The People of the Land, Part 3: Maidu and Ohlone

    Maidu were the people of the foothills from the Cosumnes River to the Feather River, or roughly Elk Grove area north to Chico. This area covers most of greater Sacramento, Yuba City, Marysville, and Oroville. Like most Indians in California, acorns were a huge part of their diet, but even more so than other tribes. Acorns replaced the position of meat as being the major food source. This is probably due to the fact that black acorn trees are very abundant in Gold Country. They constructed large granaries to grind the nuts into flour to make bread. Some root vegetables were also eaten and some deer, elk, and antelope. When the 49ers (not the football team) first arrived at the gold fields, they called Maidu "Digger Indians" because of their use of roots. They practiced Kuksu religion like other tribes of Northern California and lived in huts over a dug-out circle three feet deep. Interesting fact: while the other tribes we've talked about saw the coyote as the greatest of the animals or even worthy of worship as the creator, the Maidu viewed them like tribes from the Plains or the Northwest--as tricksters. When the argonauts first arrived in their land, Maidu were pushed to the edges of their territory or even outside of it. Today, most of them live assimilated lives or live on rancherias outside of Susanville, Auburn, Shingle Springs, and a few other places.
     Ohlone are the more interesting cousins of Maidu, if only because we just know more about them. Ohlone were spread out across most of the Bay Area: all of East Bay and even across Carquinez Straits into the Vallejo/Benicia area, all of Santa Clara County, all of the Peninsula, all of Monterey Bay, San Benito County, and even down the Salinas Valley to just past Soledad. They were always one of the largest and strongest tribes, even today with a membership of almost 4,000 and hundreds of thousands of other descendants.
     Their culture is very interesting because it is varied. In the inland areas of their territory, they ate acorns and berries and hunted deer like other tribes. On the coast, especially in the Monterey area, they ate shellfish and sea lions. Others along streams fished for salmon and perch. The ones in the Mount Diablo area actually hunted grizzly bear! Their government was very structured. Their was no central ruling body over all Ohlone, but they were separated into groups of 50-500, each with a local chief. They conducted trade, intermarried, and came together for religious ceremonies. In most areas they lived in tule reed huts, but in areas where redwood trees were available, the huts were wood. In the center of a village was a sweathouse. Men did not wear clothing except for winter when they would wear animal skins. Women wore tule reed skirts, deerskin dresses, and sometimes redwood bark skirts. Ohlone practiced Kuksu but also thought of Coyote as a trickster. They believed that a falcon named Kaknu had been the creator and also told stories of Hummingbird who would give Coyote a taste of his own medicine and trick him.
     Ohlone were first contacted by the Spanish when Sebastian Vizcaíno landed at Monterey in 1602. A mission was not established in the area until the Carmel Mission in 1770. After the secularization of the missions in the 1830s, the remaining 800-900 Ohlone moved to rancherias such as Alisal on the Bernal Rancho Valle de San José and Niles Rancheria in modern-day Fremont. Another Ohlone area was Carmel Valley. Helen Hunt Jackson wrote about her visits to these rancherias in 1883. The last speaker of an Ohlone language was Isabella Meadows who died in 1939. Today, the Ohlone are very vocal political activists for native rights and public education of native Californian cultures.

