The Karuk people () are an Indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. and the Quartz Valley Indian Community.

Happy Camp, California, is located in the heart of the Karuk Tribe's ancestral territory, which extends along the Klamath River from Bluff Creek (near the community of Orleans in Humboldt County) through Siskiyou County and into Southern Oregon.

Name

The name káruk, also spelled "Karok," means "upriver", whereas the word yúruk means "downriver".

Language

The Karuk people speak the Karuk language, a language isolate sometimes grouped into the proposed family of Hokan languages. The tribe has an active language revitalization program.

Population

Estimates for the population sizes of most Native groups before European arrival in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber proposed a population for the Karuk of 1,500 in 1770. Sherburne F. Cook initially estimated it as 2,000, later raising this figure to 2,700. In 1910, Kroeber reported the surviving population of the Karuk as 800.

In film

  • Andrew Chambers. 2008. Pikyáv (to fix it). Documentary film produced for the Truly California series. KQED Public Television and C. Buried Star Productions.

Notable Karuk people

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  • Rob Cabitto, author of a memoir about his struggles with identity and addiction.
  • Naomi Lang, figure skater; five time US Champion in ice dancing from 1999 to 2003. As a member of the 2002 US Olympic figure skating team, she was the first Native American woman to compete in the Winter Olympics. Her great-great-grandmother, Bessie Tripp, was a full blooded Karuk from Orleans/Salmon River.
  • Buck Martinez, former professional baseball player and current play-by-play broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays.
  • Anthony Earl Numkena (Hopi/Karuk) (born 1942), actor, appeared in a number of films and television shows in the 1950s including being credited in Pony Soldier (1952) at the age of nine. His grandmother, Caroline Besoain, née Harrie, was three-quarters Karuk born in Somes Bar, California in 1899 and settled in Quartz Valley, California.
  • Jetty Rae, musician whose grandmother, Jetty Rae Thom, was a full-blooded Karuk.
  • Cutcha Risling Baldy, associate professor Cal Poly Humboldt
  • Fox Anthony Spears, artist and printmaker who uses geometric designs inspired by Karuk basketry patterns. Commissioned to design warmup jersey patches for Seattle Kraken's Indigenous Peoples Night game in 2021.
  • Brian D. Tripp (1945–2022) was a Native American artist and cultural advocate known for his work across murals, poetry, performance, and mixed-media, which reflected and promoted Karuk traditions. In 2000, Tripp, along with fellow artist Alme Allen, created the mural The Sun Set Twice on the People That Day in Eureka, California, which features Karuk cultural symbols. In recognition of his decades-long contributions to visual art, ceremonial performance, and the preservation of Karuk cultural practices, Tripp received the California Living Heritage Award from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts in 2018.

See also

  • Karuk language
  • Karuk traditional narratives

Notes

References

  • Karuk Tribe of California
  • Ayukii: Karuk, The People of the Klamath
  • Karuk Language Section
  • Karuk language resources
  • Karuk Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, California, United States Census Bureau
  • Karuk Bibliography, from California Indian Library Collections Project