Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579Heizer, Robert F. (Robert Fleming)
History
Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579
Heizer, Robert F. (Robert Fleming)
Drake, Francis, approximately 1540-1596 -- Travel -- California; Indians of North America -- California
If, however, Drake landed in Bodega Bay, the situation would be somewhat
different. The visitors of the 18th and 21st would be Bodega Coast
Miwok. Those arriving on the 23d could have been Tomales Bay or Olema
Coast Miwok, and the arrival on the 26th of the _Hioh_ with his retinue
and followers might mark the presence of Southern Pomo, or, less
probably, Central Pomo who were concentrated in the interior some fifty
miles north of Bodega Bay.
It is credible, then, that Drake landed in either Drake's Bay or Bodega
Bay, since the native words listed by Fletcher and Madox all belong to
the Coast Miwok language and not to any Pomo dialect.[39] It is
improbable that the ceremonies, customs, and material culture forms
described by Fletcher can be _specifically_ attributed to the Pomo, as
intimated by Wagner,[40] for at least three reasons: (1) Northern Coast
Miwok and Southern Pomo cultures are practically indistinguishable; (2)
the words _Hioh_ and _Gnaah_ seem to be Coast Miwok words rather than
words of Pomo attribution; and (3) if Drake landed in Coast Miwok
territory it is unlikely that the Pomo would be permitted to enter the
territory of their southern neighbors and to perform a ceremony which
the Coast Miwok themselves were as well able to do.
Following is an examination of the day-by-day account of Fletcher.
_June 18._--A single man in a "canow" (probably a tule _balsa_) came out
to the ship and delivered an oration. The canoeman also brought with
him, and threw into the ship, a bunch of black feathers tied in a round
bundle, and a small basket filled with an herb ("Tobah"), both of which
were tied to a short stick.
In 1595, Sebastián Cermeño noted almost exactly the same thing in
Drake's Bay,[41] and something very similar was observed by Francisco
Mourelle in Bodega Bay in 1775.[42] Cermeño says: "On the day on which
the ship anchored in the bay, about four o'clock in the afternoon, many
Indians appeared on the beach and soon one of them got into a small
craft which they employ like a çacate of the lake of Mexico. He came off
to the ship, where he remained quite a time talking in his language, no
one understanding what he said." Mourelle's statement is similar: there
is no mention of a speech by the Indians in "tule canoes," but they
presented the Spanish with plumes of feathers, "bone rosaries" (shell
bead necklaces?), garlands of feathers which they wore around their
heads, and a canister of seeds which tasted like walnuts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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