Description
Yurok, North American Indians who lived in what is now California along the lower Klamath River and the Pacific coast. According to U.S. Census data, there are approximately 34,000 Yupik people currently living in Alaska, with much smaller numbers, probably fewer than 2,000, living in Russia. The Yupik tribe is one of several indigenous groups living in Alaska, many of whom have shared ethnic roots.
Language
Macro-Algonquian
Culture
Yurok villages were small collections of independent houses owned by individual families. Other rights, such as the right to use specific areas for fishing, hunting, and gathering, generally belonged to particular houses. The traditional Yurok economy focused on salmon and acorns. The people also produced excellent basketry and made canoes from redwood trees, selling them to inland tribes. Wealth was counted in strings of dentalium shells, obsidian blades, woodpecker scalps, and albino deerskins.