Athapascan Indians; Indians of North America -- California
Cook's figures for the groups which were formerly listed under the
Chilula and Whilkut were 800 and 1,300 making a total of 2,100.
Kroeber's figures were 600 and 400 for a total of 1,000. The difference
between Cook's figures and those given here is partly due to the fact
that Cook took the group on the North Fork of the Mad to be Wiyot,
whereas I have them as Whilkut. Also Cook made a reduction of a ninth
in his Mad River estimates because of the poor environment there. I
have not done this because the Mad River region does not seem to me
noticeably poorer than that along Redwood Creek.
ESTIMATES BASED ON FISH RESOURCES
For the six tribes just discussed, the ethnographic notes at our
disposal offer a means of estimating the population, but we have also
another basis for our calculations. Fishery was the most important
single factor in the California Athabascan economy, hence the fish
resources of the region undoubtedly exerted a marked influence on
population size. Therefore, before attempting to estimate the population
of the remaining groups, for which we have scanty ethnographic
information, I would like to present some data on the fish resources of
the region.
I have attempted to calculate the number of stream miles of fishing
available and thereby to form some estimate of the economic basis of
each of the groups. Most of my information comes from Mr. Almo J.
Cordone, Junior Aquatic Biologist of the California Department of
Fish and Game, who was kind enough to gather the relevant data from
the records of that organization. I have not included material on the
freshwater trout, which was apparently too scarce to be important, or
on the lamprey eel, on which we do not have sufficient information,
although it was of some importance, especially in the Eel River and its
tributaries.
The available stream miles of fishing may seem insufficient material
on which to base estimates of fish resources and unquestionably it
would be desirable to have some idea of the fish population per mile of
stream in order to estimate the food value of the resources available to
the people. On the other hand, this point may not be as crucial as it
seems, for apparently the fish population was not a governing factor in
the number of fish taken by the Indians. According to Rostlund (1952,
p. 17), the aboriginal fishermen of California did not even approach
overfishing. If this is so, then there must have been fish left uncaught
even in the smaller salmon streams and it would therefore seem that
one stream was nearly as good as another, if it carried salmon at all.
An exception would be the Trinity River and its tributaries, the only
streams in the Athabascan area with both spring and fall runs of salmon.
In other streams there is only a fall run.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account