Every year for the past two decades, tribes along the Oregon-California border have come together for an event known as the Salmon Run. The four-day event finished on Sunday and was organized by the Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa Valley and Klamath Tribes.
Tribal members and other participants ran in relay style along the length of the Klamath River, about 350 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the river's headwaters above Upper Klamath Lake.
Friday's section of the run began in Weitchpec, CA. With trees towering overhead, dozens of people gathered in a circle next to the Klamath River, many wearing bright blue t-shirts saying "Salmon Run 2023", as one tribal member sent the runners off with a song.
The event was founded 20 years ago after a fish kill in the Klamath River, where thousands of salmon died in a year of low water levels.
"We felt it was our need to do something to bring awareness to not only our fish but the health of the rivers," said founder Tasha James, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe who is also of Yurok and Karuk descent.
The 2023 run is especially exciting because it’s the last year before four major dams on the Klamath River will be removed. It’s a huge victory for the tribes as they work to restore the health of the river and honor the salmon. They hope dam removal will mean the salmon can successfully make their way upriver to spawn once again.
"In regards to the dams coming down, it’s such an amazing thing. I personally never thought I would see that in my lifetime," James said.
She said the run will still continue after the dams have been removed.
"If there's no more salmon or if there's no more rivers, then there's no more us as Indian people," James said.
Many runners were kids, but Salmon Run founder Chelsea Reed, a Yurok tribal member, said the run is a community event for people of all ages, including her 90-year-old great auntie this year.
"That's what it's all about is connecting all of those generations and for our elders and ancestors before us and for all of those who are going to be ahead of us too and those who aren't even born yet," said another founder, Erika Tracy, a Hoopa tribal member.
A small group of runners started off, following the river from Weitchpec toward Orleans, accompanied by a caravan of honking cars. Every few miles, they pulled into a turnout, where the next runners waited. They passed off large carved wooden salmon, baton style, and the next group of runners continued up river.
"It’s hard because it is definitely really hot, and the train is not like on a treadmill or anything, but I mean I do it because I love doing it," said 18-year-old Yurok tribal member Tahsa Tripp. She has participated for the last 10 years.
The caravan of cars slowly wound its way up rural Highway 96, next to the Klamath River. It's quiet except for the sound of birds chirping.
But up river, at Orleans Elementary School, kids crowded outside on the lawn, buzzing with anticipation. Every year, the students join the run for about a mile.
Orleans has a population of 605 people, and everyone in town seemed to be involved. On the day of the run, residents shouted updates: “They’ll be here in about an hour!” “They’re four miles out!” There were signs posted throughout town, and a handful of spectators lined the road.
Then, the caravan of honking cars came into view. They reached the school, and dozens of kids in bright blue t-shirts sprinted up the road.
They ran almost a mile uphill to the Karuk Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources building. Spectators clapped and cheered. There were slices of watermelon and bottles of water, which many kids dumped on their heads.
Yurok tribal member Annelia Hillman said the run is symbolic of the journey the salmon make.
"That’s kind of how our people pray is by sacrifice and so this is kind of, you know, people sacrificing themselves for those salmon just like the salmon do for us. So it’s this feeling of reciprocity and teaching that to our kids and through the generations," she said.
Then, the next group of runners started up the road to continue the journey that they hope the salmon will soon be able to make themselves.
