The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California Part 8

We have a few additional items which are helpful. The northernmost village, _cipomul_, is said by Foster's informant to have been the residence of a "captain." Hence it was a princ.i.p.al village or nohot.

Three villages are stated by Barrett (and so shown on his map) as having been located on both banks of the Eel River. Such extension suggests a size greater than that of a small parasitic hamlet, whether or not they may be regarded as nohots. Moreover the distribution of Barrett's sites along the river is interesting. According to his map, the line of 11 villages along the stream, disregarding minor meanderings of the latter, extended about 40 miles. From the northern border and going upstream there are 6 villages in the first 25 miles, the minimum distance between any two being 3 miles. Since the usual distance between a primary village and its satellites among the Yuki, according to Foster, is not more than a mile or two, none of these 6 settlements can have been of the secondary type. The cl.u.s.ter of 4 named towns along the 5 miles of river at the extreme south were quite close together, and not more than 2 of them may have been of this type. At the headwaters to the extreme east there was one definitely isolated village, which may be placed in the larger category, as may also the two sites on Tomki Creek. Of the 13 places given by Barrett there is therefore reason to believe that at least 11 were of the nohot variety.

Indirect confirmation of this conclusion comes from comparison of the Huchnom village distribution with that of the subtribes of the Yuki proper. The Tanom had 6 nohots scattered along approximately 20 miles of the Eel River and the Witukomnom had 4 or 5 along some 15 miles of stream valley. The Huchnom territory was about 270 square miles and, judging roughly from the maps of Foster and Barrett, the Tanom and the Witukomnom areas were approximately 200 square miles each. The Tanom possessed at least 6 nohots and the Witukomnom 9 (Foster's data). Hence the average area covered per nohot would be 33 for the Tanom and 22 for the Witukomnom. If we allow 11 primary villages or nohots for the Huchnom the average area covered by each would be 25, entirely within the same range. Now the character of the terrain for the three groups did not differ in any essential respect. Hence there is no reason to suppose that the population density of the Huchnom, computed on a riparian or area basis, was any less than that of the other two subtribes. Furthermore I can see no evidence pointing to a smaller individual community or village population among the Huchnom. Eleven nohots or village constellations would yield a total population of 2,090, or approximately 2,100, an estimate somewhat smaller than the one given previously but one which I can find no reason for further reducing.

Some confirmation of the figure derived from village data is contained in the survey of Heintzelman (1855). He mentions as one of his princ.i.p.al divisions the Bi-lo-ki, a name which is the same as Balokai.

The latter were the Pomo of Potter Valley, according to Kroeber and also Barrett (p. 128). This group, Heintzelman says, included 3,000 persons. However, he breaks them down into six smaller divisions and says that "these Indians reside between Clear Lake and the heads of Eel, Russian and Trinity Rivers." The six divisions are: Tar-toos, Si-dam, Po-ma Pomes, Si-mas, Di-no-kis, and Du-che-calla-os. The Si-dam and Po-ma Pomes are undoubtedly Potter valley Pomo. The Si-mas, according to a personal communication received from Dr. Barrett, are probably Yuki from the region of the headwaters of the South Eel River (the tcimaia mentioned in the Ethnogeography of the Pomo, 1908. p.

247). The Di-no-kis and the Du-che-calla-os Dr. Barrett is unable to identify. The Tar-toos are undoubtedly Huchnom (see Barrett's monograph, 1908. p. 256; also confirmed by personal communication).

Their number is given by Heintzelman as 1,600. This value, for 1855, bespeaks an aboriginal population not far from 2,000. Hence again the ethnographic method is supported by the estimate of the contemporary observer.

_Huchnom ... 2,100_

_YUKI TOTAL ... 9,730_

THE ATHAPASCANS AND THE YUKI

If we total all the Yukian divisions, including the Coast Yuki and the Huchnom, we get 9,730 persons. Similarly, the Athapascan tribes collectively give 15,450. The combined total is 25,180. Some of the groups, such as the Tanom and Huchnom, may have been overestimated, but this will be compensated by underestimates for other groups, such as the Onkolukomnom. If we accept as valid the published ethnographic data of Barrett, Kroeber, Foster, and Gifford, together with the ma.n.u.script material of Merriam, it is very difficult to fix the population of the Athapascan and Yukian stocks at a figure much below 25,000.

In this connection it is interesting to consider the estimates of Heintzelman, because his figures for the Kato and for the Huchnom have been shown to conform in general to those derived from village lists.

