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Yuik Tribe Research Paper

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The Yurok tribe, although mostly assimilated in present times, has continued to thrive and protect their culture. The Yurok tribe has endured a sordid history. The tribe has suffered great atrocities at the hands of western culture. The Yurok went from being a thriving people, to being assimilated, almost to the point of ethnocide, (Kottak) and finally forced to live in a small area that was once a part of their vast ancestral land. The Yurok people have strived up until the present to keep their culture alive. In this essay I will be discussing what the Yurok tribe is like today, what problems they face politically and socially, and what the tribe is doing to combat these issues.
In the past, the Yurok did not have an active political system or form of social control. (Kottak) There was no one man to lead the tribe; they did not practice chiefdom. Nevertheless, the Yurok simply had a set of principles to which the tribe would adhere to. An example of one of these principle is, if a tribal member were to commit an act of violence toward another member of the tribe, the person who committed the act would have to pay full compensation, depending on the severity of the act. Today the Yurok are governed by a tribal council. The tribal …show more content…

Poverty is currently one of the biggest concerns for the Yurok tribe. Klamath is a rural area, because of this there are not very many places to dispose of trash. The reservation is covered with old cars and run down homes. Without funds to remove junk, the Yurok reservation continues to remain in a tawdry state. The Tribe has, in the past, partnered with the state of California to try to clean up illegal dump sites around the Yurok reservation. Methamphetamine abuse has also become a big problem on the reservation. The Yurok tribe has been trying to combat these issues for

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