The Kato are the southernmost of the California Athabascans (see pl. 11,
_e_ for a view of Kato territory). They are surrounded on three sides
by Yukian peoples and consequently resemble culturally the peoples of
Central California rather than those of Northwestern California. The
name Kato appears to be of Pomo origin and it was first thought that
the Kato language was a dialect of Pomo (Powers, 1877, p. 147). It was
not until 1903 that Goddard showed their Athabascan affinity (Goddard,
1903_b_).
Information on the ethnogeography of the Kato is derived from several
sources. Merriam's notes contain some information, which seems to have
come from a man named Bill Ray, who was living near Laytonville on
August 16, 1922. This man had been Goddard's informant in 1906, when Ray
was already between sixty and sixty-five years old (Goddard, 1909, p.
68, pl. 9) and he served also as Kroeber's informant in 1923 (Kroeber,
1925_b_).
The Merriam notes contain, in addition to several village names, a few
place and tribal names which I present herewith.