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.