Changes after European Contact.

A major change after European contact was, when the federal government established the Yurok reservation in 1855 and the Yurok people were confined to the area. The area was considerable smaller than the Yurok original ancestral area. It put hardship on the Yurok families who traditionally lived in villages along the Klamath River and pacific coastline. Families were relocated and forced to learn farming and English language. Therefore, the use of the Yurok language dramatically decreased when Non-Indians settled in Yurok territory. By the early 1900’s the Yurok language was near extinction. It took 70 years for Yuroks to recover the language. yuroktribe.org