Yesterday marked an historic moment on the Klamath River. Water released from the fish-blocking Iron Gate Dam brought hope to Tribal members awaiting this moment for decades.
The following is a poem published by Annelia Hillman, an Indigenous leader and Yurok Tribal member present at the water release:
There’s something in the song
-Annelia Hillman
of water flowing free
It’s like the sound you hear before you birth
Life emerging from the earth
It’s like a heavy song
The way we start to heal
It’s like our ancestors crying out “aiy ye kwee”
Greeting our descendants
In a world we do not see
This moment was only possible because of the incredible, Indigenous led, grassroots campaign that overcame multinational corporations and government opposition with strategic and relentless pressure after the infamous fish kill in 2002, when 60,000 Klamath salmon were found dead along the lower sections of the river.
Read more about the multi-pronged, Tribal-led campaign that led to this historic day check out this thorough Al Jazeera article. More information about the dam removal process can be found at KlamathRenewal.org.
