This is Undammed, the Klamath River Story, a podcast made possible by support from American Rivers. In this episode... Yurok tribe member Analia Hillman and I are watching the Klamath River take its newly freed form in the midst of the dam removals. Neknow, Analia Hellman. I'm a Yurok tribal member, or Hulikla, as we call ourselves, Downriver People.
I live in Orleans in the Mid-Klamath with my husband and my children. It's been a wet few days in the Mid-Klamath, but Annalia and I took advantage of this brief break in the downpour to stroll outside and peer over a lush embankment. so we're standing here
in Witchpec at the Yurok Tribal Office here. And it overlooks the Klamath River and the river's pretty muddy right now. I think there's a lot of concern like, oh my gosh, that's a lot of... mud the river's brown and it may be like this for the next three years or so it's february 2024 and the river is pretty muddy but annalia hillman is not concerned in fact She's feeling pretty good about what she sees.
Really, I think people are just excited because this is huge. This is the biggest dam removal in history. And the people that live here have all been part of it. And I think we're looking forward to seeing our river return to her. natural state. The biggest dam removal in history We're looking out at the Klamath, which flows 257 miles through southern Oregon and northern California before it empties into the Pacific Ocean. On November 17, 2022,
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, gave the final approval for the removal of four dams on the Lower Klamath. The main driver for the removal of these dams? Salmon. and all the communities and ecosystems that depend on them. While not as much of a household name around here as, say, the Columbia, the Klamath once had the third largest salmon run in the continental United States.
with more than 800,000 Chinook salmon returning every fall. But since their construction about 100 years ago, these dams have blocked salmon and steelhead which are anadromous fish meaning they migrate from the river to the ocean and back to the river to spawn from reaching over 400 miles of their natural habitat
The dams also degraded water quality by slowing the flow of the river. These changes to the way water moves through the system have caused regular bouts of high water temperatures and toxic algae events. As you can imagine, not good for fish. Salmon and steelhead populations have plummeted. Two salmon species were eliminated from the Klamath Basin, and other populations were reduced to 5% of their historic averages.
But unlike so many environmental stories today, where it seems like all there is to do is sit back and watch yet another natural resource in steady decline, the story of the Klamath feels different. I'm going to be honest. I didn't originally set out to make a podcast about the Klamath. I was going to make a podcast about the Colorado. You know the one. That behemoth of a river that flows through seven states and Mexico.
and is essentially the lifeblood of some of the largest cities and agricultural centers in the West, you've probably also heard it's running out of water. Fast. My background is in food and agriculture and so I was curious about the push and pull between the river and cities and farms. But as it turns out, I was not the only one interested in the Colorado. There's been a lot of in-depth reporting and even a handful of great podcasts exploring the fate of this fabled river.
And there was something else I couldn't shake, which was that while there were pockets of progress, the whole equation felt fairly immutable. I mean, can you imagine? Seven states and two countries? Not to throw shade at the Colorado, but it is a pretty mind-boggling conundrum. It's not like whatever podcast I was working on would provide a solution.
But I felt like in my own work, writing about the environment, which can feel so bleak at times, I needed to know what was working. And that's when I learned about the Klamath. A river that might actually be in better shape five years from now than it was five years ago. And it's a story that may hold clues for how to tackle these big thorny issues that we're facing all over the world today.
where resources have been taken, many times unjustly, and then over-allocated, and there's just no longer enough to go around. What makes this story unique is not just that these dams are coming down, but that the historic decision to take down those dams was the result of decades of advocacy from tribes who live in the Klamath Basin.
the klamath river has historically been a vital resource for the karuk yurok hoopa klamath and other tribes who live along the river since long before these dams were erected they've relied on the river and the fish it contains for sustenance cultural significance, and economic livelihood. To put it simply, the decline of the Klamath and its fish populations have been devastating for these tribes, who see dam removal as the surest path to river restoration.
In this moment, when I'm speaking with Analia, COPCO 2, the smallest of the dams, has been fully removed, and the reservoirs behind the other three dams, COPCO 1, J.C. Boyle, and Irongate, have been drawn down in preparation for removal. As of a few weeks ago, all four dams have been removed. So how do you get from devastated fish populations and having essentially no say over the fate of the river to bringing about the largest dam removal project in history?
Well, that's what I wanted to know. Which was what brought me here to the edge of the Klamath in the February rain. I had first met Anna Lee about a year ago. She's been working on the dam removal campaign from its inception. and is currently the Yurok Food Sovereignty Food Village Coordinator. And today, Annalia and I are witnessing the Klamath rediscover its historical path. It's just, I feel accomplished.
did do something for our future generations like we did this we made this happen it just kind of this moment where Anything is possible. We can take on anything. What drew me to this story of the Klamath Dam removals is just that. The feeling that maybe we can turn things around. That there are opportunities to leave a little more for the future. But the path to getting here has been as winding and capricious as the Klamath itself.
