is focused on written materials and some films that address: 1) the importance and use of salmon in Klamath River tribal cultures, 2) indigenous management of the Klamath River fishery, 3) effects of contemporary management of the fishery on Klamath River tribes, and 4) the ongoing legal and political controversies pertaining to indigenous rights to the Klamath River fishery. An effort was made while developing this bibliography to maintain a balance of several factors, including currency of materials (ranging from the 1870s to 2005), geographic distribution of tribes along the river (primarily Karuk, Yurok, and Hupa tribes with some coverage of Klamath, Modoc, and Shasta tribes), authorship (including native authors, academic anthropologists, government authors, and some others), intended audience (including materials for a lay audience to those for technical readers), and sources types (including ethnographies, scholarly articles, tribal documents, government documents, legal references, theses and dissertations, and films).

The variety of sources and types of information represented in this bibliography also reflects a range of accuracy and quality in how tribal cultures are depicted. Much of the earlier written work pertaining to indigenous people was written with blatant racial bias, at a time when native peoples were being subjected to forced assimilation, genocide, and land loss. The value of early documentation of non-native people by white explorers, settlers, and ethnographers is in the descriptions of the place at the time of writing (for example, descriptions about water quality and fisheries abundance), documentation of historical events, and other evidence relating to historical times that has been lost from oral traditions. These are the reasons they have been included in this bibliography. However, depictions of indigenous cultures by such authors are at best incomplete and in many cases inaccurate.

Another element of writings by non-Native authors is that they often contain private information, such as details about ceremonies, inappropriate photographs, and other such material that was either acquired without permission, with permission by someone who did not understand the implications of giving the information, or permission by someone not authorized to do so or acting against tribal leadership. Thoughtful consideration of these ethical issues is important when using these types of sources. More recent ethnographies solicited by and written on behalf of tribes are often good sources for accurate and appropriate cultural information, collected ethically with adequate permissions. These works often include excerpts or whole interviews by tribal people that do not have accuracy problems associated with translation and interpreters, since most Native people today are fluent English speakers.

Sources

There are a variety of excellent sources for conducting research relating to the topic of salmon and Klamath River tribes. For researchers living in the Klamath River region, the Humboldt State University Library features a special collection called the Humboldt Room, which focuses on Humboldt County resources. This collection contains volumes of Klamath River-related works, including photographs, maps, dissertations, ethnographies, and government documents. The current head librarian of this collection is also the author of an excellent annotated bibliography of literature relating to California Indians, entitled Ethnography and Folklore of the Indians of Northwestern California (Berman, 1986). The Humboldt Room is a particularly good place to find graduate theses and dissertations pertinent to the Klamath River region, including those from other universities throughout the United States. Use the main library catalog to search for items in the Humboldt Room, at http://webvoyager.humboldt.edu.

Another major source is the Southern Oregon Digital Archive, a collection of full-text public domain works relating to northwestern California and southern Oregon. The archive has two collections: the Bioregion Collection and the Tribal Collection. The tribal collection contains many of the major ethnographies, government documents, and historic accounts.

The California Indian Library Collections Project (CILC) is another excellent resource. Extensive bibliographies for each California tribe were generated for this project, and depository libraries in each county were designated to house the text sources cited in the bibliographies for each tribe within the county. The bibliographies are available online, as well as a list of depository library locations, at http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc/bibs/toc.html. The bibliographies include references to unpublished and archived sources. The depository libraries are often public county libraries. It is worth noting that many public libraries that are not depository libraries for CILC materials in California have substantial collections of materials about California Indians, including ethnographies and native-authored works.

Journals databases are important sources of scholarly information. Some of the databases searched while developing this bibliography were JSTOR, America and Life, Sociological Abstracts, Anthropology Plus, Anthrosource, Ethnic NewsWatch, and Infotrac. These databases are usually only available to the public from on-site computers at institutions that subscribe to them.

Some information is best found locally, such as tribal documents and other gray literature. Directly contacting the tribes, especially their fisheries departments, are good starting places (a list of websites for the Klamath River tribes is on our links page). There are also local non-profits working on watershed issues, such as the Mid-Klamath Watershed Council that are good sources of locally-derived information. Many of the films and tribal documents in this bibliography were not found in library searches, but were obtained through local Klamath River sources.

Missing Elements

This bibliography is not comprehensive. It contains the major cited written works relating to the topic and a few less common materials, but there is much more important information that exists. There is an abundance of “gray literature” produced by the tribes, the US and state governments, and individuals and organizations that pertain to indigenous use of Klamath River salmon, only a fraction of which is included in this bibliography. For example, the current dam relicencing process for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project has resulted in the generation and collection of relevant documents that can be found online through the at Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) e-Library. The docket number for the FERC Klamath River relicencing files is 2082. Management agencies such as the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, California Department of Fish and Game, and others also produce documents pertaining to the Klamath River.

There is also a wealth of unpublished work, including primary source material such as early explorer’s descriptions of the area, ethnographer’s personal and unpublished field notes, sound recordings, and historical photographs. The Online Archive of California is a great place to start when searching for this type of information. The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley is an essential source. The CILC bibliographies include references to many of these types of sources, as well.

There are tremendous amounts of statistical data relating to catch estimates and biological factors affecting the Klamath River salmon runs. This type of information can be found from government and tribal agencies, as well as from searching biological databases such as BIOSIS and Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts. There is also a wealth of newspaper articles that have been published about the Klamath River salmon and indigenous fishing rights. Much of this body of news has been archived by a variety of activist organizations that can be found by searching Google.

Search Terms

Searching for sources that are specific to the Klamath River in libraries and databases often generates a small set. There is relatively little formally published writing about the region, so the term “Klamath” is a good one for finding entire documents pertaining only to the Klamath River region. For this particular topic, the simple Boolean search “Klamath and salmon” generated high quality results in journals databases, archives and special collections. Library of Congress (LC) headings specific to the Klamath River tribes are “Yurok Indians”, “Hupa Indians”, “Karok Indians”, “Klamath Indians”, “Shasta Indians” and “Modoc Indians”. Since many of these names have alternate spellings, using the LC spellings is important for getting accurate search results.

Much of the information about the Klamath River is found in texts that also cover a wider region, such as “Northwestern California”. Some LC Headings for broader searches include: “Indians of North America Fishing”, “Indians of North America California”. Each of these headings have subcategories (i.e. “Indians of North America Fishing Law and Legislation California”), so doing LC subject heading searches are good places to find sources that may not have titles that reflect their relevant content.

Bibliography

American Indian Law Center. (2005). Hunting, fishing, and gathering rights. In Cohen's handbook of federal Indian law (pp. 1119-1166). Albuquerque, NM: American Indian Law Center.
Cohen's handbook provides a synthesis of federal laws pertaining to American Indians in one accessible, yet comprehensive volume. This chapter provides a concise discussion of origins, contents, regulation guidelines, termination guidelines, and co-management guidelines of aboriginal hunting and gathering rights, as indicated by federal law. Extensive citations of case law are included. This is an excellent source for gaining an overview of federal laws pertaining to fishing rights, as well as for determining sources for further research.

American Indian Technical Services. (1982). Anthropological study of the Hupa, Yurok, and Karok Indian tribes of northwestern California: Final report. Sacramento: US Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
This in-depth report of aboriginal subsistence, ceremonial and commercial salmon fishing of the Karuk, Yurok and Hupa tribes was developed to be used in fishing rights litigation. The report includes general descriptions of the three tribal cultures, and the cultural and economic importance of salmon and fishing to the tribes. The authors of the report used ethnographic texts (published and unpublished) as well as interviews they conducted specifically for use in this document.

Baumhoff, M. A. (1963). Ecological determinants of aboriginal California populations. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 49(2), 155-236.
In this study of the connection between food sources (acorns, game, fish) and population growth in three regions (Lower Klamath, Coast Range, and San Juaquin Valley), Baumhoff finds that for the lower Klamath region, fish is the only food source with a direct positive relationship to population size.

Bearss, E. C. (1981). Hoopa-Yurok fisheries suit, Hoopa valley Indian reservation, Del Norte and Humboldt counties: History resource study. Denver, CO: National Park Service, Denver Service Center.
This historical survey, covering nearly two dozen political and legal "events" pertaining to fisheries of the Klamath River and Hoopa Reservation, was developed to be used in fishing rights litigation. A lengthy work, this text provides unique historical background not covered elsewhere with the same depth and breadth.

Bell, M. (1991). Karuk: The upriver people. Happy Camp, CA: Naturegraph Publishers.
Bell used the major ethnographic works to inform this summary of Karuk culture and history, including contemporary life. It is intended for lay audiences seeking general descriptions and information, but includes references for further reading.

Bennyhoff, J. A. (1950). California fish spears and harpoons. University of California Anthropological Records, 9(4), 295-338.
This ethnographic work contains detailed descriptions of spears and harpoons used throughout California, differentiating them by type and geography. References to specific implements from the Klamath River region are found throughout the text.