Many of Heintzelman's Indian names cannot now be identified and his localities are frequently vague and obscure. However, a reasonably clear line can be drawn between the Pomo and those tribes living north of the Pomo.

The first five groups mentioned in the report are unequivocally Pomo.

Then come the "Bi-lo-ki, Po-mes" with the six divisions previously mentioned called Tar-toos, Si-dam, Po-ma Pomes, Si-mas, Di-no-kis, and Du-che-calla-os. The Si-dam and Po-ma Pomes are Potter Valley Pomo. The Tar-toos are Huchnom. The Si-mas are probably southeastern Yuki. The Di-no-kis and Du-che-calla-os cannot be identified by Dr. Barrett (personal communication) and are therefore probably not Pomo. Since the whole group was said by Heintzelman to reside "between Clear Lake and the heads of Eel, Russian and Trinity Rivers" these two unidentified divisions may be ascribed to the Yuki. The numerical aggregate of the four Yukian divisions is 2,450.

Following the Bi-lo-ki on Heintzelman's list are the Me-che-pomas who inhabit the east part of Kinamoo Valley and the "Eel River Mountains,"

40 miles northeast of the proposed site, i.e., Fort Bragg. Covelo is almost exactly 40 airline miles northeast of Fort Bragg. Barrett (1908, p. 249, fn.) says that the Pomo name for Round Valley is maca-kai, and quotes another variant, Me-sha-kai. In a personal communication he states his belief that Round Valley is here referred to. Along with the Me-che-pomas Heintzelman lists the Be-dar-ke-sill, which he says are found in the south part of Trinity County and the north part of Mendocino County, 50 miles from Fort Bragg. Since the name cannot be identified, the people may be allocated on the basis of location alone to the southern part of the Wailaki. The aggregate population of these two groups is given as 2,100.

The next seven names on Heintzelman's list are the Car-toos, Ba-tims, Kab-in-a-toos, Kon-ispilla, Koss-ill-man-u-pomas, Kam-ill-el-pomas, and So-as. These are all stated to be north of the selected site, Fort Bragg, with the most remote tribe 35 miles away. In his textual statement Heintzelman says that he went up the coast as far as Cape Mendocino, but from his times and distances it appears more likely that he reached approximately the Mendocino-Humboldt County line before turning eastward and going inland. This would bring him just about 30 or 40 miles above Fort Bragg.

It has already been pointed out that the first two names of this group.

Car-toos and Ba-tims, refer to the Kato. Dr. Barrett thinks that the third name, Kab-in-a-toos, may possibly be the Kabenapo of Clear Lake.

He says (personal communication):

We know that the Lake people visited the coast. Perhaps Heintzelman encountered some of these kabenapo over on a salt-gathering expedition to some point on the coast north of Fort Bragg.

If Barrett is correct, then this tribe must be excluded from the present enumeration. The Kon-is-illa cannot be traced, yet the name has definite similarity to the Coast Yuki name (Pomo form) Kabesillah, as given by Kroeber in the Handbook (p. 212). Koss-ill-man-u-pomas cannot be identified, but Barrett says that Kam-ill-el-pomas is the same as kamalal pomo, a name given by the Pomo to the Coast Yuki (1908, p.

260). The term So-as is thought by Barrett to refer to the village sosatca in Sherwood Valley.

All these groups are clearly stated by Heintzelman to lie north of Fort Bragg. Nevertheless, in view of the possibility that Kab-in-a-toos may represent Clear Lake inhabitants and that the So-as may be a village in Sherwood Valley, and hence be Pomo, these two divisions may be omitted from consideration. The remainder may with considerable safety be ascribed either to the Coast Yuki, the Kato, or perhaps the Sinkyone on the coast above the Yuki. The total for the five divisions is 1,700 persons.

The next five names on Heintzelman's list are quite definitely Northern Pomo. Then come, as the last two tribes, the Ki-pomas and the Yo-sol-pomas. The former were said to inhabit Kinomo Valley, 40 miles from Fort Bragg, and the latter to live on the coast 50 miles north of Fort Bragg. According to Barrett, the Ki-pomas are probably the Kai Pomo of Powers (1908, p. 279, fn.). If so, they lived not in Kinomo Valley (Round Valley) but in the area between the headwaters of the South Fork of the Eel River and the Middle Fork of the Eel. Thus they must have been Athapascan, whether Kato, Sinkyone or Wailaki, it is now impossible to say. The Yo-sol-pomas are probably the Yu-sal Pomo of Powers, who were an Athapascan people near Usal, on the coast above Westport (see Barrett, 1908, p. 260).

The Ki-pomas and the Yo-sol-pomas had a combined population of 2,200.

Thereafter Heintzelman says: "From the Yo-sol-pomas to Eel River on the north, and east to the ridge from Humboldt to Kin-a-moo Valley there cannot be less than four thousand...." The area thus delineated is very ambiguous. It may be taken roughly, however, as embracing--according to the general map in Kroeber's Handbook--the southern third of the territory of the Mattole and Sinkyone, together with that of the Kato and the Wailaki. To this must be added the region which includes all branches of the Yuki.

The population estimates based upon the village lists of the ethnographers are as follows: one-third the Sinkyone, 970; one-third the Mattole, 400; the Kato, 1,100, the Wailaki, 3,350; and the Yuki as a whole, 9,730. The general total is 15,550. By comparison Heintzelman's figure for approximately the same area is 12,450.

Considering the imponderable and una.s.sessable factors involved in both computations the correspondence is remarkably close, particularly in view of the fact that Heintzelman was not in the region until 1855, at which time the population was by no means aboriginal.

THE POMO

From a poverty of ethnographic material with the more northerly tribes we pa.s.s to an embarra.s.sment of riches with the Pomo. (Barrett, 1908; Gifford, 1923, 1926; Gifford and Kroeber, 1937; Kniffen, 1939; Stewart, 1943). The first major study was that of Barrett in 1908. Barrett's princ.i.p.al contribution was a painstakingly compiled list of Pomo tribes, villages, and camp sites as recalled by his informants during the years 1903 to 1906. However he missed the significance of the Pomo community style of social organization with its implications for evaluation of village size and importance and hence probable population. Moreover, many of his place names have since been shown to be wrongly applied. His work remains therefore chiefly valuable as a compilation and check list against more recent and more critical work.

Gifford's two papers (1923, 1926) stand as models of investigation of a single social unit, the village of Cigom. They are useful in a wider sense as a point of departure and a basis for comparison with other communities, particularly in the Clear Lake region. The work of Gifford and Kroeber (1937), although primarily dealing with cultural matters, contains much pertinent information concerning the sixteen communities investigated together with several paragraphs pertinent to the population problem.

Kniffen (1939) made a careful study of the geographical and ecological status of certain selected groups: the Clear Lake area, the Kacha of Russian River, and the Coast Pomo. Steward (1943) reviewed the boundaries and villages of all groups except a few on Clear Lake, using also the ecological approach.

When one attempts to establish what were the Pomo community groups and chief villages, he encounters a great deal of divergence of opinion on detail among these investigators, due largely to differences among informants. Without extensive field work, which might in fact now be impossible, many of the discrepancies cannot be resolved. On the whole, the later students appear to have come closer to the truth and are probably more reliable.

CLEAR LAKE POMO

Gifford said (1937, p. 122) that there were 11 communities on Clear Lake. Kniffen reorganized them to make 12, after which Stewart returned to a count of 11. This last number, therefore, may be accepted as final. Each of them consisted of a single princ.i.p.al village of considerable size. A cla.s.sical example is Cigom. Other inhabited spots within the community area have usually been recognized but whether they were permanent or s.h.i.+fting villages or camp sites usually is not clear.

For this reason the population has been discussed by ethnographers since Barrett simply on the basis of the group, without much reference to the number of sites known to have existed. The single exception I would make to this procedure is to take account of the number (not necessarily the names and location) of the villages known to have possessed a.s.sembly houses, since the presence of these implies some degree of permanence. A community with one capital village and several such accessory sites would, other things being equal, create the presumption of a larger aggregate population than a community with a capital village and one or no subsidiaries.

There is a more definite population estimate for the Clear Lake region than we have for many other native groups. L. L. Palmer in his History of Napa and Lake Counties (1881), cites figures for the aboriginal population of the Clear Lake communities which he obtained from an informant who could well remember the days before the advent of the white man. These figures have been subject to some disparaging criticism by more modern students. The chief objection advanced is that the book is one of the many county histories which appeared as commercial ventures in the 1880's and which, on the whole, were very carelessly written. Palmer, however, as his text shows, was much interested in the fate of the natives and took considerable pains to secure informants who could give him data. There is no ground for impugning either his honesty or his competence. Moreover, it is difficult to see why informants seventy years ago should be any less reliable than they are now. Hence I can see no reason for not accepting his figures as they stand, subject to the limitations of his informant's knowledge.

