Klamath

Ian Skoggard

Clamath, Lutuami, Maklaks

The Klamath, who call themselves "Maklaks," are an American Indian ethnic group located in southwestern Oregon. They are closely related to the neighboring Modoc Indians, and display a number of cultural features typical of both the Plateau and Northwest Coast regions. The cultural position of the Klamath was the subject of much debate among the authors of the 1930s, when tracing origins and the diffusion of cultural elements was a primary concern of anthropologists. This debate never resulted in any definitive conclusions. It is sufficient to know that features from cultures in the Plateau and the Northwest Coast regions, as well as, the Great Basin and California are present among the Klamath. Originally, the Klamath-Modoc lived in the marshy and riverine upland country in what is today southern Oregon and northern California, occupying a region of approximately 20 million acres. Today, the Klamath Reservation is located in Klamath County, Oregon, at approximately 121 to 122 degrees west longitude and 42 to 43 degrees north latitude (For a map of Klamath Reservation and surrounding peoples, see Stern 1965, 279.)

Estimates in the late 1700s placed the Klamath population at between 400 to 1,000. In 1848, there were about 1,000. In 1930, the Klamath and Modocs together totaled 2,034. In 1958, shortly after the Klamath Reservation was closed, their population numbered 2,133. Because the Reservation population was mixed, accurate counts were not possible. A 1990 census puts their total U.S. population at 3,113.

Both the Klamath and the Modoc speak the Lutuami language, which has been assigned to the Klamath- Sahaptin family of the Penutian languages.

The Klamath and Modoc believe that they entered the southern Oregon region as one people, later separating as the Modoc settled further to the south. That they spoke dialects of the same language provides some support for this viewpoint. The earliest influences of European society were indirect, primarily through Plains groups who raided the Klamath on horseback. Since there were few fur-bearing animals in the area, Whites remained uninterested in the Klamath for some time. Sustained contact began in 1826 when the Klamath were drawn into a trading network with Whites and other Indian groups at The Dalles and other trading centers. Unlike many other groups, the Klamath did not suffer from European-introduced epidemic diseases nor from hostilities with White settlers.

In 1864 the Klamath entered into a treaty with the Federal government, ceding most of their aboriginal land in return for the more than one million acre Klamath Reservation, where they were joined by the Modoc and Yahuskin Paiute. In 1866 the Klamath Agency was established, leading to Federal government control of Klamath life, including the management of the Reservation's lucrative lumbering concession. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Klamath were involved in a series of land claims and natural resource suits with the Federal and state governments and local land companies. In August, 1954 a majority of the Klamath agreed to a Federal proposal to end Federal oversight and administration of the reservation, an act which terminated their special Indian status. Beginning in 1964, the Klamath, again, were involved in a series of legal battles about old land claims and the sale of the reservation land and were eventually awarded over 20 million dollars as settlement. In the Klamath Restoration Act of 1986, The Federal government reinstated its relationship with the Klamath, Modoc and the Yahuskin band of the Snake Indians of Oregon as protectors of their land and autonomy.

Prior to the reservation period, the Klamath lived in settled villages during the cold, snowy winter months. These villages were often located along streams or in sheltered spots and contained anywhere from a few to dozens of semi-subterranean earth lodges, which housed several nuclear families. Major villages were located at Klamath Lake, Klamath Marsh, and on the Williamson and Sprague rivers. In the spring and summer they generally moved to fishing spots and lived in mat- covered lodges. Once on the reservation, the population shifted to a number of towns: Chiloquin, Modoc Point, and Klamath Agency at the southern end and Sprague River, and Beatty at the northern end. Over time, many Klamath moved off the reservation in search of jobs. Since many Whites also settled in the reservation towns, the Klamath were usually a minority in the communities where they lived.

Traditionally, the Klamath were fishers, gatherers, and hunters. In the early spring, the people left the villages for the fish runs. In the summer, small bands of two or three families occupied the prairies to collect roots and berries and other edible plants. Toward the end of the summer the pond lily seeds ripened, and the people gathered together at the marshes to harvest them. They also hunted deer, antelope, and waterfowl. Fish and pond lily seeds (WOKAS), which were ground into flour, were the dietary staples. A surplus was obtained and stored in communal pits or in the earth lodges for consumption in the winter months.