Berman, J. (1986). Ethnography and folklore of the Indians of northwestern California: A literature review and annotated bibliography. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
Joan Berman did a thorough job collecting sources from a wide variety of disciplines for this bibliography. She provides a subject index as well as an alphabetical-by-author presentation of sources. An excellent resource.

Berry, S. (1979). Taking back the land: Problems on Yurok tribal sovereignty. (Masters Thesis, Brown University, 1979).
This thesis describes the process of the US Government's acquisition of the vast majority of traditional tribal land in the Klamath River region, and the impacts on primarily Yurok culture, economy, and sovereignty. The specific issue of tribal fishing rights is discussed in depth, in the context of the impacts of tribal land loss. Discussion of how the Yurok and Hupa tribes have responded to issues of and resulting from land loss is included.

Chambers, A. (Producer). Uknii (and so it was) [Motion Picture] (2001). Happy Camp, CA: Karuk Tribe of California.
This 15 minute movie portrays the contemporary status of Karuk traditional fishing and the ongoing struggle to retain fishing rights. Speakers include Leaf Hillman, Ronnie Pierce, Ron Reed, Harold Tripp, and Norman Goodwin.

Chartkoff, J. L. (1989). Exchange, subsistence, and sedentism along the middle Klamath river. Research in Economic Anthropology, 11, 285-303.
This paper is focused on prehistoric causes of year-round settlements in the mid Klamath River region. The author uses new data from an archaeology site in Seiad, as well as other known data, to form a hypothesis that sedentism and population growth developed between A.D. 500 and 1000 due to the evolution of the ability to exploit the salmon fishery and the import of obsidian from the Upper Klamath region. The article includes a theoretical quantification of the population able to be supported by the salmon fishery, as well as a discussion about why the salmon fishery was the primary resource that sustained the indigenous population.

Chartkoff, J. L., & Chartkoff, K. K. (1975). Late-period settlement of the middle Klamath river of northwest California. American Antiquity, 40(2), 172-179.
This article summarizes a study of 160 prehistoric Karuk habitation sites, conducted to determine the relationship between environmental factors and settlement patterns. The study corroborates the prior hypothesis by Baumhoff (1963) that Karuk habitation sites were determined primarily by the availability of salmon. Some corrections are made about the details of Baumhoff's original descriptions of village site locations. Chartkoff and Chartkoff find that Karuk habitation sites occurred where there were riverine features associated with more stable salmon concentrations, such as confluences and falls.

Cody, B. P. (1942). Yurok fish-dam dance. Masterkey, 16, 81-86.
This is the account of Jane Van Stralen telling of her experience dancing in the Kepel Fish Dam ceremony when she was thirteen. Details about the ceremony are sprinkled through her mostly personal story of how she felt being a part of the dance.

Doremus, H., & Tarlock, D. (2003). Fish, farms, and the clash of cultures in the Klamath basin. Ecology Law Quarterly, 30, 279-350.
This paper is focused on the events of 2001, when the Bureau of Reclamation cut off irrigation supplies from the Klamath Project in an effort to protect the fisheries during the summer drought of that year. Biological, cultural, and legal background information leading up to the events of 2001, specific details about those events, and suggestions and conclusions are presented. It contains extensive footnotes, including detailed legal references.

Driver, H. E. (1939). Culture element distributions: X: Northwest California. Anthropological Records, 1(6), 297-433.
The Culture Element Distributions series documents the results from application of a specific methodology for comparing tribal cultures - an attempt to quantify differences instead of qualitatively compare them. This volume on northwest California is one of a series covering the entire state. Salmon, fishing, and ceremonies involving salmon are referenced throughout.

Drucker, P. (1936). A Karuk world-renewal ceremony at Panamnik. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 35(3), 23-28.
Two slightly different versions of the ceremony are given, as well as a brief comparison of world renewal ceremonies at four Karuk centers. The purposes of the ceremonies are briefly compared, including the purpose of "providing salmon and acorns for the coming year".

Egan-McKenna, V. (1983). Persistence with change: The significance of fishing to the Indians of the Hoopa valley reservation in northwestern California. (Masters Thesis, University of Colorado, 1983).
This in-depth, well researched report of "the primacy of the salmon resource in [Hupa and Yurok] traditional culture systems and its continued significance in the present" (p. 4) is an excellent review and synthesis of existing publications on the topic. Contemporary controversy regarding the management of salmon and tribal fishing rights is a prominent topic of the text. Coverage of major historical events pertaining to Hupa and Yurok fishing rights is included.