With regard to those limitations it should be noted that the informant was a native of the Kulanapo community on the west side of the lake. He should therefore have had closest acquaintance with his own people and the adjacent group, the Habenapo. His figure for the Kulanapo was 500, a value which Kniffen attacks on the ground that Palmer's informant intentionally exaggerated the importance of his own group. This is a wholly gratuitous a.s.sumption and inconsistent with the fact that, since more was known at that time about the west-sh.o.r.e people, his figures could easily have been checked, had they been widely at variance with the facts. In the second place, the figure for the Habenapo was given as 300. Now Barrett (1908, p. 194) quotes even more specifically from Palmer:

The Hoo-la-na-po (Kulanapo) tribe was just below the present site of Lakeport.... At one time there were two hundred and twenty warriors, and five hundred all told in the rancheria. They are now reduced to sixty. Sal-vo-di-no was their chief before the present one, Augustine.

If we are going to discredit the testimony of the chief concerning his own village thirty years previously, we had better throw out along with it the information secured from septuagenarians who have to recount at second hand what their forefathers told them.

Some confirmation of Palmer's figure for the Habenapo is given by Barrett (1908, p. 195), who mentions a statement from the Report of the Commissioner for Indian Affairs in 1858 referring to the Lupillomi.

The latter in turn are identified by Barrett as the Habenapo. The Commissioner said: "Upon the Lupillomi ranch, near Clear Lake, there are some three hundred Indians." Although by 1858 there may have been some reduction and mixing of population, the ident.i.ty is striking.

Although the figures of Palmer's informant may be relied upon for his home territory at the southwestern corner of the Lake, for the north, east, and southeast sh.o.r.es he may have been inaccurate, being less familiar with those sections. The chief evidence for such a conclusion lies in the discrepancy between his figure for Cigom and that secured by Gifford after a meticulous and exhaustive examination of every individual who had lived in the village. Palmer's figure is 160 whereas Gifford's is 235. Thus Palmer's informant clearly underestimated, by a ratio of 2 to 3. Hence it is not unreasonable to increase Palmer's figures for the communities remote from the area of his informant.

If we ignore for the moment Palmer's data and neglect individual differences between communities, it would be possible to take Gifford's figure of 235 for Cigom as representing the average for a Clear Lake community. The population of the area would then be 2,585. Let us, however examine the eleven communities individually (following Stewart's outline, 1943, App. 1, pp. 57-59).

1. _Bachelor Valley and Tule Lake._ Stewart gives Cinal as the princ.i.p.al village with Homtcati and Xaro as villages with a.s.sembly houses. In his text on page 41 he says that these villages plus Mamamamau "were occupied under the leaders.h.i.+p of one chief." Hence there were at least three secondary or subsidiary "occupied" villages.

In addition, in footnote 30 to page 41 he points out that Kniffen had set apart a portion of the area under the name of Yobotui. Kniffen (1939, p. 368) gives the Yobotui the status of an independent group and shows a princ.i.p.al village under that name on his map. The group, whether single (Stewart) or compound (Kniffen), was clearly of quite large size. This is in line with Palmer, whose informant gave a population of 120 for most of the group but set apart Yobotui with an additional 150. Stewart's group, with two possible main and two or three subsidiary villages, is credited by Palmer with 270 people. Since the area lay in the extreme north, this estimate may be raised, in conformity with the Cigom case, by 50 per cent, making 405.

2. _Scott's Valley._ There were two groups here just prior to white settlement. The first was designated as the Boalke, Boilkai, or Yimaba, with one princ.i.p.al village Karaka (Stewart) or two "significant winter villages," n.o.boral and Karaka (Kniffen). Palmer's informant said they had 180 people and, since they lived near him, his figure may be accepted without change. The other group were the Komli, which are placed as a separate group by Stewart. All authorities agree, however, that they were Russian River natives who in relatively recent times migrated to Scott's Valley. Palmer says they had 90 people, a reasonable figure. The total for the two groups is thus 270.

3. _Upper Lake._ Here was a well defined group, with only one village, Xowalek. The History of Lake County gives them 150, which because of the distance from Lakeport may be increased to 225.

4. Another group in the same vicinity was the Danoxa, with a princ.i.p.al village of the same name plus either two or three villages with a.s.sembly houses. Palmer says they had 100 inhabitants, which may be increased to 150. From the number of villages it might be supposed that Danoxa was larger than Xowalek. But in giving the figures Palmer's informant may have confused the two groups; 375 seems a reasonable value for the two together.

5. _Clear Lake, east._ Gifford's value of 235 may be accepted without further comment for Cigom.