Athapascan Indians; Indians of North America -- California
Went particularly to get additional material from the Redwood
Creek Indians ('How´-wil-kut´-ka or 'HWilkut tribe) who were living
in this region when I was here in September 1910 (see Calif.
Journals, Vol. 1, 90-93, Sept. 15, 1910). Tried to find O'Haniel
Bailey and John Stevens of Redwood Creek, and Stevens' daughter
Laura, from whom I got much information before. After a fruitless
search over the old ground, learned that O'Haniel Bailey died
several years ago; that John Steven is visiting in Hoopa Valley,
and that his daughter Laura is married to a white man.
But after a while I found two old men of the same tribe, who
were born and raised at the Blue Lake rancheria 'Ko-tin´-net, the
westernmost village of the H[)a]-whil´-kut-k[=a] tribe. They call
themselves and their language by the same name, 'Ho-tin´-net [North
Fork Whilkut]. One is blind and both are old. The blind man's name
is Nelinjak; the other's Denbrook. They were eating breakfast of
fried potatoes, dried fish, and coffee in their poor old shack.
I got some good material from them and after some persuasion took
their photographs.
The blind one said he dreamed last night that a white man with
a book was coming to see them.
I got from them the names of some Pah-te-waht [Wiyot] villages
on lower Mad River and about Arcata.
Merriam's third visit to this group was in 1920. The following account
is from his notes.
About the middle of September, 1920, I visited the site of the
old Hoilkut rancheria called T'chil-kahn´-ting (or T'ch-kahn´-ting)
on the east side of Redwood Creek near the Berry ranch, about a
quarter of a mile below the highway bridge on the road from Arcata
to Willow Creek and Hoopa. It was then abandoned, the Indians
having established another village on higher ground about a mile
below, and like the old one, on the east side of the river.
The old site is on an open sand and gravel bar or flat a
little above high water mark and very near the river. The living
houses were square--never round. The house excavations were
about two feet deep. The excavation for the ceremonial house
("sweathouse") was sixteen or eighteen feet across and deeper than
the others, averaging about three feet below the surface. The
ground floor within was covered with large flattish pebbles. The
building had fallen but I was told that it had a low gabled roof,
with entrance toward the river (on the west side). Under the north
end and still plainly visible was a ditch or flume to supply air
and for a draft when starting the fire. The fireplace was in the
middle.
The graveyard is on the downstream end of the same flat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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