The Klamath Tribes are a confederation of three distinct, yet historically and culturally related, Native American groups: the Klamath, the Modoc, and the Yahooskin Band of Snake. These tribes traditionally inhabited the Klamath Basin region of what is now Southern Oregon and Northern California. The Yahooskin, while a band of Klamath people, were once mistakenly categorized as Paiute or Shoshone due to their designation as the Yahooskin Band of Snake in the 1864 treaty with the United States. This treaty would significantly alter the lives and landscape of the Klamath Tribes.
Official Tribal Information
Today, the Klamath Tribes are a federally recognized sovereign nation. Their administrative offices are located at P.O. Box 436, 501 Chiloquin Blvd., Chiloquin, OR 97624. They can be contacted by phone at (800) 524-9787 or (541) 783-2219, and via fax at (541) 783-2029. Inquiries can also be sent via email to taylor.david@klamathtribes.com. Their official website, klamathtribes.org, provides a wealth of information about their history, culture, government, and current activities.
Names and Identity
The Klamath and Modoc peoples traditionally referred to themselves as maklaks, a term meaning "people." To differentiate themselves, the Modoc identified as Moatokni maklaks, derived from muat, meaning "South," or moowatdal’knii, signifying "people of the south." The Klamath were also known as ?ewksiknii, meaning "people of the [Klamath] Lake."
Throughout history, the tribes have been known by various alternate names and spellings, including Modok, Yahooskin Band of Snake, Yuhooskin, Yahuskin, and Klamaths. They were formerly known as the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon. The Achomawi, a band of the Pit River tribe, referred to them as Lutuami, meaning "Lake Dwellers."
Geographic Region and Traditional Territory
The Klamath Tribes are considered part of the Plateau cultural region, an area characterized by distinct environmental features and cultural adaptations. Their traditional territory spanned Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Specifically, the six bands of the Klamath resided along the Klamath Marsh, on the banks of Agency Lake, around Klamath Lake, near the mouth of the Lower Williamson River, on Pelican Bay, beside the Link River, and in the uplands of the Sprague River Valley. The Modoc lands encompassed the Lower Lost River, around Clear Lake, and extended south to the mountains beyond Goose Lake. The Yahooskin Band occupied the area east of Yamsay Mountain, south of Lakeview, and north of Fort Rock. This rich and diverse landscape provided the tribes with the resources necessary for their traditional way of life.
Treaty of 1864 and its Consequences
A pivotal moment in the history of the Klamath Tribes was the signing of the 1864 treaty with the United States. This treaty, involving the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of Snake tribes, established the Klamath Reservation.
Under the terms of the treaty, the tribes ceded a vast territory, bounded on the north by the 44th parallel, on the west and south by the ridges of the Cascade Mountains, and on the east by lines touching Goose Lake and Henley Lake back up to the 44th parallel. The Modoc surrendered their lands near Lost River, Tule Lake, and Lower Klamath Lake in exchange for lands in the Upper Klamath Valley under the leadership of Chief Schonchin. In total, the Klamath Tribes relinquished more than 23 million acres of land but retained rights to hunt, fish, trap, and gather other foods on their former lands forever.
In return, the United States agreed to a lump sum payment of $35,000 and annual payments totaling $80,000 over 15 years, as well as providing infrastructure and staff for a reservation. The treaty also stipulated that payments could be withheld if the tribes consumed or stored intoxicating liquor on the reservation and that the United States could locate additional tribes on the reservation in the future.
The Klamath Reservation, however, proved inadequate for the needs of both the Klamath and Modoc peoples. Food scarcity and escalating tensions between the tribes led the Modoc to request a separate reservation closer to their ancestral home. This request was denied by both the federal and California governments.
In 1870, Kintpuash (Captain Jack) led a band of Modoc to leave the reservation and return to their traditional homelands, establishing a village near the Lost River. These Modoc felt inadequately represented in the treaty negotiations and sought to end the harassment they faced from the Klamath on the reservation. This event was a catalyst for the Modoc War.
Economic Pursuits and Self-Sufficiency
Despite the challenges they faced, the Klamath Tribes demonstrated remarkable resilience and resourcefulness. Tribal members actively pursued economic self-sufficiency, acquiring vocational skills and securing employment at the Agency, Fort Klamath military post, and in the town of Linkville.
Ranching proved to be a successful endeavor for many tribal members. The tribes also capitalized on their established trade networks, engaging in freighting to supply the growing county. In August 1889, twenty tribal teams were employed year-round to meet the private and commercial needs of the region.
A Klamath Tribal Agency-sponsored sawmill, completed in 1870, provided lumber for the construction of the Agency. By 1873, tribal members were selling lumber to Fort Klamath and private parties, and by 1896, sales outside the reservation were estimated at a quarter of a million board feet. The arrival of the railroad in 1911 significantly increased the value of reservation timber, sustaining the economy of Klamath County for decades. The Klamath Tribes owned and managed the largest remaining stand of Ponderosa pine in the western United States.
By the 1950s, the Klamath Tribes were among the wealthiest tribes in the United States and were entirely self-sufficient, even covering the costs of federal, state, and private services used by their members. However, a significant portion of the tribal members living on the reservation lacked employment and relied on hunting and fishing for subsistence. Acculturation remained a challenge, with low graduation rates among Klamath students enrolled in public high schools. Those living on the reservation also lacked basic knowledge of financial concepts needed to thrive in mainstream society.