Emanuels, G. (1990). California Indians: An illustrated guide. Walnut Creek, CA: Diablo Books.
Emanuels provides brief, basic descriptions of California tribes, including fisheries importance for each of the Klamath River tribes. He bases his descriptions on the ethnographic literature, not original research. Photographs are included. For non-technical readers.

Ferrara, J. (Ed.). (2004). Karuk ethnographic notes as spoken principally by Phoebe Maddux, and heard and written in the years 1926-1929 by J.P. Harrington. Happy Camp, CA: Karuk Tribe of California.
This bilingual (English and Karuk) text has been compiled from unpublished notes of linguist J.P. Harrington. Phoebe Maddux was his primary informant regarding Karuk language and culture. References to salmon and fishing occur throughout her stories and accounts.

Goddard, P. E. (1903). Life and culture of the Hupa. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
One of the primary ethnographies of the Hupa people, this book includes a chapter on fish and fishing (pp. 23-26), and a section on religion that includes references to salmon (pp. 74-88).

Goddard, P. E. (1904). Hupa texts. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
This bilingual compilation of myths, stories, and ethnographic information was primarily created for linguistic study. However, the content includes information pertaining to salmon and its role in Hupa culture. The texts, or stories, are presented in both languages line by line, so reading for content (not linguistic study) is challenging.

Gunther, E. (1926). An analysis of the first salmon ceremony. American Anthropologist, 28, 605-617.
A survey of the ceremony in general terms, as it is practiced throughout the northwest. Various examples from individual tribes are given, illustrating differences between how ceremonies are practiced. Tribes of the Klamath River region are mentioned in passing.

Hamilton, J. B., Curtis, G. L., Snedaker, S. M., & White, D. K. (2005). Distribution of anadromous fishes in the upper Klamath River watershed prior to hydropower dams. Fisheries, 30(4), 10-20.
The authors used historical photos, ethnographic documents, and personal communications to determine the distribution of salmon in the upper reaches of the Klamath River prior to dam development. While this paper is biological in nature and does not specifically address indigenous use, it does provide an overview of the literature used, and identification of where in the literature references to salmon in the Upper Klamath region can be found.

Harrington, J. P. (1932a). Karuk Indian myths. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
This is a short bilingual text that includes twelve Karuk stories. One of them is entitled "Two girls apply for marriage with Spring Salmon".

Harrington, J. P. (1932b). Tobacco among the Karuk Indians of California. Washington D.C.: US Government Printing Office.
This bilingual (Karuk and English) text is one of the primary ethnographies documenting Karuk culture. Although the title indicates that the text is about tobacco use, there are many more topics covered in the book, including a brief description of the spring salmon ceremony (p. 7).

Heizer, R. F. (1978). California (Vol. 8). Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
This lengthy volume in the Smithsonian series is considered by many to be the leading scholarly ethnographic survey of California tribes. Chapters about the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk are included, as well as chapters pertaining to the environment, history, languages, demographics and other aspects of Native California.

Heizer, R. F., & Whipple, M. A. (Eds.). (1971). The California Indians: A source book (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
This is a compilation of reprinted essays from a variety of ethnographers' original works. It is intended to be a general survey for a lay audience, and thus does not include the scholarly citations included in the original pieces. Several of the essays pertain to the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk tribes, including general description of the role of salmon in each of these cultures. None of the essays discusses the topic in depth. The volume is a good source for basic orientation on the subject that is easily readable.

Hester, T. R., & Follet, W. I. (1976). Yurok fish knives: A study of wear patterns and adhering salmon scales. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, 33, 1-23.
A detailed analysis of five salmon knives collected by Kroeber and Phillip Mills Jones in 1901 and 1902 (collected separately). Salmon scales were found on the one of the knives and analyzed for species, rearing locations (ocean or freshwater), weight and length of the fish of origin.

Hewes, G. W. (1942). Economic and geographical relations of aboriginal fishing in northern California. California Fish and Game, 103-110.
Hewes postulates that the impacts of settlement by whites did not cause fisheries decline from a pre-contact state of "nature", but that the decrease in aboriginal fishing that occurred as a result of white settlement caused a salmon population increase, followed by a decline once commercial fishing began. Hewes uses ethnographic texts as references for his descriptions of aboriginal fishing techniques, but his central theory is not accompanied by data or references. This theory was also the basis for his 1947 dissertation.

