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CALIFORNIA ATHABASCAN GROUPS
CALIFORNIA ATHABASCAN GROUPS
BY MARTIN A. BAUMHOFF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Vol. 16, No. 5 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Editors (Berkeley): J. H. Rowe, R. F. Heizer, R. F. Murphy, E. Norbeck Volume 16, No. 5, pp. 157-238, plates 9-11, 2 figures in text, 18 maps Submitted by editors May 6, 1957 Issued August 1, 1958 Price, $1.50 University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles California Cambridge University Press London, England Manufactured in the United States of America...
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PREFACE
PREFACE
In March, 1950, the University of California assumed custodianship of an extensive collection of original and secondary data referring to California Indian ethnology, made by Dr. C. Hart Merriam and originally deposited with the Smithsonian Institution. Since that time the Merriam collection has been consulted by qualified persons interested in linguistics, ethnogeography, and other specialized subjects. Some of the data have been published, the most substantial publication being a book, Studies
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MAPS
MAPS
CALIFORNIA ATHABASCAN GROUPS BY MARTIN A. BAUMHOFF In 1910 C. Hart Merriam, already well known as a naturalist, came to California and began the study of California ethnography which was to occupy him for the rest of his life. Almost every year from then until his death in 1942 Merriam spent about six months in the field, talking to Indians and recording their memories of aboriginal times. All this field work resulted in an immense collection of data on the California Indians, most of which has
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ATHABASCAN CULTURE
ATHABASCAN CULTURE
The following sketch of Athabascan culture attempts to provide some background for the later discussion of the various groups. In this sketch I have not used the material from the Hupa, since they are virtually identical with the Yurok and not at all typical of the more southern Athabascans. Subsistence. —For information on Athabascan economy I have relied heavily on Essene's account of the Lassik (1942, p. 84). There was, no doubt, variation among the different groups, but for the most part, th
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EXTERIOR BOUNDARIES
EXTERIOR BOUNDARIES
The southern boundary of the Athabascans begins at Usal Creek on the coast and goes eastward for a few miles before swinging south to include the drainages of Hollow Tree Creek and the South Fork of the Eel in Kato territory. It turns north to enclose the headwaters of South Fork and proceeds along the ridge dividing Ten Mile Creek from the main Eel until it reaches the drainage of Blue Rock Creek; it then passes around north of the creek and crosses the Eel near the mouth of the creek. From thi
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INTERIOR BOUNDARIES
INTERIOR BOUNDARIES
There is no disagreement on the western boundary of the Hupa. It runs north and south along Bald Hills Ridge, dividing the drainages of Redwood Creek and the Trinity River. Merriam gives the Hupa two divisions—the Tin-nung-hen-na-o, or Hupa proper, and the Ts´ă-nung-whă, or Southern Hupa. The line dividing these two groups lies just north of the main Trinity to the east of South Fork and along Madden Creek to the west of South Fork. Kroeber (1925 a , p. 129) and Goddard (1903 a , p. 7) do not gi
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KATO
KATO
The Kato are the southernmost of the California Athabascans (see pl. 11, e for a view of Kato territory). They are surrounded on three sides by Yukian peoples and consequently resemble culturally the peoples of Central California rather than those of Northwestern California. The name Kato appears to be of Pomo origin and it was first thought that the Kato language was a dialect of Pomo (Powers, 1877, p. 147). It was not until 1903 that Goddard showed their Athabascan affinity (Goddard, 1903 b ).