Reservation Land and Population
The present-day Klamath Indian Reservation consists of twelve small, non-contiguous parcels of land in Klamath County, primarily located in and near the communities of Chiloquin and Klamath Falls. The total land area is approximately 1.248 square kilometers (308.43 acres). The tribal headquarters is located in Chiloquin, Oregon, within the Pacific Time Zone.
Estimates of the pre-contact population of the Modoc vary, with estimates ranging from 400 to 500. The Indian agent estimated the total population of all three tribes at about 2,000 when the treaty of 1864 was signed.
As of 2009, there were approximately 4,500 enrolled members in the Klamath Tribes, with the population centered in Klamath County, Oregon. Approximately 600 of these members are Modoc. Only a small number of people lived on the reservation lands.
Tribal Enrollment Requirements
To be eligible for enrollment in the Klamath Tribes, a person must meet specific criteria:
(a) Be named on the official Klamath Final Roll of August 3, 1954; or
(b) Possess one-eighth (1/8) degree or more Klamath, Modoc, or Yahooskin Indian blood; and
(c) Not be enrolled in any State or other Federally recognized Indian Tribe.
Government and Governance
The Klamath Tribes are governed by a Tribal Council consisting of six members and executive officers, including a Tribal Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. Elections are held every three years.
Language and Cultural Preservation
The Klamath and Modoc peoples spoke dialects of the Klamath language, classified as part of the Penutian language family. However, the language is critically endangered. As of 2006, there were no fluent native speakers of either the Klamath or Modoc dialects. Revitalization efforts are underway to preserve and promote the language for future generations.
Traditional Culture and Practices
The Klamath and Modoc believe they have inhabited their traditional lands since time immemorial. They were once a single people, later separating as the Modoc settled farther south.
Prior to the reservation era, the Klamath had six bands or "tribelets." This distinction was dropped once they went onto the original reservation. Some Klamath live in the Quartz Valley Indian Community in Siskiyou County, California. Other Klamaths live on rancherias together with Wiyot, Hupa, Tolowa, and Maidu Indians. The Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma is made up of the descendants of Captain Jack and others sent to Indian Territory after the Modoc Wars.
The Klamath were closely linked with the Modoc people and maintained friendly relations with the Molala and Wishram-Wasco. They traded with the Chinook people at The Dalles. Traditional enemies included the Shasta, Northern Paiute, Takelma, Kalapuya, and Pit River groups.
Ceremonies and dances played a vital role in Klamath and Modoc culture. The Shuyuhalsh was a five-night dance rite of passage for adolescent Modoc girls. In the spring, the c’waam (Suckerfish) swim up the Williamson, Sprague, and Lost Rivers to spawn, and the Klamath have traditionally held a ceremony to give thanks for their return.
Art, Crafts, and Material Culture
The Klamath and Modoc people are renowned for their fine basketry. Baskets were used for caps, shoes, carrying food, ceremonies, collecting materials, and gambling. Tree shoots, reeds, rushes, and colorful grasses were used in the Modoc baskets.
Other traditional crafts included beadwork and bone work. The Klamath made flutes, rattles, and hand drums.
Traditional clothing consisted of deerskin kilts for men and longer skirts made of buckskin and plant fiber for women. Both genders wore deerskin ponchos and leggings in cool or rainy weather. Footwear included sandals woven of fibers and moccasins.
In winter, the Klamath and Modoc built earthen dug-out lodges shaped like beehives, covered with sticks and plastered with mud. In summer, they used circular wooden frame houses covered in mats. They also constructed sweat lodges for prayer and other religious gatherings.
Klamath hunters used bows and arrows, while warriors fought with arrows or war clubs. They also wore armor and shields made of elk hide. Fishermen used nets, spears, and basket fish traps. The Klamath and Modoc made dugout canoes for travel and fishing.
Religion and Spiritual Beliefs
The religion of the Modoc is not fully known. Modoc mythology tells of Gopher transforming the world and Gmukamps (Mythic Old Man) peopling it. Spirits were an integral part of the Modoc’s natural world. Supernatural power was sought to improve luck in hunting, fishing, gaming, and love.
The Klamath Creator God was called gmok’am’c. Klamath mythology featured the culture hero Kemukemps, a trickster figure who created men and women. Every Klamath sought spiritual power in vision quests.
Historical Overview
The first recorded contact between the Klamath Tribes and Europeans occurred in 1826 with the arrival of Peter Skeen Ogden, a fur trapper from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The establishment of the Applegate Trail in 1846 led to increased interactions and conflicts between the Modoc and European-American settlers.
The Modoc War of 1872-1873 resulted from tensions over land and broken treaties. The conflict ended with the capture and execution of Kintpuash (Captain Jack) and several of his warriors. The remaining Modoc were sent to Oklahoma as prisoners of war.
In 1954, the Klamath Tribes were terminated from federal recognition, and their reservation land was taken by condemnation. However, in 1986, they successfully regained Federal Recognition, although their land base was not returned.
Today, the Klamath Tribes continue to advocate for their treaty rights, cultural preservation, and economic development. The tribe operates Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, and many Klamath are cattle ranchers. The Klamath Tribes are committed to ensuring a vibrant future for their people and preserving their rich cultural heritage.