Annalia and other tribal members have been working on dam removal for over two decades, an outcome which at many points seemed highly improbable, if not impossible. And so to kick off this series, which will explore the dam removals and all the ways it'll impact the various communities along the river, I wanted to set the stakes. What drives a person to dedicate 23 years?
to give limitlessly of their time and resources, without pay I might add, to one formidable goal. My conversation with Analia in this moment of triumph gave me some insight into that. Here's a bit of her story. My family is from the Klamath River. My family comes from the villages of Hapao and Waishquail near the mouth of the Klamath River.
the Yurok Reservation. I've lived on the river most of my life. I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon and had a really cool Native community there that I... grew up with and learned from, and so I always want to acknowledge those people also. Even though Analia grew up in Eugene, she would take trips as a kid with her family to the Klamath.
One of my earliest and fondest memories of being connected to the Klamath River was a summer that I had spent with my father down at the mouth of the river. And that was my first experience, like fishing and even just really like spending quality time and living with the river. I don't know how to explain. playing that moment in time but it's like my awakening to my yurok roots and beginning to understand the importance of
who we are as fisher people and our connection to the rivers. After Analia finished college, she decided it was time to return to those roots. The rivers always like kind of called me back home and that's why I decided to move home and take care of the land that I live on. I started to learn our language at that time and learn more about some of the issues that were happening here. So it kind of gave me this motivation to move back here. The issues that Analia is referring to run centuries deep.
Before the arrival of white colonists, the Yurok tribe was considered one of the most prosperous in the region. They operated an abundant year-round fishery that was the basis for the entire Klamath River tribal economic system. Like many native tribes, the Yurok people experienced displacement and marginalization during European colonization.
When white settlers moved into Yurok lands during the gold rush, the tribe faced disease and massacres that reduced their population by 75%. They also lost management authority over the Klamath River. The tribes had no say in the decisions that subsequently changed the river, such as the permitting of commercial fisheries and canneries and the building of dams, even though they've borne the brunt of the impacts of these developments. The loss of tribal fisheries...
Once a cornerstone of tribal economies in the basin has had a disastrous impact. Today, approximately 35% of tribal members live below the federal poverty line. As you can imagine, the buck doesn't stop there. The loss of these resources and activities that are essential to the Yurok way of life has not surprisingly led to a mental health crisis for many Yurok people. There's so many other issues.
that we have to deal with too, like addressing intergenerational trauma and the health of the people. We had a suicide epidemic and crisis here on the river, which we all believe was direct. tied to the health of our river. And so the mental health of our people kept us moving forward knowing that these two things affected each other. In 2016, the Yurok tribe declared a state of emergency in response to the self-inflicted deaths of seven tribe members over an 18-month period.
Analia sees this crisis as directly related to losing their Yurok way of life. When these other capitalist systems came in and colonized our communities, a lot of the purpose was lost of what our purpose here. on this river is. We were created here. We are part of the system. Analia used to work in social services.
But after some time, she felt that that role wasn't equipping her to solve these systemic issues in her community. And I just felt like that approach was not getting us anywhere, going through these federal programs that are meant to...
kind of keep us oppressed. I wanted to find a different way, our self-determination. This is how we heal. This is how we do it. And I really feel like through... food and and connection to our land like that was gonna circle back in and take care of us instead of focusing on these are our problems we have suicide we have drug addiction. We have all these problems. So instead of focusing on the problems, I felt this is a way to focus on the solutions and what's positive. For Analia...
Connection to land and tribal foodways were the things that would reverse this crisis. I now work as a food village coordinator for our food sovereignty program. It's a fairly new program. We're going into the third year. And my job is just to build the capacity within our community to change our food system here and to help reclaim some of the practices. of burning and tending our food resources, such as our acorns, our huckleberries, our fisheries, you know, all.
all of our food so it's really teaching people to use those foods again, to eat those foods again. It's really empowering because that food and our food sovereignty really connects us to the land because we've been unhealthy. Your physical health affects your mental health. This is what it comes down to. The health of the river and the health of the Uruk community are inseparable. The ability to fish again is not just a matter of food security.
but also food sovereignty, where York people have the agency to bring back their traditional foodways, and thereby a renewed sense of connection and purpose. Annalia fought for dam removal just as she's now working to bring back traditional foodways. because she recognizes that reconnecting with the river and the ways that Yurok people procured food and nourished their families and community is absolutely essential to the survival of the river and of her people.
I think just that battle of trying to help others understand, like, we are still important to this river. It needs us. It needs us to be fishing. It needs us to be gathering roots. And so helping... our people to understand we are still needed on this river. It's part of us and we are part of it. And I think that now with the dams coming out, I think this opening up... Almost metaphorically, taking down these walls in our minds that we have of being confined in this system, I feel like...
