Important First Foods
First foods describes traditional food that have been quintessential in sustaining particular communities for generations. For the Klamath Tribes, examples of these foods may include wokas (yellow pond lily seeds), black huckleberries, epos (yampah roots), and pine/juniper seeds. These foods are all are embedded in the tribes' cultural identities, such as their connections to the natural world. Tribes aim to honor these foods through ceremonies that celebrate the foods' return, express gratitude for their nourishment, and renew the people's reciprocal obligations to care for the ecosystems that provide them.
Historically, these first foods played a central role in agricultural behavior and practices. Though colonial processes have disrupted some of these processes, many groups will still gather and celebrate these foods to recognize their important role in their cultural history. Today, there are ongoing efforts to at least include these practices in a modern context. This serves to acknowledge their importance to the health, identity, and resilience of the tribes.
Black Huckleberries
Huckleberry Mountain, or Iwamkani, was historically a major gathering area where Klamath, Modoc and other tribes converged in late summer to gather berries. They managed the huckleberry patches through burning, usufruct rights, and first huckleberry ceremonies. Though disrupted, the practice of gathering at Iwamkani continues among some tribal members today, and the mountain remains a highly significant cultural site. Efforts are underway to sustain huckleberry gathering traditions and pass them on to younger generations as part of cultural revitalization initiatives.
Wokas Seeds
​​Historically, wokas seeds were a staple second only to fish for the Klamath. They would relocate to seasonal villages near prime lily gathering areas in late summer to harvest the seeds, managing the marsh-edge environments through burning, weeding, reseeding ceremonies, and randomized harvests. While access to traditional gathering sites has been restricted, some Klamath families continue to harvest wokas when possible. There are also contemporary efforts to restore access to wokas gathering areas and incorporate the nutritious seeds into modern diets and cultural practices.
Epos Roots
Epos roots, or Yampah Roots, were traditionally dug by women in the spring, returning to particular family-owned patches. They cultivated epos through selective harvesting, replanting, scattering seeds, and first epos ceremonies. Some Klamath families continue to dig epos today, and the First Root ceremony is still conducted in the spring. There are initiatives to promote the continued traditional harvest of epos and other root vegetables as part of a culturally meaningful, healthy diet.
Pine and Juniper Trees
The Klamath and Modoc traditionally harvested pine/juniper cambium and sap in a selective, sustainable manner reflecting their understanding of reciprocal obligations to these tree species. The cultural values of respectful harvest and reciprocity with nature that it represents are still emphasized by tribal members in contemporary natural resource management and cultural education efforts.