ANTH 109: Final Essay

The Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation is located in Northern California near the Six Rivers National Forest. As of 2013, it is home to about 3,200 Hupa people, who practice many of their traditional techniques and rituals on the same ground as their ancestors. Yet, as with much of California, particularly its coastal regions, it faces many challenges related to climate change and interactions with local companies and groups. From warming temperatures to deforestation to the impact of fishing practices that harm the Trinity River, which runs through their reservation, the Hupa people have many concerns that threaten their land and culture. In response to this, they are working, in tandem with other organizations, to establish safer, more eco-friendly practices to sustain their territory for generations to come.

Contextual Background

The Hupa people reside on a small reservation near the coast and Redwood National Park, in northern California. It is a heavily forested area, with the Trinity River running through its center. The Hupa are an ancient and storied tribe in North America, who draw much of their character from the Trinity and Klamath Rivers on their land. For centuries, they have fished for Chinook Salmon in the spring and fall seasons. Their practices, however, are now being threatened by rapidly changing conditions and outside influences. The first is damage to their water sources. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service in the West Coast Region, “The Trinity River is listed as impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act because of sediment loading … The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) identified several water quality issues in the Trinity River watershed, including sedimentation of streams, high water temperatures, and mercury contamination in fish” (NMFS, p.18, Sec. 3.1). Fishing and the river itself are huge parts of the Hupa culture, and both are being threatened by changing conditions. Climate change has caused water temperatures to rise, making the environment increasingly uninhabitable for the wildlife that currently live there. In addition to this, the construction of various dams upstream in the 1960s have “severely impacted the natural flow regime of the Trinity River … This shift in the natural hydrology of the river has led to substantial degradation of salmonid habitat” (NMFS, p.18, Sec. 3.2). By threatening the salmon population, these issues harm not only a major industry for the Hupa people, but also prevent them from continuing ancient practices that are central to their culture. These changing conditions are not unique to the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, but rather are seen throughout the state of California. In California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, the researchers cite that “statewide annual temperatures have increased by about 1.5 ° F in the last century, heat waves are becoming more common, and snow is melting earlier in the spring” (Fourth Climate Change Assessment, p.15). Increasing temperatures and other major climate change impacts are being studied across California and the rest of the country, demonstrating their widespread effects. These combined issues mean that the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation is facing attacks on several fronts and is struggling to push back against these aggressive shifts.

Analysis

As previously mentioned, the Hupa draw much of their culture from practices and rituals that revolve around the rivers on their reservation. From fishing to boating technology, the Trinity and Klamath rivers are crucial to their way of life. In 2017, the Hupa tribe filed a lawsuit against local electric companies that profited from dams that damaged the rivers. These dams also caused viral infections to spread among salmon populations, further reducing the number of fish remaining on the reservation. The court ruled in favor of the Hupa tribe and its supporters, ordering changes, led by the tribe’s scientists, to reduce harmful effects. This was a prominent victory, but the Hupa people need many more like it to fully realize the adjustments needed to protect their homeland and heritage. The Hupa people and others who live near the water are among the most vulnerable in the region and in Northern California as a whole, as rapid global warming and warming of their water sources harm those who rely on the river more than those who don’t. Unlike other cases we have studied that can relocate or alter their dependencies, the Hupa Tribe relies on the Trinity and Klamath rivers not just for food, water, and their economy, but also for their culture and traditions. They cannot leave because they have inhabited this area for hundreds of years, so their only choice is to work to mitigate harmful effects and protect their reservation. The Hupa are not the only tribe or group that relies on the waterways for their livelihood, as other native tribes and fishing groups also use the rivers. 

Responses and Interventions

In the face of many different threats to their land, the Hupa tribe has passed various pieces of legislation to mitigate or eliminate further harm. In recent years, they enacted the Hoopa Valley Tribe Climate Adaptation Plan, which allocates almost $350,000 towards climate change solutions in their region. The plan outlines the Hupas’ “deep connection to the Trinity River and its salmonid fishery,” and further empahsizes how the project “aims to preserve the salmonid fishery, vital not only to the tribe’s cultural heritage but also crucial for subsistence, community well-being, and overall economic sustainability” (Hoopa Valley Tribe Planning Department, par.2). This is a massive step in the right direction for the tribe, as it will work towards defending the heart of their reservation in its rivers. A key part of the plan is its description of development, which says it is the culmination of “extensive community engagement, data analysis, traditional ecological knowledge, and the best available scientific research.” This is especially significant because, as we’ve repeatedly discussed in class, traditional knowledge is often sidelined or ignored (Jimenez-Cano, ANTH 109, Session 2). The Hupa people have lived on their lands for centuries, surviving each year through honed, sustainable practices that allow wildlife and ecosystems to thrive despite their hunting and fishing. Now, with this action, that expertise will be put to use again, helping to design ways to reduce the effects of climate change on their community.

