Klamath River salmon populations are dwindling, so Yurok mothers are working to restore the river and reclaim Indigenous food sovereignty
Keeping salmon in her children’s diet is “an entire job”, says Georgiana Gensaw, a Yurok Tribe member and mother of four in Klamath Glen, California, a community whose only easily accessible food store is a fried chicken shop attached to a gas station a few miles away.
The nearest grocery store, Safeway in Crescent City, lies 24 miles away along a stretch of road frequently plagued by landslides and toppled redwoods – last summer it was closed for 20 hours a day after a washout – making queues to get through the roadworks up to five hours long.