Karuk, the upriver people, we are from the center of the world. My people are located in the inland mountains of northern California. Mountainous and heavily wooded, it is the home of deer, bear, mountain lions, Chinook salmon, steelhead and more. The area is full of sacred sites and traditional ceremonies take place to this day.
My great-great grandmother, Polly Conrad, was born and raised in the Wiyot tradition before the mass arrival of the white man in 1849. As a young girl she was a witness to and survivor of the massacre of the Wiyot people at Indian Island (now called Gunther Island) by white vigilantes. Not long after she was "kidnapped," by a white man along with her younger sister. Her sister was left in Hoopa, whereas Polly and the white man, Charlie Conrad, proceeded up the Klamath River to Karuk country. Polly and Charlie Conrad had three children, Hester, Jerome, and Elizabeth.
After Conrad's death she married a Karuk man, Reynolds Creek Steve. Jerome, my great grandfather married Cheniif Pepper and their surviving children were Willis, Rose, Ernest, Elizabeth (my grandmother), Eddie, and Jackson. My grandmother, Elizabeth Conrad Johnson had twelve children, Audrey Johnson, Gifford Johnson, Margie Johnson, Merlin Tripp, Billy Tripp, Betty Tripp, Gifford Tripp (my mother, who died of cancer 18 Oct 97), Conrad Showers, Boyd Showers, and 2 died at child birth. My Uncle Merlin is her only surving child to date.
As I am proud of my mother for her strength I am also proud of my heritage and dedicate this page to the people who were here when time began.
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