Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)

By Marlene Mathewson, Matthias Phleps and Julius Wolf

Crater Lake portrays the contrast between a romantic image of The United States’ untouched nature and the indigenous people’s perception of a sacred rural area. As one of the most popular and picturesque touristic sites in the US it attracts around 300.000 visitors each year.

The lake, which was formed by the implosion of the volcano Mount Mazama nearly 8000 years ago, is located in Southern Oregon. It is one of the deepest lakes in the US, going as deep as 1,943 feet (592 meters), resulting out of the collapse of a huge gas bubble close to the surface. It has no natural feeding rivers, but consists only of rain water and melting snow, which replenishes the water every 250 years. This also prevents the lake from drying out from evaporation. The lake is famous for its water which has an intense and deep blue color. The color appears so rich, because the water is almost 100% pure, making it the purest in North America.  Today the National Park is equipped with state of the art tourist activities. The Klamath Tribes who run the National Park offer boat rides, helicopter tours and guided hiking trips to explore the environment around the lake. To conserve the purity of the water, boats are only allowed on the lake if they have a closed gasoline circulation, to prevent motor oil from spoiling the water. The tribe employs a number of rangers to keep the park safe and clean. The rangers also guide and inform the tourists. Before its discovery, the lake was unpopulated by animals. In the late 19th century it was artificially stocked and has a self-sustaining fish population ever since.

However there is more to Crater Lake than it being a beautiful natural site. The Klamath Tribe, the native inhabitants of the area, considers the Lake a sacred location. According to their legend Mount Mazama was destroyed in a battle between Skell, the god of the sky, and the underworld god Llao. After Skell defeated Llao, he threw him into the portal to the underworld, collapsed the mountain on top of it and sealed it with water. Other accounts claim that Llao is still alive and merely trapped under the mountain and the water. Wizard Island, one of the two small islands in the lake, is supposed to be the remains of the fallen god Llao’s limbs. Therefore the lake is cursed by their version of the devil. Whichever version one prefers Crater Lake is sacred and special place to them. They can’t touch the water itself, though the Klamath used the area around the lake for vision quests and tests of courage, such as climbing the cliffs surrounding the crater.

Only in 1853 the first European “discovered” the lake. Until then, it was kept secret by the Klamath for over 7.000 years. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century the tribe signed a treaty which allowed the new settlers to start a lumber industry in the area. This resulted in an economic boost which made the tribe relatively wealthy. Contradictory to the wishes of their ancestors the modern Klamath people did not only transform their sacred lake first into an area of large economic importance but also into a tourist magnet later on. The lake remains the main attraction but they also lure tourists in by promoting the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, which is located close to the National Park. The capitalist and money-making use of the area by the native inhabitants strongly contradicts the Klamath people’s traditional perception of the lake and nature around it.

Crater Lake is the perfect example for the contrast between reality – a touristic area with native roots - and the romanticized vision of it – a landscape untouched where you can still experience nature in its original and wild form.

Link:
http://www.klamathtribes.org/facts.html