Hewes, G. W. (1947). Aboriginal use of fishery resources in northwestern North America. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1947).
Hewes challenges the common belief that prior to white contact in northwestern America, fish populations and other natural resources were pristine, intact, and unaffected by man. He suggests an alternate view that aboriginal fishing practices prior to contact had significant effects on fish populations, and that tribal population decrease due to genocide at the time of contact led to fisheries recovery just prior to the establishment of commercial fisheries. Includes theoretical estimates of pre-contact aboriginal consumption of salmon.

Hewes, G. W. (1952). The fisheries of northwestern North America. Economic Geography, 28(1), 66-73.
Hewes describes indigenous cultural unity defined by the distribution of salmon in Northwestern North America, in a region Hewes calls the "Salmon Area". He suggests that the cultural attributes of tribes within the Salmon Area are distinctive from other neighboring cultures that do not depend on salmon as a primary resource. He says that since aboriginal times and into the modern day (as written in 1952), salmon has continued to be the most enduring natural resource in the area.

Holland, A. E. (1996). William E. Dougherty and salmon fishing on the Klamath River, 1886-1898. (Masters Thesis, California State University, Sacramento, CA., 1996).
Holland presents an extensive review and interpretation of primary source and other literature documenting Indian-White relations around the Klamath River fishery between the years of 1886-1898. In particular, the effort of Robert Deniston Hume to enter the Klamath River fishery, and the ensuing conflict surrounding his effort, is described.

Howe, C. B. (1979). Ancient Modocs of California and Oregon. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort.
This book documents the archaeological findings at a historic Modoc site in the Klamath Lakes area. Chapter 6, "The Fishing Industry" includes evidence of "many kinds of salmon" in Sheepy Creek.

Kaurk Tribe of California, Department of Natural Resources. (1991). Final report: Karuk tribal harvest monitoring project. Orleans, CA: Karuk Tribe of California.
This document reports findings from a 1990-1991 study of the last remaining Karuk Tribal subsistence fishery at Ishi Pishi Falls. Quantification of fish harvested in those years (more thoroughly in 1991) are reported. A total number of 505 fish (including chinook, coho, and steelhead) was reported to have been harvested over the course of the two-year study period.

Karuk Tribe of California, Department of Natural Resources. (1999). Karuk forest management perspectives: Interviews with tribal members. USDA Forest Service, Klamath National Forest.
This report was prepared as a companion document to the 1996 "Karuk Tribal Module for the Main Stem Salmon River Watershed Analysis", in which a Karuk tribal perspective about the management of the Klamath National Forest was presented. The current report used topics outlined in the 1996 document as the basis for interviews of 22 Karuk elders about their perspectives on forest management. Salmon and fishing were both topics covered in the interviews, summarized on pages 24 and 36 of the first volume. The second volume contains quotes relating to individual topics, in index form.

King, T. (2004). First salmon: The Klamath cultural riverscape and the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project: Klamath River Intertribal Fish and Water Commission.
The Klamath River Intertribal Fish and Water Commission initiated the writing of this report in connection to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicencing process for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. The report specifically addresses whether or not the Klamath River qualifies for protection under the National Historic Preservation Act. King used documents provided by the tribes to write the report, in which he concluded that the Klamath River has cultural and historical significance that warrants protection under the NHPA, and that not relicencing the dams should be strongly considered.

Klamath Basin water issues: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, 103rd Congress, 2nd Sess. (1994).
This hearing is regarding the controversy over the rights of upper basin irrigators to Klamath Basin water resources, and the impacts of their use on fish and wildlife species and tribal cultures. It includes statements by both the Klamath Tribe of Oregon and the Karuk Tribe. Mentions of salmon occur in many of the other statements, as well.

Klamath River Indian fishing rights oversight: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Merchant Marine and fisheries, House of Representatives, 96th Congress, 1st Sess. (1979).
These hearings relate to the fisheries management controversy that resulted from federal government considerations of limiting Indian commercial fishing on the Klamath River. Confusion and conflicting views regarding the rights and responsibilities of the tribes, state, and federal governments is apparent throughout the documentation of the two hearings in Washington, D.C. and Eureka, Ca.

Klamath River Indian fishing rights oversight: Addendum to hearings before the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment of the Committee of Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 96th Congress, First Session Sess. (1979).
This addendum includes material "inadvertantly omitted" from the original publication of the hearings.

Kroeber, A. L. (1925). Handbook of the Indians of California. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology.
This large volume is a classic California ethnography. There are chapters on each of the Klamath River tribes, all of which include information about salmon fishing and ceremonies involving salmon.

