Injustices against our people

My name is Greg Masten.

I am Yurok, Hupa and Karuk—All people of the river.  I stand before  

you as a descendant of a people that have lived on this land for  

thousands upon thousands of years, generation after generation.  I am  

here to say what my ancestors were not allowed to say, because the  

government at that time would not listen to them.  The issue of the  

Klamath Dams, is not a new problem.  For my people this is a century  

old problem that demonstrates the values, ethics and priorities of  

this country.  The message has always been, “Do what is in the best  

interest of the United States government and its majority population  

at the expense of the Native people.”  All that you enjoy and cherish  

today is at our expense.  This issue is an example of the Federal  

Government trying to preserve one American heritage while sacrificing  

another.  The pre-American heritage of the American Indian people has  

historically been at the shallow end of the stream. In spite of the  

fact that Supreme court case after court case, Executive order,  

treaties, trust obligations and the United States Constitution are  

supposed to guarantee the American Indian people such rights. The  

Federal Government still chooses to set priorities and policies that  

preserve their way of life, and ignore the American Indian people’s  

way of life.

The history of my people is riddled with injustices beyond  

comprehension. From theft of land, to raping, pillaging, and outright  

genocidal acts.  It was all done, yeah rather, glorified for the  

expansion of the great United States.  In the early 1900’s when the  

Klamath Dam project was approved, it was done so with no regard for  

the impacts that it would have on my people.  We had no voting  

rights.  We were not even considered citizens of the United States.   

We were thought to be an uneducated savage race, not even real  

people. The impacts of the Klamath Dam project on my people were  

catastrophic.  The fish were their main source of food, essential to  

their diet and way of life.  The Government in essence condoned the  

extinction of our main source of food.  They did a similar thing to  

the plains Indians when they killed off all of their buffalo.  They  

killed off the buffalo for one sole purpose, to starve out a people.   

For the Native people of our region, the creation of the Dams was  

nothing short of the same despicable act.

(Now, some may have the audacity to say or even think, I am playing  

the Indian card, for you I say, shame on you! What kind of sick,  

inhumane mind thinks that way.  How hypocritical is it when someone  

says, “we must remember the genocidal acts committed against the  

Jewish people in WWII”, but when it comes to Native Americans, we are  

told, “we must get over it”.  We just celebrated Veterans Day to  

“remember” those that paid the price for our way of life.  Why is it  

that, we can disregard the Native Americans that paid the same price,  

if not greater, because not only were their lives sacrificed, but  

their lineage, language, culture, and way of life were all sacrificed  

and forever changed.  Some say, “that was a long time ago”…let me  

remind you that it was only a little over 100 years ago that the  

United States government reimbursed the state of California almost 1  

million dollars for the scalps and heads of Indian people.)

Now, in the case of the salmon, they were more than just a mere  

source of food for our people.  It was part of our heritage.  There  

was a delicate balance kept between our people, the fish, the river  

and the creator of all of it.  We respected the preservation of all  

that was given to us, and we did not take more than we needed.  The  

environment did just fine, when we were in control.  When the U.S.  

government took over, the Klamath project accounted for the  

destruction of nearly 80 percent of the Klamath Basin wetlands  

accounting for the loss of 280,000 acres of ecosystem.  The countless  

species that were killed and the disrupted migratory routes of ducks  

and geese were simply casualties of progress.  Salmon spawning routes  

above the dams were completely wiped out and millions of salmon were  

compromised.  The salmon runs are a mere fraction of the pre-Klamath  

Project runs that once were in such abundance. The salmon runs that  

once filled the rivers and streams, now only exist in stories our  

elders tell us.   The Fish Kill of 2002 was the culmination of the  

severe impacts that the dams created.  The air wreaked not only of  

the thousands upon thousands of dead salmon, but it also wreaked of  

injustice.  And most recently, the waters themselves have become  

polluted with algae to the degree that we cannot even go near the  

water during peak pollution levels.  To deny us the river, is like  

denying the bird to fly, or the fish to swim. I must say again, these  

dams have compromised not only a species but our people and way of 

life.

The Native people had a philosophy, that they would consider their  

actions for seven generations. They did not act out of greed or at  

the expense of their children and their children’s children.  They  

proved to be good stewards of the land.  Perhaps if America followed  

the philosophies of the Native American people, we wouldn’t have the  

same problems that exist today.  Perhaps the Native people weren’t as  

savage and uneducated as they were thought to be.

Some of our youth asked me why were the dams allowed? It is hard to  

answer them, because the answer is a simple cold truth. The dams were  

deemed necessary to provide jobs and a stable source of water for the  

local farming community and to eventually produce electrical power  

for “America”.  In other words, we were sacrificed for “America”.  It  

was always our people that had to sacrifice our ancestral lands for  

“America”.  It was our people that had to give up our fishing and  

hunting rights on our ancestral lands for “America”. It was our trees  

needed, and the minerals and oil on our lands that were needed for  

“America”.  And it was our rivers that needed to be dammed for  

“America”.

To me, these issues show the soul of this country, what it stands  

for and what it deems important.  Today they say they need the dams  

for electrical power.  Yet the power the dams generate is so  

insignificant, it pails in comparison to the damage they create.  The  

bottom line is, America is still in pursuit of life, liberty and the  

pursuit of happiness/wealth and will sacrifice anyone that has the  

resources to attain it.  They try to sugar coat their proposal with  

other “options”, transferring the fish in trucks, fish ladders, but  

it is clear to everyone, there is only one real choice—take the dams  

down!

As you have heard, there are many wounds that still need to heal.  

With this decision, you can either help heal the wounds, or add more  

salt onto them. Some of the original treaties that were made with our  

people in California were not ratified and simply cast aside, and  

sealed by Congress for 50 years.  It created another 50 years of  

complete disregard for the rights of our people. If you decide to  

keep the dams in place you will be guilty of 50 more years of  

disregard and neglect. My people have fought against the United  

States, and they have fought for the United States. (More Native  

people have died protecting this country then any other race.)  The  

Native people of this country have given so much for the “America”  

that we know today.  Many of them not even knowing why they were  

disregarded and treated so inhumanely.  I stand here knowing my  

ancestors can hear you, and I want to ask you;  Do you support the  

horrific acts and the injustices committed by the United States  

government against the Native people?  And will you further support  

more injustices against our people by allowing these dams to stand?