Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, in 1988, denied the Yurok, Tolowa, and Karok tribes their rights to religious freedom under the first amendment by ruling in favor of the United States Forest Service.
The Pomo, Kashaya, Tolowa and Yurok of Northern California boiled the leaves of Western Labrador Tea similarly, to make a medicinal tisane.
The tribes of Northern California (which include the Klamath, the Modoc and the Yurok) had a traditional bridal dress woven in symbolic colors: white for the east, blue for the south, yellow (orange) for the west; and black for the north.
Bright was also known for his research on the native American languages Nahuatl, Kaqchikel, Luiseño, Ute, Wishram, and Yurok, and the South Asian languages Lushai, Kannada, Tamil, and Tulu.