A new tour aimed at educating people about tribal culture on the Klamath River is set to open next spring. The Yurok tribe hopes to stimulate the local economy and bring jobs to the tribe.
The Yurok Redwood Canoe Adventure Tour will take tourists down the Klamath River in traditional redwood canoes. A guide will teach them about the culture of the Yurok tribe, the language and the ecosystem of the river. Joseph James is the Tribal Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.
"We’re crossing over and sharing our culture, our heritage, our way of life, who we are as Yurok people," he says. "And at the same time we’re gonna provide jobs, we’re gonna make an economic living on it and we’re also gonna stimulate the local economy of how this is gonna draw people here."
James says the tour will provide opportunities for tribal members to start their own businesses like selling gifts or starting their own tours in other waterways nearby. The tribe plans to start the tours in Early May next year and run seasonally through October.
