ALGONQUIAN-WAKASHAN
Wiyot
Aboriginal Location: area surrounding Humboldt Bay
Language: Wiyot
Shelter: rectangular structures, made of cedar posts and poles and split
cedar planks, and truncated roof
Note: The last native speaker died in 1962. Surviving members are trying
to buy back Indian Island, once the cultural/spiritual center.
Website: www.wiyot.com
Yurok
Aboriginal Location: along the Pacific northwestern coast, and the lower
Klamath River areas
Language: Algonquin
Shelter: redwood plank structures with gabled roof
Food: salmon, acorn, fish, shellfish, sea lion, elk, deer, small game,
seeds
Note: Their name comes from the Karuk word yúruk, which means "down
river". Their closest neighbors were the Karuk and Tolowa, with whom
they shared many customs. Tribe members spoke all three languages and
visited each other frequently.
ATHAPASKAN
Hupa/Hoopa
Aboriginal Location: along the Trinity River in northwestern California
Language: Athapascan
Shelter: cedar houses built over a square earth pit
Food: salmon, trout, sturgeon, nuts, berries
Cahto (aka. Kato)
Aboriginal Location: along the upper south fork of the Eel River in northwestern
California
Language: Wailakian
Shelter: four-posted square framework inside a 2-foot deep, circular pit
Tolowa
Aboriginal Location: Smith River and Elk Valley Rancherias in Del Norte
County
Language: Tolawan (fewer than five speakers left)
Shelter: redwood plank structures, semi-subterranean, flat beachstone
or wood floors, smokehole in the center of a peaked roof
Food: seals, sea litons, smelt, perch, cod, shellfish, salmon, eel, acorn,
(deer and elk to a lesser degree)
Trade: smelt and tooth shells to the Karuk for soaproot and pine nut beads;
basketry to the Rogue River Athapaskans; redwood dugouts from the Yurok
HOKAN-SIOUAN
Achomawi/Achumawi
Aboriginal Location: northeastern California
Language: Palaihnihan
Shelter: in the summer, cone-shaped structures covered with tule in the
summer; in the winter, wood-frame, semi-subterranean houses covered with
grass, tule, bark, and dirt
Food: fish, waterfowl, eggs, tule sprouts, game, berries
Note: They are members of the Pit River Nation.
Chumash
Aboriginal Location: area along the coast between Paso Robles and Malibu, and the
Northern Channel Islands
Language: Hokan
Shelter: large, circular, domed houses separating multiple family
areas; a fire-pit stood in the center and a hole was left on the top of
the dome for air circulation
Food: acorn, pine nuts, cherries, seeds, berries, deer, small game, fish,
waterfowl
Website: Chumash
Life, from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Karuk
Aboriginal Location: area along the Klamath River in northwestern California,
from Happy Camp in Siskiyou County to Redcap Creek in Humboldt County
Language: Hokan
Shelter: rectangular structures, made of cedar posts and poles and split
cedar planks
Food: salmon, deer, acorns, bear, elk, small gamel
Note: Karuk is native for "up-stream".
Kumeyaay/Kumei/Cumeyaay (aka. Diegueño, Tipai-Ipai)
Aboriginal Location: San Diego and Imperial Counties, to 60 miles south
of the Mexican border
Language: Yuman branch of Hokan, divided by Ipai (northern dialect) and
Tipai (southern dialect)
Shelter: Willow frames set into the ground were curved to the center,
then overlaid by brush, tulles, or tree branches.
Food: acorn, yucca, fish, shellfish, watercress, nettle, celery, lettuce,
small game
Website: www.kumeyaay.com
Mojave
Aboriginal Location: 200 mile area along the Colorado River from Hoover
Dam to Blythe, and the region west of the river
Language: Yuman
Shelter: four-posted structures built over a circular excavation, thatched
with brush and covered with mud
Note: They were once desert farmers dependent on the flood patterns of
the Colorado River; they hunted, fished, and trapped.
Pomo
Aboriginal Location: Russian River Valley of northern California
Language: Pomoan
Shelter: cone-shaped structures covered with tule or bark
Food: acorn, fish, deer, elk, waterfowl, roots, berries, small game
Website: The
Elem Indian Tribe of the Southeastern Pomo
Quechan
Aboriginal Location: Extends from both sides of the Colorado River, north of Yuma.
