Until July 20, riding in a Karuk-built canoe, or p谩ah, in their ancestral homelands was a distant memory for many of today鈥檚 Tribal members.
On the warm summer morning, three generations of Karuk Tribal members gathered along both sides of the Klamath River and watched from the Orleans Bridge the first Karuk canoe in their ancestral waters in over a half-century.
Tyler Conrad, a carver, sat at the front, singing and beating a drum while the canoe paraded around the open water. Tribal members, including elders and children, took turns riding in the boat.
Adrian Gilkison was one of the first to ride in the canoe. She said she lives five miles down the road at the mouth of Red Cap Creek, and said her grandfather lived there too, 鈥渨ay back when.鈥� His canoe was the last one she knew of in Karuk country.
鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 just run into town and buy yourself a little motorboat,鈥� Gilkison said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to build yourself a canoe and use it. And it鈥檚 bringing a lot back. A lot of these kids around here are my great grand-nephews and nieces.鈥�
In 1964, unusually heavy rainfall caused many Northern California rivers to overflow into nearby communities. During the flood, all the Karuk Tribe鈥檚 canoes were flushed away, according to Amber Shelton, who works for Nature Rights Council. The group worked with the Tribe and the United States Forest Service to secure the logs for the canoe.
In the decades after, the Tribe faced both environmental and political difficulties bringing canoes back to the Klamath River.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just go find old growth sugar pine trees anymore because most of them have been logged,鈥� Shelton said. 鈥淏ecause the Tribe does not have a reservation, most of those trees are on Forest Service land and people can鈥檛 just go out and harvest one like they would have done traditionally.鈥�
From time to time, the Tribe borrowed canoes from the nearby Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribes for different parades and ceremonies.
Tribal member and community organizer Grant Gilkison, Adrian鈥檚 son, decided to champion efforts to get a Tribal dugout canoe made. His vision of bringing canoes back to Karuk country began with securing funding for sugar pine logs to build three boats in 2019.
He submitted a proposal with the help of the Nature Rights Council in 2020. Unfortunately, Gilkison passed away later that year.
鈥淗e was at my house one day talking about it and it surprised me,鈥� said Crispin McAllister, a lead carver and close friend of Gilkison. 鈥淚t just surprised me, like, 鈥榟e wants to build a canoe?鈥� I said I鈥檒l help however I can help you, and he got it done. He was really excited about it. I would鈥檝e loved to have taken him out on one.鈥�
The Native Cultures Fund, a Humboldt County-based organization, issued a $10,000 grant which kickstarted the project and allowed the Tribe to pursue Gilkison鈥檚 dream. This was followed by additional funding from the Karuk Tribal TANF Program for tools, workshops and labor.
鈥淗e had a vision to have Karuk canoes built in and brought back to Karuk country,鈥� McAllister said. 鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e keeping his legacy alive. That鈥檚 his boat.鈥�
After Gilkison got the grant money, his death, the pandemic and sourcing the sugar pine logs all created challenges for building the canoe.
Finally, in the summer of 2023, the Tribe sent a letter to the Forest Service asking to use logs which were roadside hazard trees from the nearby McCash Fire in Klamath National Forest. The Forest Service provided them to the Tribe at no cost, Shelton said.
A group of organizations including Nature Rights Council, Ancestral Guard, Seventh Generation Fund, Native Cultures Fund, Save California Salmon and Karuk Tribal TANF Program all helped the Tribe locate the logs and build the canoes.
The first canoe was completed over three workshops in May.
鈥淭here are three canoes being built,鈥� McAllister said. 鈥淥ne for Orleans, that鈥檚 this boat, and then there鈥檚 one up in Happy Camp that we鈥檝e already started working on, and one more in Yreka. And they are all from the same sugar pine.鈥�
McAllister said he鈥檚 already been asked to bring the finished boat, which will remain in Orleans, to several ceremonies in the near future to ferry medicine men across the river. He said this hasn鈥檛 been done in decades.
Right now, the Tribe is pursuing additional funding to complete the carving of the other two canoes.
In Karuk culture, canoes have been historically understood as part of the family, providing transportation through waterways which were once the main mode of travel. According to McAllister, being a canoe maker was a big responsibility because it meant taking care of the people around them in the community.
鈥淥ur deceased folks, we would put them in the boats and paddle them to their gravesites,鈥� McAllister said. 鈥淲e would have boats for ceremonial purposes, like for our World Renewal Ceremonies that we practice. For the Boat Dance, there鈥檚 a dance that takes place in the boat, those were bigger boats, and we鈥檙e hoping to actually get one of those built pretty soon.鈥�
Gilkison鈥檚 son, Te-geen Lee Albers-Gilkison, helped with the carving. He said his role was mostly learning how to build a canoe for future generations.
鈥淚t feels amazing,鈥� he said, when asked about the events of that day. 鈥淚鈥檓 on the edge of crying right now because it鈥檚 so beautiful.鈥�
Charles Houston works for Seventh Generation Fund, which helped to provide instruction for building the boats. He said he was taught that the canoes or 鈥減谩ah鈥� are relatives.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a living being. It has body parts inside of it. There鈥檚 kidneys identified, there鈥檚 a heart identified, there鈥檚 lungs identified,鈥� Houston said.
Now, after years of trying to get just one boat made, the Tribe is looking to continue the tradition of building dugout canoes for different ceremonial and educational purposes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e restoring something that has been stolen,鈥� Houston said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not stopping with just this one. We have plans to build more. We鈥檙e going to be getting trees to build Port Orford cedar canoes and more sugar pine canoes, and we might even do redwood. We have the manpower and the drive to bring these relatives back to our water.鈥�
