June 15, 2006
The Yurok Tribe
The Yurok people have a distinction not many can claim. Frequently someone will find huge Roosevelt elk in front of their homes!
My travels have been taking me all around Indian Country this year. Today was along the Klamath River in California and the home of the home of the Yurok. If anyone had asked, I suppose I could have told them, "Rekw-woy kee nue hey-gok" ( I'm going to Requa.) The hisoric Requa hotel is visible right off Highway 101 and offers a spectacular hillside view of the mouth of the Klamath River. On closer inspection I found no invitation built into into this inviting-looking place -- there were stairs in front and no apparent ramp or appropriate parking. Exclusion by design is a life limiting reality. Disabetes, and thus wheelchair use or amputation, has as a high incidence in Indian Country. Even to capture local tourism and dining customers, or to provide employment opportunities the travel & hospitality industry needs inclusion.
The flow of tourists stopping off to watch nature was constant. Clicking away to my right as I shot the placid elk herd above were three German college students. This little corner of the world, tucked away in northern California north of Orick, is only as inaccessible as bad design makes it.
Foregoing the commercial attractions I focused on the surroundings. The foxglove (digitalis) up the road at Big Lagoon was in bloom as were the Lilium columbianum further south in Del Norte county. Spring is late in this part of the world this year but still quite beautiful.