Kroeber, A. L. (1976). Yurok myths. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kroeber documented traditional Yurok stories according to 29 main informants in this text. Some of the stories relating to salmon include "The Salmon and Kowetsek" (p 218), "A Formula for Salmon" (p 249), and the "Origin of the Kepel Dam and the Deerskin Dances" (p 393).

Kroeber, A. L., & Barrett, S. A. (1960). Fishing among the Indians of northwestern California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
This is a thorough treatise on the subject, with extensive coverage of the tribes in the Klamath River Region. It contains detailed descriptions of fishing implements, processing techniques, and cultural rules, ceremonies and beliefs surrounding fish and fishing. Each topic is prefaced by an annotated reference list, indicating page numbers of where in the source text the topic was covered. An excellent resource.

Kroeber, A. L., & Gifford, E. W. (1949). World renewal, a cult system of native northwest California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kroeber and Gifford focused on the World Renewal ceremonies of the Karuk, Yurok and Hupa for this ethnography. It includes details regarding the first salmon ceremonies and fish dam (weir) ceremonies.

Kroeber, A. L., Gifford, E. W., & Buzaljko, G. (1980). Karok myths. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
This text includes several stories pertaining to salmon: "A'u'ich, Salmon, and Sturgeon", "Salmon and Fire at Shammai", "Fish Hawk Invents Implements", "How Coyote Freed Salmon for People", and "Coyote Releases Salmon". An "Index of parallel plot elements in five collections of Karok and Yurok myths", by Grace Buzaljko is included (pp. 337-365), which allows for very easy location of specific topics addressed in the stories.

Lake, B., & James, J. (Producer) (198?). Yurok customs [Motion Picture].
This film is not professionally filmed or produced. In the first part of the film, Jimmy James, a Yurok and Hupa leader, talks about the plants and resources traditionally used for food and medicine, and how resource management has changed since the time of contact with whites. At times, Bobby Lake (seemingly the film project coordinator), engages in informal discussion with Jimmy James about these issues. Later in the film, Charlie Thom joins Jimmy James in discussing traditional fishing. This film captures candid contemporary native perspectives regarding a variety of natural and cultural resource topics local to the Klamath River region.

Lane and Lane Associates. (1981). The Copco dams and the fisheries of the Klamath Tribe. Portland, OR: US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Lane and Lane Associates presumably prepared this document for litigation, though that is not explicit in the document itself. It is very well researched, providing background information on indigenous use from the headwaters to the mouth of the Klamath River. The impacts of the Copco dams to the Klamath Tribe is the specific focus of the report, but relevance to the other Klamath River tribes is also made clear. This report includes extensive references to primary sources, including testimony from Klamath Tribal members and other Klamath Basin residents.

McEvoy, A. F. (1986). The fisherman's problem: Ecology and law in the California fisheries, 1850-1980. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McEvoy presents an ecological, human, and legal history of fisheries and fisheries management in California. The first section of the book covers aboriginal fisheries management. The Klamath River, its major tributaries, and the Klamath River tribes are covered substantially throughout the work. An excellent source.

McEvoy, A. F. (1992). Indian and non-Indian fisheries for Klamath river salmon: Environment and cultural change on the northwestern California frontier. In B. Gough & C. Laird (Eds.), New dimensions in ethnohistory: Papers of the second laurier conference on ethnohistory and ethnology (pp. 191-212). Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
This well researched article provides an excellent history of Klamath River indigenous fishing, fisheries management, and fishing rights. McEvoy found that through the shared world-renewal based religion, the Karuk, Yurok and Hupa tribes effectively conserved the Klamath River fishery and managed intertribal allocations of the resource. He suggests that "the integrity of tribal government and culture may be an essential precondition for the successful management of this valuable, but endangered, fishery" (p. 192).

McHenry, M. G. (2003). The worst of times: A tale of two fishes in the Klamath basin. Environmental Law, 33(4), 1019-1059.
This article presents an in-depth discussion of the legal, biological and political issues surrounding water rights disputes between tribes and farmers which culminated after the 2002 fish kill in the Klamath River. The article includes a survey of water law, treaty rights, and the endangered species act, and synthesizes them into a discussion of how to balance federal responsibilities to all of the parties involved. The article offers the opinion that due to the dire status of the two fish species (Chinook and Coho salmon), enforcement of the Endangered Species Act should be the federal government's primary responsibility and responsibilities to tribes and farmers should come after.

