‘Life was beautiful. Free.'

August 18, 2007

By Nicholas Grube

Triplicate staff writer

It took many tries, but this year, finally, Minnie Spott Macomber decided to accept the role as Grand Marshal of the Klamath Salmon Festival.

The 99-year-old Yurok woman was nominated by the community numerous times in the past, always turning down the honor until now. But even this year she took the title begrudgingly.

"I turned it down. But my family talked me into it," Minnie said from her home in Crescent City .

Auntie Minnie, as she's called by her family, was born in 1908 and raised in Requa in the traditional Yurok way of life.

"Life was beautiful. Free." she said while reminiscing on how she would walk through the hills as a little girl, picking berries.

Today, Minnie is an important resource for the Yurok Tribe, imparting traditions, values and the Yurok language on younger generations.

"Auntie taught us many things that many people don't do anymore," Mary Jackson said of her Auntie Minnie, relating how Minnie always takes a cold shower after a hot bath in order to close up the pores in her skin and prevent germs from coming in.

But one of the most influential lessons Minnie can teach young Yuroks—at least those younger than her—is one of humility and respect, Jackson said.

"She always told us that, ‘I'm no better than anyone else and I am no less than anyone else. We are all the same and we all have the same chances in life.'"

Minnie will open the entire Salmon Festival this year. She will be featured, along with Yurok veterans, during the parade that kicks off the event.

"The whole festival captures the Yurok culture," said Jim McQuillen, education director for the Yurok Tribe.

Traditional dances, crafts and food will be featured at the event, he said, in addition to the annual Stick Games, which combines wrestling and field hockey and sometimes attracts members of the Hoopa and Tolowa tribes.

But the Salmon Festival didn't always focus on the Yurok Tribe, McQuillen said.

"Years back it was run by the Klamath Chamber of Commerce and the tribe assumed responsibility," he said. "It makes sense for the Yurok Tribe to have it since salmon is everything to the Yurok Tribe. It's our life's food, and since the beginning of time we've been fishing salmon."

And the salmon is one of the biggest draws of the festival, according to the event's coordinator Macy Donahue.

"I think that a lot of the people really come to enjoy the salmon dinner," Donahue said. "And I think the company of the people is great."

Last year, she said over 1,100 salmon dinners were sold at the festival and that she expects even more to sell this year.

The festival, she said, will be similar to previous years' but there will be two new additions.

"What we also have this year is the first annual preparedness fair to help people have knowledge about what to do during natural disasters," said Donahue, who works for the Yurok Tribal Police as a dispatcher and administrative assistant. She said there will be information for people to learn about tsunamis, water safety and first aid.

There will also be a silent auction of American Indian art, including items donated by tribal youth, drawings, paintings, pictures and beadwork. It will be hosted by the Education Advisory Committee for the tribe and proceeds will go toward creating scholarships for Yurok students.

"It's just a good experience for people to come and see," Donahue said of the entire Salmon Festival. "This is a good thing for the Yurok Tribe with all of the water issues and fish issues that going on outside of the celebration. It's good that we can get together in a good way."

But perhaps Minnie sums up best why the Salmon Festival is an important event in Yurok life today as she remembers the focal point of the celebration—salmon.

"The salmon at the mouth of the river was life."

Reach Nicholas Grube at ngrube@triplicate.com.