Karuk

The name káruk, also spelled "Karok," means "upriver", or "upstream", whereas the word yúruk means "downriver". Thus, the term káruk vaʼáraaras refers to Karuk people, literally meaning "upriver people", whereas the exonym of the Yurok people in English is derived from Karuk language term yúrukvâaras, meaning "downriver people".

Historically, káruk vaʼáraaras referred to any people from upriver of a reference point or person speaking. Traditionally, Karuk people referred to themselves as ithivthanéenʼaachip vaʼáraaras, meaning "middle of the world people".

Karuk people are called Chum-ne in the neighboring Tolowa language.

The Karuk people speak the Karuk language, a language isolate sometimes grouped into the proposed family of Hokan languages. The tribe has an active language revitalization program.

Estimates for the population sizes of most Native groups before European arrival in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber proposed a population for the Karuk of 1,500 in 1770. Sherburne F. Cook initially estimated it as 2,000, later raising this figure to 2,700. In 1910, Kroeber reported the surviving population of the Karuk as 800.

According to the 2010 census, there were 6,115 Karuk individuals.

Traditional Karuk territory followed the middle Klamath River from Bluff Creek upstream to at least Happy Camp and included the lower Salmon River. Before non-Indigenous settlement, approximately 30 Karuk villages were concentrated in three areas: around Clear Creek, at Katimîin near the mouth of the Salmon River, and around Panaminik, where Orleans was later established.

Gold miners entered Karuk territory in 1850, occupying river bars and damaging salmon spawning grounds and paths used in Karuk ceremonies. Tensions culminated in the Red Cap War of 1855. After miners threatened to kill any Karuk found carrying a weapon, a group led by Red Cap (Mik-ku-ree) refused to disarm. When two militia companies moved against the group at the Karuk ceremonial site of Tishawnik, Karuk fighters ambushed them and forced their retreat. Red Cap later surrendered after U.S. Army captain Henry M. Judah offered peace, but Red Cap and four companions were taken to the Klamath River Reservation and hanged. Most Karuk people refused to relocate to the reservation; those returning from mountain refuges found villages burned and village sites occupied by settlers.

In November 1978, three Karuk groups based in Orleans, Happy Camp, and Yreka united to seek federal recognition; the Karuk Tribe received federal recognition in February 1979. After an absence of more than 80 years, the White Deerskin Dance resumed at Tishawnik around 1999. The tribe purchased the Tishawnik ceremonial grounds in 2015, and the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Since time immemorial, the Karuk resided in villages along the Klamath River, where they continue such cultural traditions as hunting, gathering, fishing, basketmaking and ceremonial dances. The Karuk were one among several California tribes to sow and harvest tobacco plants. The Brush Dance, Jump Dance and Pikyavish ceremonies last for several days and are practiced to heal and "fix the world," to pray for plentiful acorns, deer and salmon, and to restore social goodwill as well as individual good luck.

The Karuk developed sophisticated usage of plants and animals for their subsistence. These practices not only consisted of food harvesting from nature, but also the use of plant and animal materials as tools, clothing and pharmaceuticals. The Karuk cultivated a form of tobacco, and used fronds of the Coastal woodfern as anti-microbial agents in the process of preparing eels for food consumption.

Karuk basket weaver and storyteller Nettie Ruben was known for both the quality and the innovation of her work. She gathered materials including hazel, willow, bear grass, maidenhair fern, pine and wild-grape roots, and porcupine quills; demand for her baskets was so great that buyers came to her directly.

• Andrew Chambers. 2008. Pikyáv (to fix it). Documentary film produced for the Truly California series. KQED Public Television and C. Buried Star Productions.

• Rob Cabitto, author of a memoir about his struggles with identity and addiction.
• Naomi Lang, figure skater; five time US Champion in ice dancing from 1999 to 2003. As a member of the 2002 US Olympic figure skating team, she was the first Native American woman to compete in the Winter Olympics. Her great-great-grandmother, Bessie Tripp, was a full blooded Karuk from Orleans/Salmon River.
• Buck Martinez, former professional baseball player and current play-by-play broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Anthony Earl Numkena (Hopi/Karuk) (born 1942), actor, appeared in a number of films and television shows in the 1950s including being credited in Pony Soldier (1952) at the age of nine. His grandmother, Caroline Besoain, née Harrie, was three-quarters Karuk born in Somes Bar, California in 1899 and settled in Quartz Valley, California.
• Jetty Rae, musician whose grandmother, Jetty Rae Thom, was a full-blooded Karuk.
• Cutcha Risling Baldy, associate professor Cal Poly Humboldt
• Fox Anthony Spears, artist and printmaker who uses geometric designs inspired by Karuk basketry patterns. Commissioned to design warmup jersey patches for Seattle Kraken's Indigenous Peoples Night game in 2021.
• Brian D. Tripp (1945-2022) was a Native American artist and cultural advocate known for his work across murals, poetry, performance, and mixed-media, which reflected and promoted Karuk traditions. In 2000, Tripp, along with fellow artist Alme Allen, created the mural The Sun Set Twice on the People That Day in Eureka, California, which features Karuk cultural symbols. In recognition of his decades-long contributions to visual art, ceremonial performance, and the preservation of Karuk cultural practices, Tripp received the California Living Heritage Award from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts in 2018.