Tuesday February 18, 2025
Herald and News —
The summer sun was sinking in the sky and casting a warm glow over the marsh as Klamath tribal member Garin Riddle and his family paddled their kayaks through the browning patches of wocus plants floating in the water near Southern Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake.
“I see one!” 9-year-old Knala Riddle cried out. She plunged her hand under the surface of the water and pulled out a green bulb about the size of a plum.
“Dad, is this good?” she asked, holding it up for him to see.
“That’s decent size,” he said, pulling a bulb of his own from a thicket of plants underwater.
In August of 2023, the Riddle family invited “Oregon Field Guide” to film their annual wocus harvest in one of the few remaining wetlands where they can still safely gather this first food, along the Rocky Point canoe trail.