Native American Career Education in Natural Resources Program, Humboldt State University. (Producer). Klamath-trinity fisheries: A Native American perspective [Motion Picture]. (1985). Arcata, CA: Native American Career Education in Natural Resources Program, Humboldt State University.
This is a videotaping of a seminar with the film title. The film is not professionally produced or edited, and so includes the entire raw footage of the seminar. A variety of native speakers address issues surrounding fisheries on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, including how sovereignty affects tribal fishing rites, how the salmon itself is percieved in Klamath River tribal cultures, and tribal management of fisheries resources through religion. Speakers include David Tripp, Merkie Oliver, Charlie Burns, Amos Tripp, Jack Norton, Russel Bohaor (sp?), and Chris Peters.

Norgaard, K. M. (2004). The effects of altered diet on the health of the Karuk people: A preliminary report. Orleans, CA: Karuk Tribe of California, Department of Natural Resources.
Norgaard, a sociologist, presents a detailed analysis of the effects of diet change from traditional foods to store-bought and commodity foods on the health of Karuk people. Salmon is a primary traditional food covered in the report. Norgaard includes causes of diet change (including loss of salmon fisheries), health problems associated with diet change, social conditions causing poverty in Indian communities, and impacts on culture and religion caused by loss of traditional foods.

Pierce, R. M. (1991). The Klamath River fishery: Early history in California's salmon and steelhead. In A. Lufkin (Ed.), California's salmon and steelhead: The struggle to restore an imperiled resource. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Ronnie Pierce, a native woman local to the Klamath River, wrote this summary of the importance of salmon to the Yurok tribe and the history of how tribal fishing was affected by the European contact. The piece is an excellent overview of the events and political context that led to the current controversy and confusion about tribal fishing rights on the Klamath River. References are not included.

Pierce, R. M. (1998). Klamath salmon: Understanding allocation. Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force, United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ronnie Pierce wrote this piece in an effort to explain the current status of fisheries allocations by providing the historical, biological, and legal background. A history of indigenous fishing and fishing rights is included. She specifically explains how catch allocations are calculated.

Posinsky, S. H. (1954). Yurok ritual. (Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University, New York, 1954).
This dissertation is an ethnographic work focusing on rituals of the Yurok tribe, including those involving salmon.

Powers, S. (1975). The northern California Indians: A reprinting of 19 articles on California Indians originally published 1872-1877. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
These articles include brief notes by Powers about a variety of topics. They contain stories and descriptions of ceremonies pertaining to salmon, though this topic is not focused on in depth in any part of the text.

Powers, S. (1976). Tribes of California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (Original work published 1877).
This survey is one of the earliest detailed written accounts of California tribes, written by a journalist. Powers' descriptions of California’s tribal people reflect the blatant racist thinking of his day. Passages about salmon and fishing appear throughout the text.

Renfro, E. (1992). The Shasta Indians of California and their neighbors. Happy Camp, CA: Naturegraph Publishers, Inc.
Renfro provides a brief overview of Shasta culture, including both historical conditions and contemporary ones. She points out some inconsistencies between early ethnographic and contemporary sources. A short description of fishing tools, techniques and significance to the culture is on pages 34-36. Includes a good bibliography and suggested further reading list.

Roberts, H. H. (1932). The first salmon ceremony of the Karuk Indians. American Anthropologist, 34, 426-440.
Roberts presents a synthesis of two accounts of the ceremony given by wives of medicine men, including written music to songs sung during the ceremony.

Roberts, R. K. (1932). Conservation as formerly practiced by the Indians in the Klamath River region. California Fish and Game, 18(4), 283-290.
Roberts presents a romantic view of Indian resource conservation in this brief article. No references are cited.

Rostlund, E. (1952). Freshwater fish and fishing in native North America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
A detailed survey of aboriginal fishing throughout North America, this text is focused on the biology of the resources and methods of fishing and processing. The book is indexed, and includes specific references to the Klamath River salmon fishery and the Klamath River tribes.

Salter, J. (2003). White paper on behalf of the Karuk tribe of California: A context statement concerning the effect of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project on traditional resource uses and cultural patterns of the Karuk people within the Klamath River corridor: PacifiCorp.
This paper was written in connection to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission relicencing process for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project, addressing similar topics as King's "First Salmon" paper (King, 2004), such as how the Klamath River is a cultural landscape eligible for protection under the National Historic Preservation Act. Salter presents well-researched background information from ethnographic and bioscience sources regarding the cultural use and importance of fisheries to the Karuk Tribe. He also includes many contemporary, previously unpublished ethnographic interviews of Karuk people.

