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Article: Klamath-Modoc
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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KLAMATH-MODOC
KLAMATH-MODOC.
The ancestral lands of the Klamaths and Modocs span southern Oregon, northeastern California, and parts of northern Nevada. Prior to 1820, approximately 2,000 Klamaths and 1,000 Modocs lived in this area. Their numbers decreased dramatically after contact with non-Indians. Scholars claim that these tribes were once the same and that the Modocs split from the Klamaths and moved south after 1780. The tribes' origin stories give a different account, suggesting divergent points of origins, social structures, and environment. The two tribes belong to the same language group, Lutuami, but speak different dialects. The designation "Maklak" or "Moadoc" translates ...