Trace Metal Analysis of Karuk Traditional Foods in the Klamath River

Abstract

<p align="justify"> <span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">This study evaluates the presence of trace metals in Klamath Riverwater and three important Karuk traditional foods: freshwater mussels (</span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Gonidea angulata</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">),</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> Chinook Salmon</span></a><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> (</span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Oncorhynchus tshawytscha</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) and Rainbow Trout (</span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">On</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">corhynchus mykiss</span></i><span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">). Samples of these traditional foods together with water samples were collected from the Klamath </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">River and measured for the total chromium (Chromium), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), and lead (Pb)</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> by inductively coupled plasma</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We found that cultural-use species in the Klamath and its tributaries are accumulating higher levels of lead, cadmium and tin downstream of a known Superfund site. Neither water, fish, nor mussel samples exceeded maximum intake levels of metal doses mandated by state or federal agencies for consumption intakes of1.4 Lper day of water,0.5 kgper meal per day for fish, and0.043 kgper meal for 30 meals per year</span>^{<span style="font-family:Verdana;">1</span>}<span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span> </p

Extinction Risk of Western North American Freshwater Mussels: Anodonta Nuttalliana, the Anodonta Oregonensis/Kennerlyi Clade, Gonidea Angulata, and Margaritifera Falcata

“…Other native species, such as larval Pacific Lamprey, are also known to benefit from mussel presence (Limm and Power 2011). Freshwater mussels also have significant cultural importance to many Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest as a traditional food resource (Lyman 1984;Norgaard et al 2013;CTUIR 2015).…”

“…Other researchers have examined how habitat alteration, including sedimentation and burial from changes in land use or in-stream mining, can affect western species (Vannote and Minshall 1982;Krueger et al 2007). Bioaccumulation of contaminants (Claeys et al 1975;Norgaard et al 2013) and potential consequences of nonnative invasive species introductions (Sada and Vinyard 2002;COSEWIC 2010) have also received some attention.…”

“…Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) are a diverse, important component of freshwater ecosystems in North America and globally, and only recently has their ecological importance been well documented (Vaughn and Hakenkamp 2001;Howard and Cuffey 2006;Vaughn et al 2008;Haag 2012;Lopes-Lima et al 2014;Vaughn 2017). Their cultural importance in North America dates back more than 10,000 yr *Corresponding Author: emilie.blevins@xerces.org (reviewed in Haag 2012), including in the Pacific Northwest (Osborne 1951;Lyman 1984), where they remain culturally significant today (Brim Box et al 2006;Norgaard et al 2013;CTUIR 2015). Despite their ecological and cultural significance, freshwater mussels are among the most imperiled faunal groups worldwide (Bogan 1993;Williams et al 1993;Lydeard et al 2004).…”

Stories as data: Indigenous research sovereignty and the “Intentional Fire” podcast

“…A 2014 report by the Karuk Tribe explains why scientists and natural resource managers must take time to understand Karuk Culture: "knowledge is generated through an ongoing process that involves not only observations and actions over time, but moral and spiritual components as well as 'social license' of knowledge practitioners" (Norgaard, 2014: 3). Karuk knowledge on fire, for example, cannot be separated from Karuk culture and so cannot be extracted and appropriated in other contexts or by other actors (Norgaard, 2014).…”