Once on the reservation and under agency control, the economy changed markedly. Although fishing, gathering, and hunting continued, the Klamath entered the regional cash economy as their economic base diversified. Stock raising became an important activity. The Klamath raised cattle for meat and for sale, and also raised horses, mules, and pigs. Attempts to introduce farming were less than entirely successful, and eventually limited to growing hay to feed the livestock. Rich in timber, the Klamath early on entered the logging industry and cut and hauled timber for their own use and for sale to Whites. The Klamath Agency also leased timberland to commercial logging companies from which the Klamath earned dividends. Hauling of freight, day labor, and work in the service sector also provided income during the reservation period. As more and more Klamath moved off the reservation, day labor, particularly farm work, became more important.

The Klamath made use of the variety of raw materials in their fairly rich environment. Woodworking was relatively unimportant, with the dugout canoes fashioned largely through burning. Mats from tule and swamp grass were used for inner and outer earth lodge covers and as bedding. Basketry was highly developed and was the form of most household utensils. Clothing, especially for the wealthy, was sewn from hides. The bow and arrow was used for hunting, supplemented by clubs, spears, and body armor for warfare.

After contact in 1826 the Klamath were active participants in the trade network with other Indian groups and Whites. They traded slaves taken from California groups and WOKAS for horses, blankets, buffalo skins, and dried salmon mainly with groups from the Northwest Coast and Plateau. After settlement on the reservation, trade gave way to involvement in the regional cash economy.

Traditionally, men hunted, women gathered, and both participated in fishing. Under the agency system, much of the new work went to men, leaving mostly domestic chores and traditional activities to the women.

The tribe lay claim to a general territory within which individuals lay claim to various resources on a seasonal basis. Reservation land was held in common until the enactment of the Dawes--or General Allotment- -Act of 1895, when families were assigned private tracts of land for farming or grazing, with left-over reservation land opened up to Whites for purchase and homesteading. However, three-quarters of reservation land comprised of prime timberland was not included in the allotment and continued to be held in common by the tribe.

Klamath society is marked by the absence of descent groups. The nuclear family is the basic social unit and territorial tribelet, the basic political unit (see below).

Klamath kin terms distinguish between sex, generation, and the sex of the connecting relative, i.e., a distinction is made between father's siblings and mother's siblings, and between fraternal and sororal nephews and nieces. Four different terms are also used in the grandparents' generation to distinguish between father's and mother's grandparents. The nepotic relatives are thought of in terms of siblings, the avuncular relatives as siblings of the parents, and the granduncle-aunt as siblings of the grandparents.

Marriage was by gift exchange, with the bride's family generally giving more than the groom's. Since marriage to close kin was forbidden, village exogamy predominated, with a slight tendency toward marriage within the tribelet. Wealthy men might take more than one wife, with sororal polygyny and the levirate present. Post-marital residence was generally patrilocal, though matrilocal residence did occur, particularly when the groom was poor. Divorce was easy and common.

Earth lodges housed a number of nuclear families, with the residents being all related to one another. In addition, most residents of a village were kin.

Daughters of chiefs and other wealthy families were afforded a puberty dance at first menstruation. Other girls followed the same food taboos and other restrictions, but did not dance in public. Boys, at puberty, were sent on a five day vision quest. The Klamath inculcated values in their children through their story-telling and myths which often had an underlying moral message.

The winter village was the basic social unit, with the same families returning to their earth lodges each year. While true social classes were absent, a distinction was made between the wealthy and the remainder of the population. Wealth was symbolized by the possession of horses, slaves, beads, archers' equipment, canoes, furs, hides, large lodges, and other material items. In 1864 the slaves were freed and many returned to their native groups.