According to tribal legend, they descended from the heights of Avikwame
Mountain (Newberry Peak, near Needles, California).
Language: Yuman
Shelter: dome-shaped huts made of brush with an extended ramada to provide
shade and food storage
Food: salmon, bass, deer, rabbit, birds, bean pods, wheat, beans, corn,
squash, and a variety of melons cultivated according to the Colorado River's
flood pattern
Washo
Aboriginal Location: area encompassing Lake Tahoe, from Honey Lake to
Mono Lake
Language: Washo
Shelter: round or conical structures made of sixteen foot long willow
or pine poles tied together in the center, covered with cedar bark, pine
boughs, or manzanita; a second layer of brush and tree branches were added
during the winter
Food: acorn, buckberry, gooseberry, sunflower seeds, currants, wild onions,
rhubarb, turnips, trout, abalone, deer, grouse, quail, mountain sheep,
rabbit
Yuman
(see Kumeyaay and Quechan)
PENUTIAN
Costanoan/Ohlone
Aboriginal Location: area along the California central coast
Language: Penutian
Shelter: domed structures thatched with tule, grass, and fern
Food: acorn, seeds, nuts, berries, grapes, honey, fish, deer, bear, mountain
lion, and small game
Maidu
Aboriginal Location: Eastern drainage area of the Sacramento river near
Chico, and in large areas on the east and south side of Lassen Peak.
Language: Penutian
Shelter: unhewn timber-framed structure, cone-shaped, covered with grass,
brush, tules, and earth
Food: acorn, wild plants, fish, game
Note: They were once nomadic, hunter-gatherers.
Miwok
Aboriginal Location: parts of San Francisco Bay Area to Monterey;
there was a tribe of Ahwaneechee Miwoks who lived in the Yosemite area
for nearly 4,000 years before a fatal illness caused them to flee the
valley
Language: Penutian
Shelter: semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with pole frames, covered
with bark, brush, grass, or tule; a fire-pit stood in the center and a
hole was left on the top of the dome for air circulation
Food: acorn, pine nuts, buckeyes, berries, seeds, roots fish, deer, elk,
bear, small game, waterfowl
Wintun
Aboriginal Location: from area south of Redding to the slopes of Mt. Shasta
Language: Wintun dialect of Penutian
Shelter: in the north, semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with
a connecting timber framework, covered with bark; in the south, a central
post with radiating rafters resting on the surrounding edges of an earth
pit, covered by various material
Food: deer, small game, bear, salmon, trout, acorns, seeds, nuts, berries
Yokuts
Aboriginal Location: western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the
San Joaquin Valley foothills
Language: Penutian
Shelter: semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with a connecting pole
framework, covered with tule, tarweed, and pine needles
Food: pinenuts, manzanita berries, acorns, salmon, deer, rabbit, geese
Note: They were once a nomadic hunter/gatherer tribe which used tools
made of bedrock, spears, bows & arrows, and knives. They pierced their
ears and nose for decoration and the women often wore tattoos.
Website: Buena
Vista Museum of Natural History
RITWAN
Wappo
Aboriginal Location: bordered by The Geysers in Northern California, down
to the bay south of Napa, Geyserville on the west, and Santa Rosa on the
east
Language: Wappo
Shelter: dome-shaped structures thatched with small branches and leaves;
winter structures were made of branches and mud
Note: The culture was decimated in 1838 by a smallpox epidemic. A smaller
band of Wappo, called Lilik, were absorbed into the Pomo culture through
intermarriage.
Yuki
Aboriginal Location: Round Valley, along the South Fork of the Eel River,
and at the coast along the Ten Mile River
Language: Yukian
Shelter: conical houses of bark slabs with poles for support, and a 1-foot
excavation inside
Food: fish, deer, grasshoppers, bird eggs, worms, acorns, tubers, berries
Trade: with the Pomo, they traded furs, beads baskets and skins for tooth shells,
clam disc beads, moccasins, sea shells, shell beads, dried abalone, mussels,
seaweed, salt and magnesite beads; with the Wintun, they traded black
bear skins for salt and obsidian
Note: They were once sedentary, hunter-gatherers.