Smith, E. (1985). The Klamath and Trinity River fisheries issues affecting the Hupa and Yurok Indian tribes: A curriculum supplement for the secondary school. (Masters Thesis, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, 1985).
This thesis presents a tenth-grade level civics unit regarding tribal fishing rights on the Klamath River. It is intended for use in northwestern California, as a resource that may compete with existing American Indian curriculum that is unfavorably biased against native perspectives. The text includes a literature review for teachers in addition to the unit curriculum.

Snyder, J. O. (1924). Indian methods of fishing on Trinity River and some notes on the King Salmon of that stream. California Fish and Game, 10, 163-172.
This article was written soon after the "Klamath Fish Reserve" measure was passed, which prohibited building dams on the Klamath River between the mouth of the Shasta River and the ocean. It includes a description of weir fishing as it was being done in the 1920s on the Trinity River, a major tributary of the Klamath River that runs through the Hoopa Reservation. The article also documents a California Fish and Game investigation and analysis of weir fishing by Indians, seemingly due to questions about whether it was detrimental to fisheries conservation efforts. Includes fish scale analysis results.

Spott, R., & Kroeber, A. L. (1942). Yurok narratives. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 35(9), 143-256.
Robert Spott was a long-term acquaintance of Kroeber's, who was the source of all of the stories and accounts in "Yurok Narratives". The volume contains stories about people, ceremonies, myths, and events from as early as the beginning of the 19th century. One of the stories included is "the First-Salmon Rite at Welkwau".

Stroich, S. (Producer) (2004?). Salmon on the backs of buffalo [Motion Picture]. Orleans, CA: Klamath Salmon Media Collaborative.
This documentary covers efforts by the four Klamath River region tribes to leverage change in Klamath River water use and fisheries management in order to recover the salmon resource.

Swezey, S. L. (1975). Energetics of subsistence-assurance ritual in native California. In Ethnographic interpretations, 12-13: Socio-religious aspects of resource management, and practices of warfare among California Indians. Berkeley, CA: University of California Archaeological Research Facility.
Swezey describes patterns in belief systems and practices amongst indigenous Californian tribes, relating to maintenance of the natural resources they relied upon. He analyzes the intentions and meanings of rituals performed to sustain resources. A discussion of "First-Fish Rites" in on pages 22-26. Swezey postulates that the rituals and cultural rules surrounding the resources the tribes depended on, effectively served to regulate use of those resources.

Swezey, S. L. (1993). Ritual management of salmonid fish resources in California. In T. C. Blackburn & K. Anderson (Eds.), Before the wilderness: Environmental management by native Californians (pp. 299-327). Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press.
This article builds on the ideas of the former Swezey publication, but is focused specifically on Salmon as a resource managed through ritual by tribes. It contains detailed descriptions of the rituals relating to salmon and salmon fishing in Northwestern California. The Klamath River region is covered substantially.

Theodoratus, D. J. (1990). Klamath River canyon prehistory and ethnology: Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office.
This is a survey of anthropological information pertaining to the upper Klamath River Canyon (from John C. Boyle dam to the Copco reservoir). Discussion of the importance of the salmon resource to indigenous groups in this stretch of the river is included.

Thompson, L. (1916). To the American Indian. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books.
This tribal history written by a Yurok woman in the early 1900s is a rare example of published work from a native perspective from that era. The work covers a wide variety of topics and an extensive index is included in the reprint edition. References to salmon are found throughout the text.

Van Kirk, R. (1977). Klamath River fishery: An introductory study. Arcata, CA: Robert Van Kirk.
This brief text was written on request from the Ad Hoc Fishing Committee for the Klamath River Indians. Basic biology of pacific salmon, causes of decline, and recommendations for managing Indian gill net fisheries are included. Management suggestions are primarily based on the opinion of the author.

Waterman, T. T. (1920). Yurok geography. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
A classic ethnographic text about the Yurok tribe, this book contains substantial discussion of the importance of salmon to the tribe. It includes coverage of how salmon was caught and used and cultural rules about fishing, particularly how rights to specific fishing spots were obtained and regulated.

Waterman, T. T., & Kroeber, A. L. (1938). The Kepel fish dam. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 35(6), 49-80.
Waterman describes a long ceremonial process of crafting and operating a river-wide fish weir (dam) at Kepel, a site in Yurok jurisdiction. The several weeks of activities involved many tribes, including Tolowa, Karuk, Hupa, and Yurok. The account includes some description of the fishery itself: "Almost incredible numbers of salmon crowd into the river to spawn, fighting their way upstream with amazing persistence, clear to the headwaters. In their effort to get upstream the salmon filled the Indian pens as fast as the fishermen could empty them." The account also describes some of the taboos relating to salmon generally, and the Kepel Fish Dam ceremony specifically.