November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to reflect on gratitude and celebrate our Indigenous communities, including Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander citizens. We also recognize the Indigenous roots many Latino/a/x community members share from Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Last month on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we highlighted Lahaina, Maui, a year after one of history’s deadliest wildfires devastated the area. While residents are rebuilding, there are hopeful signs, like the iconic banyan tree in Lahaina showing new growth. For some, this symbolizes the community’s resilience and healing and calls attention to recovery efforts that address inequities faced by Native Hawaiians.
Closer to home, a significant story of restoration is unfolding on the Klamath River. Last spring, RCC’s Diversity Programming Board hosted “Calling the Salmon Home,” a Zoom event on the Klamath River dam removal—the largest U.S. restoration project of its kind. Annelia Hillman, a Water Protector and Yurok Tribe member, spoke about the century of harm the dams inflicted on salmon, the environment and Native communities, whose cultural heritage and food sovereignty are tied to the river and salmon.
Since the first dam was built in 1918, Klamath River salmon populations dropped by 90%, impacted by mining, overfishing, logging and disease. On Aug. 28, 2024, the fourth and final dam was removed, freeing the Klamath River to flow from Lake Ewauna to the Pacific Ocean. With phase one of the project completed, the focus shifted to habitat restoration, aiming to bring Chinook salmon back to their spawning sites in shallow riverbeds. In recent years, salmon populations declined so drastically that the Yurok Tribe was forced to close subsistence and commercial fisheries. For more on the impact, visit Yurok Tribe’s announcement on the 59th Annual Klamath Salmon Festival.
This achievement is the result of decades of advocacy by the Yurok, Karuk and other Klamath River tribal nations. We honor the Native scientists, attorneys, activists, water protectors, public employees and allies who worked tirelessly toward this goal.
This month and beyond, we encourage you to learn more about Native American history and share the stories that have long gone untold. Here are additional resources on the Klamath River restoration:
Resources
- Undammed: Amy Bowers Cordalis and the Fight to Free the Klamath (Short film, 17 mins, Patagonia Films)
- Salmon Make a Long-Awaited Return to the Klamath River by Alexa Robles-Gil (Smithsonian Magazine)
- Klamath River Chinook Salmon Reoccupying Historic Habitat, Spawning Above Former Dam Locations (California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife press release)
- The Largest Dam Removal Project in U.S. History Hits Major Milestone (SFGate)
- Undammed: The Klamath River Story (Podcast, 8 episodes)
- Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group
- DPB Event: Calling the Salmon Home (Zoom program recording, 1 hr 25 mins)
For more information, please contact Lucia Bartscher at LBartscher@roguecc.edu.