POBR Day 12

7/17/19

Day twelve, Captain’s log:

Ouch: Woke up this morning feeling like I had gotten in a fight, like a physical fight…. My ribs were hurting me like crazy and super sore like I had been wrestling a bear in the night. Also a little nauseated. Which was a theme I’d find that would carry on for the rest of the day. A visit to the Klamath tribal fisheries and wildlife dept. we learned about the dire situation in which the local sucker fish species are in. Known to the people as C’waan (lost river sucker fish), one of 7 species that are endemic to this area are dwindling, due to several reasons, but one the biggest is the Lower Klamath Lake is being used for corporate agricultural purposes. In doing so they drain the water each spring by 5 feet to water their potato crops, a lake that is only 6ft deep! Water that is much needed for the survival of these fish. They spawn in the creeks and river and then they hatch two weeks later and drift (which is found to occur mostly at night) downstream to the lake, where they eventually die due to poor water conditions including, low dissolved oxygen levels, toxic algea, high water temperature, predators who’ll nip them up when they breach the surface to get a gulp of air as there is limited supply in the water itself, the draining of the water for the crops forces the larvae out into lake life at a stage where they are not ready to live yet. They live their early stages of life in the tules and cattails, and with the water levels dropping they cannot reach those necessary plants. Brad informed us of the goings on of the ground and surface water, currently the surface water is adjudicated to the tribe, and the ground water rights are still in litigation.

Land of the Rising sun: We were able to actually see these fish in person in the fisheries dept. tanks, where they are trying to help revive the species, which is sacred to their people. They used to harvest these fish in the tens and thousands per season, now they only get one a year for ceremonial purposes. We then got to visit the chemistry lab there, where they test local water conditions and turn the research into specialists who keep records of the changing conditions and try to figure out ways to help improve them. Alex (our guide) brought us to another location, a dam. Which is one of four they are planning to bring down in 2020/2021 to improve water conditions for the fish, not just the C’waam and Koptu, but also to herald the return of the king salmon, the mighty chinook! Which they found actually made its way to these waters in the past and were a benefit to people here. We finished out our time here with an area the Klamath used to call “The Land of the Rising Sun” named such because in the past before colonization, they would winter here, as the sun would hit this piece of land first and stay the longest before nightfall. The water in the area is the only place this fish survives anymore, the water level used to be from where the water flowed in from the spring under ground to the rocks that reached up to the road (pictures to be added later). This land and clean spring water source is owned by an alfalfa farmer, who uses the water for his crops…. The farmer however is willing to “donate” this land back to the tribe if they can get a grant from the government for an underground water well. If successful it is believed that the tribe would then turn that land into a nature reserve and take out the parking lot that is there and let the water fill back up, in doing so providing the fish this body of water that they so desperately need.

Evening Blessing: At the end of our day, after a quick stop at the shop, I helped the cooking crew whip up some beef stew, oh it was yummy. Was grateful to have help them cook that night, for it is good medicine to myself as well. We had one more visitor on this trip, Jeff and his grand-daughter Jade. Jeff opened with a Klamath welcome song, a dialect I have never heard before myself, beautiful. He then asked us what are some of the problems we were having back home, we then informed him of our traditional foods, roots and berries were growing smaller and scarce and we did not know why or quite how to reverse it. He told us about one of the foods, a root, that grows in the water that is also shrinking and getting harder to harvest. His grand daughter spoke to us of her studies as she is a student herself (a recipient of the Gates Millennium scholarship her sister too). She conducted a study on 5 traditional foods, why are they shrinking/disappearing and how to revive them. With these questions being asked all across the indian nation, it made me feel queasy. Jeff closed with the story of how the C’waam came to be, a blessing, a gift to his people given to them by the Creator. In return his people would have to honor that fish and take care of them, with the placement of the dams in early days when tribes were being abolished, the fish started to disappear…..and it was told that if they disappear ‘we’ disappear….. powerful legend. He closed with blessing us with a protection song for safe travels on the rest of our journey. Many thanks.

Closing up here: Time to get my clothes ready for our long drive tomorrow, and pack up my stuff so we can be ready and hit the road as soon as we can. WE ARE ALMOST HOME!!! One last stop on this trip and then it’s the road home time!!!!