In this part of our guide to American Indian and First Nations people, we will highlight the Yurok people.

The Yurok are culturally similar to the Wiyot people. Both groups speak Algic languages traditionally, and their homelands are geographically close.

Traditionally, the Yurok people are known as great fishermen, eelers, basket weavers, canoe makers, storytellers, singers, dancers, healers, and strong medicine people. Before they were assigned the name Yurok, they referred to themselves and others in their area as Oohl, meaning "Indian people."

The Yurok people traditionally fished for salmon along the rivers, gathered ocean fish and shellfish, hunted deer, elk, bear, squirrel, and rabbit, and gathered berries, nuts, and other edible plants.

Traditionally, Yurok people lived in small villages with permanent settlements. Each village was composed of individual families who lived in large, rectangular homes made from redwood planks. In each, several generations of men related on their father's side, along with their wives, children, daughters' husbands, unmarried relatives, and adopted kin, all lived together.

The Yurok people didn't have chiefs. However, each village had a wealthy man, trained by elders, who acted as the village leader. Known as a peyerk, these leaders would live at higher elevations, wore finer clothing, and often spoke other languages to negotiate with neighboring tribes.

Yurok shamans were usually women, who used plants, prayer, ceremonies, and rituals for healing purposes.

The Yurok people were contacted by Europeans much later than other American Indian tribes, even in California. When the Spanish explorers, Don Bruno de Heceta and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Cuadra arrived in the early 1700s, Bodega mounted a cross at Trinidad Head to claim possession of the territory.

The first American ship came to the area of Trinidad and Big Lagoon in the early 1800s. Although early contacts involved peaceful trading, conflicts soon occurred, and the Americans left.

By the 1820s, American trappers began flowing into the area, not to trade with the Indigenous people for furs, but to compete for the resources.

European-American settlement of the area began with the discovery of gold at Gold Bluffs and Orleans. Hostility from both sides resulted in the destruction of Yurok villages, a loss of life, and a fragmented culture. It is estimated that 75% of the Yurok people died from massacres or disease.

As miners established camps along the Klamath and Trinity rivers, the federal government began treaty negotiations. While treaties were signed, Congress rejected the terms and failed to notify the tribes of this decision.

The federal government established the Yurok Reservation in 1855, and immediately began the forced removal of the Yurok people to this reservation, which was considerably smaller than their ancestral territory, and did not include several established Yurok villages along the Klamath River and Pacific coast.

Many Yurok families were relocated to Fort Terwer, where they were taught farming and the English language. In 1862, the fort and the Indian agency at Wau-kell flat were flooded, and several Yurok people were relocated to a newly established reservation in Smith River. This reservation was closed a few years later, and Yurok people were sent there, along with the Mad River, Eel River, and Tolowa tribes.

In the years following the establishment of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, several white squatters claimed land on the reservation, farming, and fishing in the Klamath River.

Commercial logging of the redwood forests was initially unregulated, resulting in the loss of ancient forests, contamination of the Klamath River, depletion of the salmon population, and the destruction of several Yurok village sites.

Western education was mandated for Yurok children beginning in the 1850s, a practice that continued for many years. In the late 1800s, Yurok children were sent to schools in Oregon and other locations in California, where they were not permitted to speak the traditional language or practice traditional customs. During this period, children also lost connection to their families.

Some Yurok families hid their children from government officials, and, over time, the use of boarding schools declined, and day schools were set up on the Yurok Reservation. While there were continued pressures for children to forget their language and culture, the harm was minimized when they were not physically removed from their families.

The use of the Yurok language decreased when white settlers came into the area and was near extinction by the early 1900s. Today, language revitalization efforts are underway through digital technology, Internet sites, short stories, and supplemental curricula.

The Yurok tribe has more than 5,000 enrolled members.

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