The People of the Land, Part 2: Pomo and Miwok

     The Pomo were the rivals of the Wintun tribes living in the Coast Ranges and down to the Pacific Ocean. They lived semi-nomadic lives, picking up and moving whenever they felt like it. Their diet was the same as the Wintun, consisting of acorns, salmon, deer, rabbit, and wild berries. In 1812, first contact with Europeans was made when the Russians settled Fort Ross. They called the Pomo "Kashaya", and the two eventually came to accept each other. They traded and even intermarried. The Californios came in contact with Pomo in 1826-1827. A decade later, the smallpox epidemic that swept across California killed most of the Pomo. The American settlers displaced the rest who moved to reservations around Clear Lake.
     The Miwok were one of the largest and most wide-spread groups of Native Californians. Most historians hold that they are related to tribes from western Canada and Alaska and moved into California very early on. Still, others say that they are the descendants of Siberians who landed on the coast of Northern California 3,000 years ago. Their territory is by far the largest and most varied of any tribe. It stretched from the Sierra Nevadas to the Pacific Ocean and from the Fresno River to Clear Lake. In order to better understand them, the Miwok have been divided into Sierra and Plains Miwok, Coast Miwok, Lake Miwok, and Bay Miwok based on their religion and dialect.
     The Sierra and Plains Miwok settled the Sierras from southern Yosemite to just south of the American River. One interesting thing about them is that the famous Ahwahee Hotel in Yosemite gets its name from the Sierra Miwok word Awahni "grizzly bears" or "killers". This was what they called the area where Americans settled in Yosemite Valley in the late 1850s. The Americans themselves were called Awahnichi, "those who live in Awahni".
     From the Golden Gate to Duncans Point north of Bodega Bay was Coast Miwok territory. One of their settlements remains and is now know as Petaluma, from the Coast Miwok words peta luuma, "backside of the hill". These Miwok have a long history of contact with Europeans stretching back to 1579 when they encountered Sir Francis Drake's ships in San Pablo Bay. Both Russian and Spanish expeditions ran into Coast Miwok in the 1600s-1800s. In 1783, a group of them was recorded at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. In 1817, Mission San Rafael was established in the heart of Coast Miwok territory, but by that time most of them were baptized Catholics. When the missions were secularized in 1834, some went to work for General Vallejo in Petaluma or other powerful dons while the rest requested from the Mexican government land grants to live and work on their own land as Mexican citizens. Rancho Olompali was granted by the governor that same year, and Rancho Nicasio came through in 1835. Rancho Olompali was granted to the chief of the Coast Miwok, Camilo Ynita. Camilo, also known by his Miwok name Hueñux, seriously deserves his own post. The two most influential native Californians ever were Chief Solano and Camilo Ynita, also the only two chiefs to ever ally themselves with General Vallejo. Rancho Nicasio was granted to the Coast Miwok in general and was used by the entire tribe. No one is sure how many have survived to modern times, but in 1880 the estimate was 60.
     Lake Miwok were always small (estimates from Fort Ross guessed about 200) and out-of-reach. They were not contacted very often by Russians, Californios, or Americans as their home on Clear Lake was surrounded by Pomo territory. By 1920, only 20 descendants remained. No one has contacted them since the 30s, so it is believed that they died out. Very little is known about them.
     Finally, there are Bay Miwok. They lived in East Bay, from the Bay to the Coast Ranges that separate the Bay Area and Central Valley and from Carquinez Straits to Pleasanton. What's interesting about them is that their religion differs a little from the others. All the other Miwok, as well as the Pomo, Wintun, and some other tribes practiced the Kuksu religion, a form of animism and shamanism. While Bay Miwok did have elements of Kuksu, they had their own narratives and practices unlike anyone else. For example, there is the creation story that there was a great flood covering the whole earth. Then Mount Diablo came out of the water. Coyote was the greatest of all the animals on the mountain and he formed man there. Later, though, the devil came and took it an now it is the portal to hell. The Bay Miwok intermarried and assimilated with the Californios, and thus there are innumerable descendants of them today.

The People of the Land, Part 1: Wintun

            Pre-European California was an interesting place to be. Just over 300,000 people lived in the area from the southern Cascades in the north to the Sonoran Desert in the south and from the Pacific in the West to the Sierras in the East. At least fifty tribes and seven language families shared this “continental island”, completely separated from the other cultures in North America. Several tribes came to dominate, especially after the Spanish missions were established. In Northern California, Wintun, Pomo, Miwok, Ohlone, and Maidu people covered most of the territory and impacted later European culture in California. In Southern California, Yokut, Chumash, Tongva, Serrano, and Kumeyaay had similar impacts.

Wintun



Modern Wintu shaman

            The Wintun are three closely related tribes stretching from Siskiyou County in the north to Suisun Bay in the south, the entire distance of the Sacramento River. Northern Wintuns called simply Wintu centered their territory on Mount Shasta. They lived in permanent settlements along rivers and streams, hunted deer and brown bear, fished for salmon, and gathered wild grasses, berries, and seeds. Like most Native Americans, nothing from a hunt was wasted. Even brown bear bones were made into daggers and salmon skin were used to hold obsidian arrowheads on arrows. Their religion taught that they were descended from animals, that there was an all-powerful god who could be reached from Mount Shasta, and that shamans could connect you to the spirit world. The Wintu first came into contact with Spanish from the south in 1808 and English from the north in 1832. Even though at one time their population was upwards of 18,000 due to good sanitation and health, European diseases and new non-traditional foods like pork and beef eventually dwindled the Wintu down to the current 2,500.