There were five or six geographical sub-divisions or tribelets of the Klamath. The major tribelets were those living on Klamath Marsh and the middle Williamson River. Other tribelets were located near Agency Lake, Pelican Bay, Klamath Falls, and the Sprague River Valley. These divisions disappeared after settlement on the reservation. Chieftainship was weakly developed, with some villages having chiefs and others having none. Chiefs were men who had acquired prestige through warfare or wealth, were able public speakers, or had some experiences with the supernatural. The intensification of trade before placement on the reservation lead a few men to acquire much wealth and increased their authority. During the reservation period, the Klamath formed a General Council which administered reservation affairs, however, agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs held the real power through their control of the reservation's timber interests.

The Klamath warred with other groups. All Klamath tribelets fought together, perhaps under the direction of a principal chief. War was motivated by plunder, to capture slaves, and for revenge. Traditional enemies included the Shasta, Northern Paiute, Takelma, Kalapuya, and Pit River groups. Relations were close with the Modoc and peaceful with the Molala and WishramWasco. Blood feuds between tribelets were not uncommon and were often precipitated by the murder of a man living with a wife from another tribelet. The feuds were usually ended by a negotiated payment of compensation.

Every Klamath sought spiritual power in vision quests, which took place at life crises such as puberty and mourning. The spirits were poorly defined, but primarily took the form of nature spirits or anthropomorphic beings. Klamath mythology was dominated by the culture hero Kemukemps, a trickster figure who had created men and women. The Klamath enjoyed listening to skilled narrators recount their epoch myths during the long winter nights.

Shamans were people who had acquired more spiritual power than others and enjoyed more prestige and authority than chiefs. Shamanistic performances were the main form of Klamath ceremonials and were held in the winter months, sometimes lasting five days and nights. The shamans' services could be invoked at any time during the year for such purposes as prophecy, divination, or weather control, in addition to curative functions.

The Klamath made flutes, rattles and hand drums. Basketry was decorated with geometric designs. Klamath songs expressed a wide range of sentiments including anger, shame, pride, happiness, fear and courage. Rock paintings in the region are attributed to the Klamath.

The deceased were cremated, with their possessions and valuables given by others in their honor burned with the body. Mourning was a personal matter with a mourning period and behavioral restrictions, but no public ceremony.

Documents referred to in this section are included in this eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

There are eleven sources included in the Klamath file. They focus on tribal origins, traditional culture, social change, and mythology. The earliest is by Gatschet (1890, no. 7) based on field work carried out in 1877 and includes information on geography, settlements, folklore, language, and mythology. Spier (1930, no. 1) produced a "memory ethnography" based on informant recollections of ca. 1860 tribal life. He also compared Klamath cultural traits with those of neighboring groups in order to establish Klamath origins and affiliations. Stern wrote about the history, culture, and politics of the Klamath reservation (Stern 1962, no. 10; 1965, no. 3) and a study of Klamath myths and their narration (Stern 1956, no. 11). Barker (1963, no. 9) also recorded Klamath mythology and life histories. Other articles in the file include studies of Klamath childhood and socialization (Pearsall 1950, no. 4), material culture (Barrett 1910, no. 5), personality and acculturation (Clifton and Levine 1963, no. 6), comparative religion (Spencer 1952, no. 8), and songs and their interpretation (Weaver 1983, no. 12). For more detailed information on the content of the individual works in this file, see the abstracts in the citations preceding each document.

This culture summary was based on the article, "Klamath," by M. Marlene Martin, from the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 1. 1991. Timothy O'Leary and David Levinson, eds. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall & Co. Population figures, recent history, and certain information was updated by Ian Skoggard, 1996. The synopsis and indexing notes were written by Ian Skoggard, 1996.

• Bureau of Indian Affairs -- 657

• executive committees of the General Council -- 646

• General Council -- 646

• lobbying efforts in Congress -- 664

• narrators of myths -- 538, 5310

• Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- 657

Ray, Verne F. Primitive Pragmatists: The Modoc Indians of Northern California. American Ethnological Society Monograph, 38. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1963

Spier, Leslie. Klamath Ethnography. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 30. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963

Stern, Theodore. The Klamath Tribe: A People and Their Reservation. American Ethnological Society Monograph, 41. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1965