Introduction to the Cultures of North American Aboriginal Peoples California

California California –Roughly equivalent to modern state of California Eastern limit is the Sierra Nevada Mountains/Colorado River –Mediterranean climate Cool wet winters and warm dry summers –Broadleaf evergreen flora Live oak chaparral (mosaic of oak groves and grasslands) Sclerophyllous Woodland –Eight species of oak (Quercus sp.) Four deciduous and four evergreen High acorn production ( kg/year)

Climate Mild, moist winters, hot dry summers inland Cool, often foggy coasts High percentage of sunshine High summer diurnal temperature range Frost danger during winter Growing season at lower elevations/along the coast is year-round

California Fauna Virtually all terrestrial species found in North America (except for species restricted to the arctic/sub-arctic) Importance of marine species –Shellfish Oysters (Ostreiddae) Clams Mussels Abalone (Haliotis) Sea urchin (Echinoidea) –Marine mammals Whales, porpoises, dolphins, sea otters, sea lions, seals

Shellfish

Resource Diversity

Major Characteristics Acorn as staple food Basketry Use of ground stone vessels Shell bead money Central villages and specialized resource camps Importance of trade, craft specialization Various boat types Linguistic diversity

Diet Acorn –Inedible in raw state Tannic acid –Water soluble –Acorns are first ground –Washed with warm water to remove acid (leaching) –Cooked into a mush –Stored in granaries –Formed 30-60% of diet (up to 900 kg/ person/ year) Wide range of game from small mammals and birds up to large game (elk, bear) Shellfish Insects Fish –Salmon (in N. and Central California) –Trout –Marine species

Leaching acorn

Hunting techniques Stalking –Effective range of bow and arrow is less than 10 meters Wide range of point sizes –Use of foreshafts Fishing using hooks, harpoons, nets, baskets –Rivers, lakes, estuaries, surf zone, deep sea fishing

Foreshafts Yurok –Each about 20 cm long –501d is a bird shaft –501e is a squirrel shaft Hupa –Arrow with flint point –Arrow with foreshaft of hard wood. –-Boy's arrow with two feathers and simple shaft.

Arrows Left: Yokuts shaft for use with foreshafts; cane shaft with feather fletching attached with sinew and asphalatum, approx. 65 cm long. Center: Hupa-Karok-Yurok; syringa shaft with carved bone point, approx. 75 cm long. Far left: Cahuilla type; backshaft of baccharis salicifolia, foreshaft of chamise, obsidian point, fletching attached with deer sinew and pine pitch; approx. 72 cm long

Bows Top: Paiute type bow shaped from cedar, backed with brain-tanned deer sinew, raw deerskin-wrapped grip, braided sinew bowstring; approx. 112 cm long Center: Hupa-Karok-Yurok bow shaped from aged yew wood, painted with traditional designs, twined sinew bowstring, cm long. Bottom: Maidu/Miwok bow of mountain mahogany, braided sinew bowstring, cm long

Fishing technology

Baskets Made from a wide range of materials –Roots –Stems –Bark Three main colors: –White, red, black Designs are made using different color materials Designs are primarily geometric

Basketry Coiled basketry technique –trays, bowls of all sizes, treasure baskets and hats Twined basketry technqiue –leaching basins, sieves, fish traps, cradles, and water bottles

Basket functions Storage –Food –Water Sometimes lined with asphalt Burden Cooking Clothing (hats) Decorative (gift baskets) Fishing baskets Trays Winnowing Baby carriers (cradleboard)

Mortars + Cooking vessels Mortar and pestle made from sandstone were used for grinding and processing acorns or seeds. The Indians on Santa Catalina Island carved these stone pots from steatite, a soft, easily worked soapstone which they quarried on the island. These heat resistant cooking vessels were traded to the Chumash of the Northern Channel Islands and to people on the mainland coast, in exchange for local resouces.

Bedrock mortars - Chumash

Bedrock mortar - Olompali

Shell beads Shell beads (Olivella sp.) Shell beads Small beads Ground into circles Holes drilled Among Chumash produced on Santa Cruz Island Specialist villages

Settlement Pattern Groups occupied relatively restricted areas Main village ranges in size from 50 to several hundred (Chumash) Villages are semi-permanent –May move after a period of years Fair amount of variability Each village would be politically independent (a “triblet”) –Yokuts were made up of at least 50 triblets Short term use of resource camps Houses were simply structures made of reeds or reed mats Semi-subterranean sweathouses were a common feature and used daily by men

Trade Because groups occupied relatively limited areas trade was very important Raw materials –Shells –Obsidian –Cherts Finished goods –Baskets –Ground stone –Tools

Major sources of obsidian Major sources of obsidian

Boat types Tule reed canoes –Bundles of tule reeds are tied together to form a simple canoe –Usually not more than 2-3 m in length –Suitable for lakes, bays, estuaries Chumash plank canoes (tomol) –Made from short planks of wood without a frame –Planks are stitched together using sinew or rawhide –Seams are sealed with asphalt –Manufactured by specialists belonging to a guild The Brotherhood of the (Canoe) Tomol –4 to 9 m long, 1 m abeam –Could carry up to 1800 kg –Capable of travel on the open ocean

Linguistic Diversity One of the highest rates of language diversity in the world –Six distinct language families Yukian isolate –40-50 distinct languages plus at least as many dialects: Pomo had seven dialects (territory of c km 2 ) Distribution of language families reveals something about the movement of peoples in California