            A little further down the Sacramento Valley was the second group of Wintuns: the Nomlaki. Living from the Red Bluff area to Willows in Glenn County, much of their territory was flat, open plains. Therefore while their religion and social customs are identical to the Wintu, most of their food was fish from the Sacramento and wild berries and seeds. Today, 300 Nomlaki remain.

            Even further south was the Patwin, the strongest members of the Wintun and the most important of the three to California history. Patwin are interesting people. They were the natives that knew General Vallejo and helped fight back the Pomo tribe. They had a respect for the Spanish unlike any other tribe. The majority of native Californians fought the Spanish, the Russians, the Mexicans, and the Americans. They continually raided settlements and never surrendered. The Patwin were different though. When the Spanish first invaded their territory in the early 1830s when General Vallejo was sent to explore East Bay and whatever was north of it, the Patwin gathered together and met Vallejo’s men for battle. They fought one battle and one alone. The Spanish were more powerful and won, and that was that. The Patwin sent Chief Sem-Yeto to congratulate Vallejo on his victory. After that, the Patwin allied themselves with the Spanish. Sem-Yeto went on to become good friends with Vallejo. We remember him by the name Chief Solano.

Sem-Yeto of the Patwin

            Patwin, about 5,000 strong, lived in an area from the Nomlaki territory in the Sacramento Valley, down to the delta region, and over to the Coast Ranges. Napa, Sonoma, Suisun, and other familiar names to Northern Californians are all from the Patwin language. Today, around 2,500 descendants remain and only God knows how many Californians have a trace of Patwin ancestry. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation west of Woodland at the base of the Coast Ranges governs the remaining Patwin and teaches the traditional life and language of the Patwin to modern Californians.

            One of the interesting things about the tribe was that they were living in the promised land, and they knew it. The weather was never very cold, so Patwin people wore only a loincloth. Food was abundant. They once bragged to Vallejo that the streams were so full of fish all they had to do was reach down and grab one! Berries, seeds, even wild grain all grew amply to meet their hearts’ desires. Deer were common. Houses were not needed. The Patwin slept under the stars. When it rained, they had a very interesting solution for shelter. Around the forest they had dug small pits about three feet wide and one foot deep. When they needed shelter, everyone would pile into the pit and someone would take rope and tie the trees around the pit together so that they covered it. When the clouds cleared up, untie the rope and the trees will snap back into shape.

            Wintuns are some of the most interesting Californians, covering the majority of Northern California and bringing peace and political stability to pre-European civilization in the state. Next on the list is Pomo, the fierce tribe of the northern Coast Ranges.

Califia and California: The Forgotten Mythical Beginnings of California

            A mighty warrior queen ruling an island of pagan women and griffins, a siege of Constantinople, and a lost love: that is the first anyone hears of California. Obviously, none of that is remotely related to the California we know today, but when Hernán Cortés’s forces discovered the southern tip of Baja California in 1533, they couldn’t help but wonder, “Is this the mighty queendom of Califia?”

            Columbus’s news sparked quite the revival of romantic adventure novels in Spanish literature. The then-famous trilogy Amadís de Gaula came back in style, nearly two centuries after their original release. Struggling author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo saw money to be made and immediately set to work collecting the stories and republishing them along with a fourth book written by himself. By 1496, just three years after Columbus’s initial return from the New World, Montalvo had written a sequel to the Amadís series, Las sergas de Esplandián. The novel was a flop, but strangely enough everyone remembered the interlude.