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WAILAKI
WAILAKI
The Wailaki, the southernmost group of Athabascans on the Eel River, are as little chronicled as most of the Athabascan groups. As far as geography and language are concerned we have very good information (Goddard, 1923 a ; 1923 b ), but there is very little general ethnography. Kroeber was able to devote to them only a little more than three pages in the Handbook (1925, pp. 151-154), and we know scarcely more today. The territory of the Wailaki lies for the most part outside the redwood forest
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PITCH WAILAKI
PITCH WAILAKI
The Pitch Wailaki are close relatives of the Eel River Wailaki. They live in the drainage of the North Fork of the Eel above Asbill Creek. Virtually nothing is known of this group except their villages and tribelets, which were recorded by Goddard (1924). Presumably they are similar in culture to the Eel River Wailaki and the Round Valley Yuki. Merriam's notes contain very little information concerning the Pitch Wailaki. He apparently was never in contact with any informants from that group and
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LASSIK
LASSIK
The Lassik occupied the drainage of the main Eel River between the mouths of Dobbyn and Kekawaka creeks and the territory east of there to the crest of the Coast Range. There is almost no ethnographic information on this group in the literature except a few notes gathered by Essene (1942) when he was compiling a Culture Element List for the area. Even the geographic information on this group is weak. Merriam does not seem to have spent much time among them. Goddard may have recorded their villag
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NONGATL
NONGATL
The Nongatl are almost entirely confined to the drainages of the Van Duzen River and upper Mad River. Their culture is the least known of any group in northwestern California. Merriam evidently did not work in their area although he recorded a few of their words given him by George Burt's wife. George Burt was a Sinkyone, but his wife was born and raised near Bridgeville. Goddard recorded some villages for this group, whose names are given below. Nomland worked with someone from the Nongatl in 1
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SINKYONE
SINKYONE
The Sinkyone occupied the territory on the west side of the South Fork of the Eel from Scotia south to Hollow Tree Creek. From the Mattole boundary at Spanish Flat south to the Coast Yuki line at Usal Creek they held the coast. We have more ethnographic information about the Sinkyone than about most of the Athabascan groups. Merriam's material and Goddard's data combined provide a virtually complete village list for the northern, or Lolangkok, Sinkyone and a few villages for the southern, or She
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MATTOLE
MATTOLE
The Mattole occupied the drainage of the Mattole River below the mouth of Upper North Fork and the coast from Davis Creek south to Spanish Flat. The village lists of Merriam and Goddard provide a complete picture of the Mattole settlements but almost nothing is known of them aside from this. In the Handbook Kroeber reported (1925 a , p. 142) that "not a single item of concrete ethnology is on record regarding the Mattole, other than the statement that they burned their dead." Almost nothing has
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BEAR RIVER
BEAR RIVER
This small group, occupying the entire drainage of Bear River and the coast near its mouth, has been fairly well documented by ethnographers. Aside from linguistic material, our chief source, a paper by Nomland (1938), gives as complete an account as could be obtained at such a late date. Although some villages are noted by Goddard (1929), Nomland, and Merriam, they do not appear to have been recorded by any of the scholars in a systematic fashion. The village count therefore is probably not com
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WHILKUT
WHILKUT
As stated earlier in the discussion of boundaries (p. 164) I have, following Merriam's data, assigned the Whilkut different territory than has heretofore been customary. In the present scheme they occupy the drainage of Mad River from the mouth of North Fork Mad River to the mouth of Bug Creek, the drainage of North Fork Mad River, and all the drainage of Redwood Creek above the lower ten miles. The subdivisions of the Whilkut are: Chilula Whilkut (Kroeber's Chilula) on lower Redwood Creek, Klok
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HUPA
HUPA
The Hupa are the best known of the California Athabascan groups. They live in the drainage area of the Trinity River from a short distance above its mouth to a little above the mouth of South Fork Trinity and in the drainage area of the South Fork Trinity up to the mouth of Grouse Creek (pl. 10, a ). There have been a number of papers published on a variety of aspects of Hupa life but the main sources of general ethnography are Goddard's paper (1903 a ) and Kroeber's Hupa section in the Handbook
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SOURCES
SOURCES
The earliest serious effort to estimate the aboriginal population of California was made by Powers (1877, pp. 415-416), who arrived at a figure of 750,000 persons for the entire state. This effort was followed in 1905 by a more sophisticated attempt on the part of C. Hart Merriam, whose figure for the state was 260,000 persons. Merriam's figures were based on an estimate of the population of the mission strip, from Spanish data, and a gross extrapolation from that to the remainder of the state.
