North American tribe of the Algonquian-Ritwan language
family; it was the southernmost of the
Pacific Northwest Coast culture area.
Several
thousand Yurok lived in small villages on the banks
of the lower Klamath River in northwestern California
when they were first encountered by Europeans in
the 1770s.
In the mid-19th century, a reservation was established
in the area.
The
Yurok wore animal hides and subsisted mainly on
salmon and acorns. They placed great emphasis on
property and had an elaborate legal system for settling
their frequent disputes.
Because the Yurok lacked any chiefs or political
organization, families rather than the tribe
held the important fishing and gathering rights
over an area. Wealth was accumulated primarily in
the form of dentalia (tooth-shaped mollusk shells),
woodpecker scalps, and furs. Marriage was accomplished
through an exchange of these items, and men and
women enjoyed a fairly equal status.
Although
Yurok culture has largely vanished, 4296 people,
living mainly in the same region, claimed Yurok
ancestry in 1990.