In the middle of all the knights, battles, heroic acts, and damsels in distress was the tale of Queen Califia. Montalvo described a mysterious island in an unknown location named California. California is inhabited completely by black women warriors. These amazons are adorned in gold armor and precious jewels, as gold is the only metal on the island. They are ruled by the great Queen Califia, the mightiest warrior of them all. The Californians worship pagan deities and spend their days training fearsome griffins (a lion with the head of an eagle, wings, and talons instead of front paws) to kill every man they see. The queen, though, wishes for more out of life. She wants to see the world and claim her piece of the pie, so to speak. A Muslim warrior, Radiaro, just happens to show up on the island that is in the middle of nowhere and guarded by man-eating eagle-lions (totally believable, of course). Radiaro convinces Califia to come join his army and take Constantinople from the Christians. The queen, completely oblivious to what a Muslim or a Christian is, jumps at the chance to flex her muscles. The warrior women board their gold ships with their griffins and sail for Constantinople. Upon arriving and assessing the current situation of the siege, Califia orders the Muslims to watch and learn. Setting the griffins loose, the Californians march on the city. The griffins take out the defenders on the walls as well as quite a few men from inside the city. Everything is going great, so Califia tells the Muslims to join her people in taking the city. One problem: griffins, like their queen, have no idea what a Muslim or a Christian is and start killing the Muslims too. Long battle short: Califia has to call off the griffins and send them back to the gold ships, the king of Constantinople’s son Esplandián agrees to duel for the city, Califia falls in love with him, they fight, he wins, she is taken prisoner and becomes a Christian, she sees Esplandián with his fiancé, is crushed, marries his cousin, and returns to California to rule a now Christian nation with equal opportunity citizenship for both men and women. The End.

            Picture it. A soldier on a ship sent to explore the Pacific coast of Mexico by Hernán Cortés setting that book down just as someone yells “¡Tierra! ¡Tierra!” He goes on deck and says, “Hail Mary! It’s California!” And just like that the name sticks. Even though it was soon disproven to be an island, California has been California ever since, just sans black warrior women and man-eating griffins. Oh yeah, one last detail we’re missing. Where did Montalvo get the names Califia and California? Did I mention that the Christians had just thrown the Muslims out of Spain twenty years before the book was published? Well, they did, and everyone in Spain was still a little shaken up at the thought of the Muslim caliphate. Califia means “lady caliph” and California “land of the caliph”. There you go. So that is how California came to be California.

Basics of California Jargon

              California is one complicated place. I mean start out with the most ethnically and linguistically diverse area in North America when Columbus arrives in the Bahamas in 1492, add the complexities of Spanish colonial society, a few Americans, gold, a lot of Americans, two brand-new industries that grow at exponential rates, and nearly every ethnic group on planet earth. Now that’s quite the state to try to sort out. My remedy to all this confusion: break it down and take care of the basics.

              First things first, let’s get the jargon out of the way. As soon as I start writing about Californio soldados de cueras at the presidios or the fact that the gente de razón lived in the pueblos even though most of them were rancheros because they had vaqueros from the rancherías to do the work I feel my readers’ eyes glazing over. So to avoid any further pain to you, here is a basic glossary of Californio era terms.

·       Adobe—sun-dried sand, clay, and straw bricks used as the main building material

·       Alcalde—the equivalent of a mayor; the executive officer of a pueblo having both executive and judicial powers; also the chief neophyte at a mission charged to maintain order

·       Alférez—a second lieutenant; the lowest-ranking officer in the military

·       Asistencia—a mission outpost

·       Atole—a staple food of cooked grains

·       Carreta—a two-wheeled cart drawn by an ox

·       Don/Doña—a title of respect used for any of the gente de razón.

·       Fanega—1.6 bushels; the main unit of dry measure in California

·       Gente de razón—the citizenry

·       Jefe—any leader, military, political, etc.

·       Juez de paz—justice of the peace; the main judicial authority, also replaced the alcalde in some instances after 1836

·       Junta—the legislative arm of Californio government

·       Llavero/llavera—the keeper of the keys of a mission

·       Matrona—the supervisor of the single Indian women at a mission

·       Mayordomo/mayordoma—the manager of a mission or rancho

·       Mestizo—a person of mixed European and Native American ancestry

·       Neophyte—Christian Indians

·       Pinole—cornmeal cooked with sugar and water

·       Pozolera—the mission kitchen

·       Presidio—military forts established on the frontiers of the Spanish Empire that governed and defended an area

·       Pueblo—a town; a civil settlement with no connection to any one mission or presidio

·       Ranchería—an Indian settlement

·       Ranchero—the owner of a rancho

·       Rancho—a piece of land granted to an individual by the government, typically devoted to raising cattle

·       Soldado de cuera—a soldier who wore a cuera, a heavy sleeveless jacket reaching down to the knees made of buckskin and leather that was impenetrable

·       Vaquero—a cowboy; a man hired by a ranchero to care for the cattle