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ESTIMATES BASED ON VILLAGE COUNTS
ESTIMATES BASED ON VILLAGE COUNTS
Wailaki (Eel and North Fork). —The present list gives a total of 67 villages among the Eel River and North Fork Wailaki. For purposes of calculating population I have excluded 13 of them (nos. 6, 9, 16, 31, 38, 40, 51, 57, 58, 59, 61, 66, 67) because they are summer camps in the hills, rock shelters used only briefly, or specialized fish-drying camps. These places do not seem to have been used simultaneously with the main villages. This list appears to be a substantially complete count from Hors
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ESTIMATES BASED ON FISH RESOURCES
ESTIMATES BASED ON FISH RESOURCES
For the six tribes just discussed, the ethnographic notes at our disposal offer a means of estimating the population, but we have also another basis for our calculations. Fishery was the most important single factor in the California Athabascan economy, hence the fish resources of the region undoubtedly exerted a marked influence on population size. Therefore, before attempting to estimate the population of the remaining groups, for which we have scanty ethnographic information, I would like to
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GROSS ESTIMATE
GROSS ESTIMATE
From the preceding data we have obtained population estimates for certain of the California Athabascan groups. If these estimates are judged reliable, it would be desirable to use them as a basis for estimating the population of the remaining groups. When a detailed analysis of the ecological or demographical factors involved is lacking, it is sometimes necessary to fall back on rather simplistic assumptions to attain the desired end. Cook goes rather far in this direction, using simply the aver
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APPENDIX I: THE TOLOWA
APPENDIX I: THE TOLOWA
The Tolowa are an Athabascan group living on the coast from a short distance north of the mouth of the Klamath River to the Oregon-California boundary. Information on this group has not been included in the main body of the paper because the Tolowa are separated from the other California Athabascan groups and belong more properly with the Oregon Athabascans; It was thought, however, that Merriam's data on the Tolowa should be recorded and they have therefore been appended in this form. The follo
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APPENDIX II: NOTES ON UPPER EEL RIVER INDIANS
APPENDIX II: NOTES ON UPPER EEL RIVER INDIANS
By A. L. Kroeber The following data were got from Eben Tillotson at Hulls Valley, north of Round Valley, on July 12, 1938. A. Eben said he was a Wi·t'u·knó'm Yuki. This was a "tribe" speaking a uniform dialect, having uniform customs, but embracing several "tribelets." Their general territory was along main (or middle) Eel R. where this runs from E to W, on both sides of it, and S of Round V. They also owned Oklá·c̆ and Púnki·nipi·ṭ ("wormwood hole"), Poonkiny. The subdivisions or tribelets were
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ATHABASCAN DATA
ATHABASCAN DATA
Onainó'm were the Pitch Indians, a people of the rugged mountains, adjoining the ŠipimA´lno'm Yuki, and with Hull's Valley in their range. They were "half Yuki and half Wailaki," and spoke both languages. The TA´no'm were at Spy Rock on main Eel R. They were also half Yuki and half Wailaki and bilingual. [But other Yuki cite them as Yuki who also knew Wailaki.] TAno'm were: Nancy Dobie, Sally Duncan, and Tip. These two groups did not make Taikomol or Hulk'ilAl rites [this agrees with Handbook] b
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AA American Anthropologist BAE-B Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin SI-MC Smithsonian Institution, Miscellaneous Collections UC University of California Publications -AR Anthropological Records -IA Ibero-Americana -PAAE American Archaeology and Ethnology American Anthropological Association 1916. Phonetic Transcription of Indian Languages, Report of Committee of American Anthropological Association, SI-MC, Vol. 66, No. 6. Barrett, S. A. 1908. The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring I
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EXPLANATION OF PLATES
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
Map showing the lower Trinity River and locations of Hupa villages. The map was made by George Gibbs, a member of the expedition of Colonel Redick McKee in 1852. The village names shown are in the Yurok language. Views of Athabascan territory. a . View of Hoopa Valley looking north. Photo by P. E. Goddard, 1901, UCMA 15-2917. b . Big rock on Mad River at Big Bend "taken from village site" (UCMA catalogue). Big Bend is in the southern part of Mad River Whilkut territory. There is no record of the
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