UTO-AZTECAN
Cahuilla
Aboriginal Location: the headwaters of San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita
Rivers; San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Mountain; and northwestern portion
of the Salton Sink
Language: Shoshonean
Shelter: rectangular floor structures with flat roofs made of mesquite
posts and beams, and wormwood shoots, mesquite bark, leaves, and earth
for the roof
Note: They once numbered as many as 10,000 in the 17th century.
Chemehuevi
Aboriginal Location: southeastern California on the Arizona border and
the Colorado River, from Death Valley to the Maria Mountains
Language: Paiute
Shelter: dome-shaped structures made of sapling poles joined at the center,
and thatched with brush
Food: corn, beans, pumpkin and melon; mountain sheep, deer, rabbit
Note: They were once nomadic; they fought and intermarried with their
nearest neighbors, the Mohave.
Cupeño/
Kuupangaxwichem ("people who slept here")
Aboriginal Location: southern California - 50 miles inland and 50 miles
north of the Mexican border, mountainous area at the headwaters of the
San Luis Rey River
Food: acorn, pine nuts, berries, deer, fish, small game
Language: Southern Takic, closely related to the Cahuillan language
Note: Less than nine speakers of the original language are left, and they
are all more than 50 years old.
Gabrielino/Tongva
Aboriginal Location: southern California, Los Angeles and Orange County
areas
Language: Takic
Shelter: large, multi-family structures covered with tule
Food: acorn, pine nuts, berries, deer, fish, small game
Luiseño/Juaneño
Aboriginal Location: 50 miles along the California coast from south Los
Angeles County to north San Diego County, and inland 30 miles
Language: Luiseño
Shelter: cone-shaped structures thatched with reeds, brush, or bark
Food: acorn, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, berries, deer, fish, waterfowl,
small game
Note: Also known as the Luiseño Band of Mission Indians, they can be found
today in La Jolla, Pala, Pechanga, Pauma, Rincon, Soboba, and Twentynine
Palms tribes.
Paiute
Aboriginal Location: Northern and Owens Valley Paiute lived along the
eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains from Oregon to Owens Valley;
Southern Paiutes lived along southeastern California
Language: Northern Paiutes spoke a Shoshonean dialect; Southern Paiutes
spoke Numic
Shelter: small, circular structures covered with tule rushes
Food: corn, squash, pumpkin, melon, beans, sunflowers, blueberries, elderberries,
currants, wild strawberries, deer, antelope, bighorn sheep, small game
Serrano
Aboriginal Location: the Mojave Desert and the San Bernardino Mountains
in Southern California
Food: acorn, Manzanita berries, pine nuts, yucca, deer, rabbit
Language: Takic branch of Uto-Aztecan
Note: They were once sedentary hunter-gatherers. Serrano is Spanish for
"mountaineer", but they called themselves Yuharetum, which means
"people of the pines."
Shoshone
Aboriginal Location: Death Valley National Park contains approximately
80 percent of the Shoshone's known traditional, cultural, and sacred sites
Language: Shoshone
Shelter: semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with a connecting pole
framework, covered with pine needles
Food: pine nuts, Mesquite beans, elk, buffalo, bighorn sheep
Note: They were once hunter-gatherers.
Tongva
(see Gabrielino/Tongva)
Western Mono/Monache
Aboriginal Location: south-central Sierra Nevada foothills
Language: Shoshone
Shelter: semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with a connecting pole
framework, covered with pine needles
Food: acorn, pine nuts, deer, fish, manzanita berries, gooseberries, seeds,
mushrooms
Webpage: Central
Sierra Historical Society and Museum Website |
AMERICAN INDIAN WORDS |
bayou - any marshy or sluggish body of water
Dakota - friend
Minnesota - waters that reflect the sky
mukluk - slippers
Nebraska - flat water
niavi - the Paiute word for chiefs
Newe Sogobia - Shoshone term for their homeland
in the Great Basin. Also generally refers to "Mother Earth"
Ohio - good river
Oregon - beautiful water
Pasadena - valley
tongva - Gabrielino for "earth"
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