KAROK

The Karok, or Karuk, lived along the middle course of the Klamath River and some of its tributaries in present-day northwestern California, their territory extending almost to the border with present-day Oregon. Their name, pronounced KAHR-ock, means “upstream” in their language. The name of the YUROK living along the Klamath to the Karok’s southeast near the Pacific coast means “downstream.” The Karok formerly called themselves Arra-arra for “the people.” They spoke a language of the Hokan phylum, its various dialects grouped together by some scholars as the Quoratean family; the neighboring Yurok spoke a language related to Algonquian. The SHASTA living to their east upriver also spoke a Hokan language. Among their neighbors to the south were the Athapascanspeaking HUPA.

The Karok are studied as part of the California Culture Area (see CALIFORNIA INDIANS) and were hunter-gatherers dependent on the acorn, although they also relied on salmon as a food staple, catching the fish on their runs upriver twice a year, which is more typical of tribes of the Northwest Coast Culture Area (see NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS).Their plank houses also resembled those of tribes to their north. Women and children slept in the larger family houses, while men slept in smaller sweathouses where only they were allowed. Like other California tribes, Karok social organization revolved around villages, situated in three main clusters. Part of an extensive trade network with area tribes, they did not craft their own boats but purchased them from the Yurok. Disputes within and among tribes in the region were often settled by payment, with parties acting out a formalized war dance. Karok men were known to wear wood-slat armor. Along with the Yurok and Hupa, the Karok practiced annual World Renewal ceremonies, serving to “remake the world” or “firm the earth.”

Traders were the first non-Indians to reach Karok lands. The tribe remained relatively isolated until the mid-19th century and the arrival of miners following the California gold rush of 1849. Some Karok participated in the first Ghost Dance religious revitalization movement, founded by Wodziwob of the PAIUTE in 1870.

The Karok, currently one of the largest tribes in California, were granted no reservation lands, although some among them settled on protected lands with other tribes, such as with Shasta and Klamath Indians on the Quartz Valley Reservation with a headquarters at Fort Jones. Other tribal members now make up the Karuk Tribe of California community centered at Happy Camp. Their modern-day flag celebrates basket weaving, with a design based upon typical patterns found on Karok baskets and basket hats once regularly worn by the women.