It's a new beginning for people to reclaim our cultural ways. Which is why there was no other option for Analia other than to work on the dam removal campaign for as long as it took. Well, how can you stop? You can't give up on your river. We have to stop letting people... destroy our ecosystems and our communities and i think that's where we just have to dig your heels in it was no easy battle we'll dive deeper into this enormous effort in the next episode
But I wondered what it was like for Analia to come out on the other side. How she felt when she got the news the dams would be removed. And she was honest with me. It was really hard to, like, be excited when the news came. that the dams are coming out so I didn't feel excited at first I was like I'm not going to be happy until I see those dams coming down but then it finally happened
In January, we actually got to see them release the water and see COPCO2 actually demolished. One dam gone and three more to go. Like, that was the moment. Like, oh, this is real. This is for real. It is, for me, this huge weight off my shoulders, and I think... For a lot of us, that was kind of the feeling. We felt that water being released. Yeah, release. That's the word. Analia is someone who has always felt a deep connection with the Klamath, even in its damned state.
My happy place is to go to the river bar. I love gathering basket materials and looking for acorn rocks and that's my time that I can connect. reground myself it's really spending time with the river and when you spend enough time out there things talk to you that the world talks to you the river talks to you the plants talk to you and it's just like learning how to listen
to them again. And now with the dams coming down and this new sense of possibility setting in, she gets to witness others have a renewed interest in the Klamath and what their relationship with the river could be like. including her own children. They want to take a raft trip all the way down the river. So I think that's fun. Yeah, looking forward to fishing. They want to learn how to fish. They want those skills and knowing that that's...
that can be part of their life in the future. I think that that's exciting for them and just having this confidence that we can protect our homelands and I see the kids standing up for things that we never would have stood up for before. It's just neat to see that confidence and resilience in our children. Annalia hopes that the anticipated return of the salmon and this new sense of agency and connection to the river
will also help bring back traditional Yurok ceremonies, which center around the health of the natural world. With my family, we hope to bring the first salmon ceremony back to this river. The first salmon ceremony is a ritual practiced by many indigenous tribes upon the return of the salmon, before the fishing season begins. It's very sacred and the details differ between tribes.
but it celebrates the physical and spiritual role of salmon in tribal life. It hasn't happened in a long time, and there's a reason for that. There's a reason we had to stop doing that, but now with... the capability of the fish being able to go to their ancient spawning grounds once again. I'm hopeful that we can bring that ceremony back because that was a big part of our balance in this world and an important piece that was missing in our spiritual beliefs and our spiritual ways on this river.
Analia's objective with dam removal and her food sovereignty work comes down to restoring balance. A balance that's been replaced by steady decline over the last century for the natural ecosystems and the communities that rely on them. A restoring balance will take more than removing these dams.
The Klamath has changed drastically and is currently so many things to so many people. In addition to being at the center of tribal culture and foodways, there are also farmers who rely on the Klamath for irrigation. Recreators who love its rapids. Scientists who hope to learn more about the impacts of dam removal on fish populations. And other local communities who value the serenity in this region.
So many people have their version of the Klamath that they treasure and want to preserve. And now with this monumental event happening, everything is in flux. Because the river will not be what it was when it was dammed. And it'll also not be what it was before the dams were ever erected. It's this new thing, changing and reshaping. And so the communities rooted along this river will also have to change and rebuild and reimagine. And that is so exciting. But it also invites some tough questions.
When we don't have enough to go around, who do we owe what and who should sacrifice? How can we create the best possible outcomes for the most people? How can we bring groups together who have traditionally not seen eye to eye? to dream up creative and cooperative solutions. This is a picture of a place in the midst of a profound transformation. All of these questions are being addressed in very real and urgent ways on the Klamath today.
Through this series, we'll try to shine a light on this moment of transformation and how different communities are navigating it in both difficult and incredibly regenerative ways. Through interviews and narrative storytelling, we'll try to piece together the ingredients that make up this moment, or perhaps the bends that make up a river. We'll try to get a sense of what the future may hold for this basin. But today, for Analia...
It holds a lot of hope. The future of this river and this place and the community and your family, like what does that look like to the degree to which you can see in the future and picture that. Wow. I just see us thriving again with our foods, with our culture, with our ceremonies. I see people finding their purpose, finding what's their role in our community. I think this is a turning point in healing and thriving again. It's happy, it's free-flowing.
Yeah, it's just a different vibe now when you go down to the river because it's free. You can feel that. You can feel it. Next time on Undammed, we'll dive deeper into the tribal-led dam removal campaign. Because how on earth did a handful of tribes who a few decades ago had all but lost the ability to fish on the Klamath River managed to pull off the biggest dam removal in history. What exactly made it so successful? And can we bottle it? Special thanks for this episode goes to Analia Hellman.
This podcast was produced by Blue Canoe Studios.