Chapter 2: Culture and Landscape
"The cultural
framework of Yurok life is deeply intertwined with sustainable management of
the environment. Before European contact the Yurok forest was managed to meet
spiritual as well as material needs. The relationship was a dynamic one: the
Yurok used various tools to maintain and develop their forest, and at the same
time they let the environment guide them in determining where to live and in
other aspects of life. Much of this information is embodied in Yurok spiritual
tradition. Although they have lost control over much of the management and use
of their indigenous territory, Yurok culture and lifeways remain connected to
the forest.
Waterman’s Yurok Geography (1920) extensively documents the
spiritual and economic meaning of many sites and landscapes along the river. A
variety of reports to the Forest Service have documented aspects of Yurok
ethnography and resource use. This chapter draws on these reports, published
accounts, and interviews to highlight aspects of the relationship between the
forest and the tribe...
Figure 2-2. Sweathouse and cemetery on tribal lands
... Waterman commented in 1909 that many boulders in the
river were known by their proper name to every Yurok, and sites were often
named with names meaning “downstream-from-a-particular-rock” or
“upstreamfrom-a-particular rock.” Yurok Forest History 1994 pg. 44
Of special relevance to forest management is the use of
trails.
Waterman states:
Trails are “like people,” that is, they are sentient,
and must be treated with urbanity. If you step out of a trail and in again, and
fail to preserve decorum, the trail becomes resentful. Along each important
trail there are “resting-places.” Few of these show on my maps, because I did
not travel the trails myself, but hundreds of such places are to be found.
People when traveling kept on in a business-like way until they came to these
resting places. There they took off their packs and had a good breathing spell.
If they did differently they were likely to have bad luck....Here and there in
the Yurok country are large trees into which parties of travelers shot arrows,
as an offering for good luck on the trail (1920).
Some of the major trails are
indicated on Waterman’s maps (1920). Yurok Forest History 1994 pg. 45
... A major preoccupation of forest management...was
reflected by passage of the Act of September 20, 1922 (42 Stat. 857) which
mandated that the Secretary of the Interior protect timber on public lands,
National Parks, National Forests, Indian Reservations, or other lands under the
jurisdiction of the Department from the depredations of fire, insects, and
beetles. Suppressing fire in the region was not an easy task due to
inaccessibility, limited funds, and the belief by many, especially the Yurok, that
fire was a good thing (Roberts, 1983)..." Page 33
More collected Yurok: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/search?q=yurok
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