The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of CaliforniaCook, Sherburne Friend
History
The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California
Cook, Sherburne Friend
Indians of North America -- California; Indians of North America -- Statistics
The areas with which we are dealing are reasonably large; they are also
relatively homogeneous in the ecological sense. All lie within the
redwood-transition belt (except the Wailaki, which border it on the
east), and all are characterized by small, perennial, salmon-bearing
streams, along which the Indian villages were placed. There is nothing
outstandingly different about the terrain occupied by the Lassik,
Nongatl, and Sinkyone, except that perhaps it lies somewhat higher on
the streams (but the Wailaki are still higher) and contains fewer flats
and open valleys. The three tribes being considered had respectively
325 square miles, 700 square miles, and 615 square miles of territory.
If the density was 4.96 persons per square mile the population would
have been, to correspond, 1,612; 3,472; and 3,050. If we allow for a
somewhat poorer habitat, these values may be reduced a little, say to
1,500; 3,300; and 2,900. It is difficult to see how the estimates can
be carried much lower.
_Nongatl, Lassik, and Sinkyone ... 7,700_
THE WAILAKI
The Wailaki were studied by Goddard (1923, 1924), who published two
papers concerning them. The first covered the main portion of the tribe
along the Eel River and the second the Pitch group which lived along
some of the tributaries of that river. Goddard found the Wailaki
proper, as they may be termed, to consist of 18 communities or
subtribes, each living in one to several villages, and the Pitch group
to consist of 4 subtribes. One peculiarity of the villages was that
they were inhabited only during the six winter months, the people in
the summer dispersing through the hills in search of small game and
plant food. Although the villages were occupied only half the year,
nevertheless they can be used for computation of population since there
were no other fixed abodes with which they can be confused.
In addition to Goddard's monographs, we have a tribe list for a portion
of the Wailaki from Merriam entitled "Tsennahkennes Bands and
Rancherias." Both investigators surveyed independently 11 of the 18
subtribal areas and obtained the names of villages from informants. In
his list on page 109 and in his text Goddard identifies 53 inhabited
places. For two other subtribes, the Chiskokaiya and the Kaikichekaiya,
he cites the villages by name in the textual descriptions on pages 106
and 107. There are a total of 18 for the two subtribes. Villages were
not determined at all for the five northern subtribes.
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