Introduction
Crater Lake National Park stands at or near the territorial
boundaries of four Indian peoples. To the east and southeast lay the
lands of the Klamath, to the southwest the lands of the Takelma, to the
west the lands of the Upper Umpqua, and to the northwest the lands of
the Molala.
The post-contact experience of the Klamath was very different from
that of the Oregon tribes of southwest Oregon, including the Takelma,
Molala, and Upper Umpqua. In southwest Oregon the de facto policy was
one of near-extermination, with survivors forced to reservations far
from their homelands in contrast, as Leslie Spier observed of the
Klamath, "the drastic destruction of the western and central Oregon
tribes had passed them by" (Spier 1927a:45). As a consequence, much is
known of the aboriginal culture of the Klamath, far less of the other
three peoples considered here. Rather than attempting to summarize all
aspects of a very large literature, these ethnographic descriptions will
focus on those aspects of Klamath, Takelma, Upper Umpqua, or Molala life
most relevant for an understanding of the cultural context of Crater
Lake.
The Klamath were bordered to the west by the Takelma and the Molala.
To the southwest the Klamath bordered the Shasta; to the south. The
Modoc (a group with close social and cultural links to the Klamath); and
to the east, the Northern Paiute. The distinctive features of the
Klamath Basin environment and the interactions-whether peaceful or
warlike--between these tribes in a sense defined Klamath territory.
Nonetheless, "territory" must be understood in the context of
tribal, rather than state-level, political organization Rather than
conceiving of Klamath (or Takelma, or Molala) territory as a definite,
uniquely held domain, it is more accurate to distinguish between a core
homeland and a peripheral resource area which might be utilized by
several contiguous groups. The following comments regarding territory
in aboriginal California could apply in large measure to the Klamath as
well: each of the Indian groups in northern California, especially
those in high elevation areas, claimed a nuclear territory which
constituted their national homeland and in which their permanent
villages were located. These tribal homelands seemed to be universally
recognized by the various Indian nations, and mainly consisted of river
valleys, basins. and lakeshores The intervening uplands were exploited
only seasonally in the warmer months, and almost invariably, two or more
groups exploited these same territories. (Jensen and Farber 1982:21-22)
Klamath territory centered on Upper Klamath Lake, Klamath Marsh, and
the Williamson River. Here most of the permanent villages were found,
with some additional settlements located in the uplands to the east,
along the Sprague River Seasonal camps, in contrast, were "established
over a much wider territory, as far, it would seem, as the natural
limits of [the Klamath Basin] drainage area" (Spier 1930:8). To the
north the Klamath ranged to the headwaters of the Deschutes River, to
the east some seventy miles to the escarpment above Summer and Silver
Lakes, and to the west to the peaks of the Cascades (Stern n.d.:8).
Spier noted that "the wide plain south of Klamath Falls seems to have
been unoccupied," though during the spring fishing the Klamath and Modoc
tribes met on Lost River, the Klamath occupying the northern, and the
Modoc occupying the southern bank of that river (Spier 1930:9).
Klamath territory stood at the periphery of several major aboriginal
culture areas: the Plateau, Great Basin, Northwest Coast, and
California. Accordingly, aboriginal Klamath culture reflected a number
of diverse influences in such matters as economy, social organization,
and values (see Stern n.d.:10-12). Klamath culture was shaped by its
specialized adaptation to a marsh, lake, and river environment, seen in
the predominant place of fish and pond-lily seeds (wokas) in the Klamath
diet. Beyond this adaptive focus, however, Klamath culture reflected a
number of influences:
one may note the California flavor of the separatistic hamlets with
their loose social and political organization; the weakly developed (and
possibly late) wealth complex, suggestive of the Northwest and the
Oregon coast; and the formalized shamanistic religion which points to
affinities with tribes in the Plateau, California, and elsewhere
(Spencer 1952b:217)
The term "Klamath" was apparently derived from Chinook (Stern nd:l)
The Klamath term of self-reference is maqlaqs. However, the term was
frequently used as part of the placename of a particular Klamath group,
rather than designating the ethnic collectivity as a whole. For example,
the largest Klamath grouping, located on Klamath Marsh and the Upper
Williamson River, "was known as 'ewksikni maqlaqs, or simply by the
former term (<'ews, lake)" (Stern n.d.:2). (1)
Estimates of the aboriginal Klamath population are conflicting and
difficult to evaluate. Spier suggested 1200 persons at the time of
contact, of whom an estimated 600 made up the 'ewksikni or Klamath Marsh
division (Spier 1930:5). Stem (n.d.:14) has suggested 1000 for the
aboriginal Klamath population. Klamath elders have suggested that the
precontact population (including Klamath, Modoc, and Yahuskin Paiute
groups, which were jointly to compose the Klamath Reservation), would
have numbered about 2000.
Given current debates regarding population levels in pre-contact North
America, such figures should be taken cautiously. Nonetheless,
available estimates for the region suggest that population densities for
the Shasta to the southwest or for the tribes of the Oregon Coast were
perhaps ten times that of the Klamath and Modoc, while that of the
Northern Paiute to the east were perhaps one-fourth of the Klamath
figure. (Stem 1966:5)
1 Here and elsewhere an glottal
stop is marked by an apostrophe ('), substituted for the more
technically correct symbol (7) employed by Stern. Other symbols used
here (following Stern) include capitalized letters (M, Y, etc.) to
indicate aspiration. and a dot() to indicate length. See Stern
n.d.:7
Introduction | Adaptations | Social
Organization | Ritual
Myth | Post-Settlement
Life | Crater Lake