California Indian Languages: Hokan Tribes
Hokan has great antiquity in California. As compared with Penutian, the inter-relationships of the Hokan languages lie much deeper in time. The broken chain of Hokan language islands around the margins of California presumably includes the relic areas surviving from an ancient continuous distribution. Karok is one such isolate. (Moratto, California Archaeology *)
Achomawi/Achumawi
Native Location: Northeastern California
Language: Palaihnihan
Identified Shelters: 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
Cultural Notes: They are members of the Pit River Nation.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/achomawi.htm
Chumash
Native Location: Area along the coast between Paso Robles and Malibu, and the Northern Channel Islands
Language: Hokan
Identified Shelters: 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
Information Website: Chumash Life, hosted by Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/chumash.htm
Tribal Website:
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians www.santaynez.org
Esselen
Cultural Notes: The Esselen were one of the least numerous groups in California, and are often cited, incorrectly, as the first California Indian group to become culturally extinct. This picture of Esselen extinction, although pervasive in the literature, is wrong. Not only did the group not become extinct, there is even recent evidence that some Esselen escaped the missions entirely by retreating to the rugged interior mountains. It now appears that a small group survived into the 1840s before filtering to the ranchos and the outskirts of the growing towns.
Tribal Information: http://www.esselen.com/map.html
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/esselen.htm
Karuk (Karok)
Native Location: 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
Cultural Notes: Karuk is native for "up-stream."
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/karuk.htm
Tribal Website: Karuk Tribe www.karuk.us/index.php
Kumeyaay/Kumei/Cumeyaay
(aka. Diegueño, Tipai-Ipai)
Native 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)
Identified Shelters: 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
Kumeyaay History: www.kumeyaay.com
Tribal Websites:
Sycuan Band Kumeyaay Nation www.sycuan.com/history.html
Barona Band of Mission Indians www.baronatribe.com
Campo Kumeyaay www.campo-nsn.gov
Jamul Indian Village http://www.jamulindianvillage.com/index2.html
EwiIaapaayp Band http://leaningrock.org/
Mojave (Mohave)
Native Location: 200 mile area along the Colorado River from Hoover Dam to Blythe, and the region west of the river.
Language: Yuman
Identified Shelters: Four-posted structures built over a circular excavation, thatched with brush and covered with mud
Cultural Notes: They were once desert farmers dependent on the flood patterns of the Colorado River; they hunted, fished, and trapped.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/mojave.htm
Pomo
Native Location: Russian River Valley of northern California
Language: Pomoan
Identified Shelters: Cone-shaped structures covered with tule or bark
Food: Acorn, fish, deer, elk, waterfowl, roots, berries, small game
Related Links: The Supernatural Frontier in Pomo Cosmology
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/pomo.htm
Tribal Websites:
Elem Indian Colony http://www.elemnation.com/index.html
Kashaya Band of Pomo Indians www.kashaya.homestead.com/front.html
Graton Rancheria www.gratonrancheria.com
Koi Nation Pomo Lower Lake Rancheria www.koination.com
Pinoleville Pomo Nation www.pinoleville-nsn.us/index.html
Robinson Rancheria
http://www.robinsonrancheria.org/Pomocode/Main/mainmenu2.html
Stewarts Point Rancheria http://www.stewartspointrancheria.com/
Quechan
Native 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.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/yuma.htm
Washo (Washoe)
Native Location: Area encompassing Lake Tahoe, from Honey Lake to Mono Lake
Language: Washo
Identified Shelters: 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
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/washoe.htm
Tribal Websites:
Susanville Indian Rancheria http://sir-nsn.gov/
Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada http://itcn.org/tribes/washoe/washo.html
Yana
Cultural Notes: Current Tribal affiliations are Wintu, Pit River and Yana. Tribal members live and work in Shasta County. The Rancheria (small reservation), situated on 30.89 acres in south Redding, had it's Federal recognition restored as a Sovereign Nation in 1985.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/yanan_tribes.htm
Tribal Website: Redding Rancheria www.redding-rancheria.com
Yuman (Yuma)
Cultural Notes: The Yuman parrelled the Kumeyaay and Quechan tribes in many of identified areas.
Tribal History: www.fourdir.com/yuma.htm
Other Hokan Tribes:
Atsugewi - Chimiriko - Diegueno - Halchidhoma - Ipai - Kamia - Kohuana - Salinan - Shasta - Tipai
* Moratto, Michael, California Archaeology, Academic Press, Inc., 1984