Yurok Tribal Ordinance: rights of the Klamath River 2024

Summary

On November 7, 2024, the Yurok Tribe passed a Tribal Ordinance that enshrined the Rights of the Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy (Klamath River) in the Tribal Code. The Ordinance follows the Tribe’s passage of an earlier Rights of the Klamath River Resolution in 2019. The purpose of the Ordinance is “to exercise the inherent sovereignty of the Yurok Tribe to protect the health and well-being of the Yurok people and of Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy, including the associated ecosystems and native species within, connected to, and/or dependent on the Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy.” The scope of the legislation applies “to all persons, to all public and private entities, and to all governments who engage in activities which violate, or are likely to violate, the right or prohibitions of this chapter, regardless of whether those activities occur within, or beyond, the Yurok Reservation and its traditional territories.”

Legal Provisions
The rights outlined in the Ordinance (Article II) include the following:
• Natural rights: “Right to Naturally Exist. The Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy has the right to exist in its actual present, undisturbed, and natural form and to perform the functions of a natural, healthy river, within healthy ecosystems.”
• Cultural rights: “Rights as a Cultural Riverscape. The Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy has the rights as a cultural riverscape to be protected as a cultural resource, cultural property, historic property, and a beneficial resource under the Yurok Cultural Resources Protection Ordinance (Chapter 14.10 YTC), United States National Historic Preservation Act, United States National Environmental Policy Act, United States Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, California Environmental Quality Act, and all Tribal, state, federal, and international laws.”
• Restoration rights: “Right to Be Restored from Identifiable Human Caused Damage. The Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy has the right to restore itself or be actively restored through human action from identifiable human-caused damage and harm and be actively repaired to the state before the damage and harm.”
• Standing rights and right not to be sued: “Right to Be Represented by the Yurok Tribe. The Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy has the right to be represented by the Yurok Tribe in legal and other advocacy proceedings.”

The Ordinance also establishes the Heyhl-keek ‘We-roy Trust, with the Yurok Tribe serving as a trustee of the river’s monetary property rights and the legal obligation to administer the monetary property solely for the purposes to ensure these rights are exercised and protected to the fullest extent possible.

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