Another key change that reflects the use of Hupa tribal wisdom in restorative practices is the Hoopa Valley Tribal Forestry Department’s management of the forest on its reservation. As Stephanie Gutierrez and Jessica Douglas describe in their article on the subject, “For the tribe, climate smart forestry and Indigenous forest stewardship intertwine. As alternatives to large-scale clearcutting, the tribe uses thinning and patch-cutting to support the cultivation and protection of cultural resources … and the use of fire to restore forest health and resilience” (Gutierrez & Douglas, par.3). These techniques are helping the Hupa people maintain their environment year over year, and there aren’t new practices. These practices have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years and are only now receiving the recognition they deserve. This idea of reviving ancient traditions is similar to the Albagli and Iwama text, which discusses citizen science and highlights how it has helped scientists make significant progress in climate change research. The text also emphasizes the importance of including all people, whether professionally trained or not, in planning for and implementing solutions (Albagli & Iwama, 2022). Traditional knowledge is saving the Hupa forests, where other scientific solutions are falling short. 

Finally, regarding the declining water quality in the Trinity and Klamath rivers, the Hoopa Tribe applied for state funding to treat the rivers in 1989. It was approved in 1990, and the Hoopa Valley Tribal Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Control Quality Plan was slowly applied starting in the early 2000s. As the Tribal Environmental Protection Agency describes in their goals for the program, “The purpose of TEPA’s water quality standards is to restore, maintain, and protect the chemical, physical, biological, and cultural integrity of the surface waters of the Hoopa Valley Reservation.” (TEPA, par.2, “Goals”). The tribe's plan is to work against the damage caused by a combination of climate change and the harmful dams built on their rivers. The California Climate Change Assessment shows a graph that lists a nearby area to the Hoopa Valley reservation as one of the hottest in Northern California, and those temperatures are only increasing. By combating rising river temperatures and maintaining the conditions that allow salmon and other wildlife to thrive, the Hupa people's actions will go a long way toward protecting their heritage.

These methods for mitigating and preventing harm from climate change and other threats are extremely well planned and will be effective once fully implemented in the coming years. This success comes from a variety of factors that went into their conception, including prioritizing community voices and input, valuing traditional knowledge and techniques, and futuristic planning aimed at preventing future climate disasters in their region. Firstly, community input was key to the writing of these plans. The Hoopa Valley Tribal Forestry department hopes to “use community concerns to frame and interpret forest modeling that Ecotrust is facilitating,” showing how they used the opinions and advice of locals to best target their efforts in protecting the forests. The Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Climate Adaptation Plan mentions the inclusion of perspectives and information from “multiple tribal departments, partner organizations, and external agencies contributing to [the plan’s] successful implementation” (Hoopa Valley Tribe Planning Department, par. 4). These programs are working because they include the voices of many different groups. Secondly, isolating a single institution and relying solely on its position results in a lack of diversity, which can cause climate change programs to miss important information. In class, we discussed how native practices that supported California's biomes were replaced by modern science, resulting in the rapid deterioration of plant life in these regions (Jimenez-Cano, ANTH 109, Session 9). One perspective or source of information is not enough to solve a crisis that affects so many different people and groups. Those who will be affected by decisions and actions have a right to be a part of the debates, and those who are most affected should have the loudest voices in that discussion. Lastly, these programs include planning for future climate problems that have not yet been addressed, as well as others that have not even happened yet. 

Discussion

The Hupa tribe has made impressive progress in reducing the harmful effects of climate change on their reservation and Northern California. However, this work alone is not enough to prevent all effects. Large corporations that damage the environment more than anyone else cause abuse to regions all across the world. Efforts like the plans instated by the Hupa People on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation are good for mitigation, but they will not completely stop harm to their rivers and wildlife. National and international action is required to truly prevent the rapid evolution of climate change. 

The Hupa Tribe and their climate change activism are a clear example of applying traditional ecological knowledge and inclusive discussion, which allows affected parties to have a voice. Their incorporation of local contributions is, sadly, not as widely recognized as it should be in other parts of the world that are equally or more severely ravaged by climate change.

Conclusion

Overall, the actions taken by the Hupa people in the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation exemplify eco-friendly, inclusive mitigation efforts that counter the harm caused by climate change and unethical practices by companies in the region. Their victory against companies creating dams on their rivers, plan to undo the temperature changes to the river, and future protection of the habitats of local salmon that fuel their economy and cultural way of life have all resulted in beneficial change for the Hupa and other peoples who live in the area or on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. Looking ahead, we must take more action elsewhere, especially by targeting the largest culprits of damage to the ozone layer and habitats across the globe.

Research projects should focus on small-scale examples like this, examining how solutions such as those implemented by the Hupa Tribe can be scaled up. Their protection of water sources, healthy forestation and cultivation practices, and a combination of local and scientific voices can absolutely be applied to the major climate change issues that plague the world at large. Through these techniques, as well as a collective movement focusing on awareness, communication, and collective action, we can work towards a better, more sustainable future in California and beyond.