The subgroups of the Wailaki (map 5) are called bands by Merriam and
subtribes by Goddard but it is clear that they correspond precisely to
the definition of tribelet given by Kroeber (1932, pp. 258-259), a fact
which Kroeber noted at the time (p. 257). Goddard says (1923_a_, p. 95):
[They] had definite boundaries on the river as well as
delimited hunting grounds on an adjoining ridge. In the summer
and fall they appear to have been under the control of one chief,
and to have camped together for gathering nuts and seeds and for
community hunting. In winter they lived in villages and were
further subdivided.
I. There is close agreement on the boundaries of the northernmost
Wailaki tribelet on the western side of the Eel. Merriam gives the
names kun-nun´-dung ke´-ah-hahng, ki´-kot-ke-ah-hahng, ki-ketch-e
k[=a]-ah-hahng, and ki-ke´-che ke´-ah-hahng as designations for the
group. He says the territory of this group runs from Chamise Creek
in the north to Pine Creek in the south. Goddard gives the same name
(rendered kaikitcEkaiya) and the same boundaries for the group.
The territory north of Chamise Creek on the west side of the river is
assigned by Merriam to the taht´-so ke´ah tribelet of the Lassik. This
attribution would seem to indicate that Merriam has put his northern
Wailaki boundary too far north, that it should hit the Eel at Chamise
Creek rather than at Kekawaka Creek. Goddard calls these people the
da[-l]sokaiya, "blue ground people," which no doubt corresponds to
taht´-so ke´ah. He says, "It is doubtful that they should be counted as
Wailaki, but they were not Lassik and probably spoke the same dialect as
the Wailaki."
II. This tribelet is called s[)e]-tah´-be ke´-ah-hahng or
s[=a]-tah´-ke-ahng by Merriam. In one place his notes say that the
territory includes land on both sides of the Eel, running south of
Indian Creek on the western side. This is clearly not so, for he refers
several times to a different tribelet occupying that area. That the
tribelet was confined to the east side of the river is further indicated
by Goddard, who gives Pine Creek on the north and Natoikot Creek on the
south as the boundaries. Goddard's name for the tribelet is sEtakaiya.
III. Goddard says that there was a tribelet on the west side of the Eel
whose territory was bounded on the north by Natoikot Creek and extended
south to a point opposite the mouth of North Fork. His name for this
group is taticcokaiya. Merriam's name for the group in this general area
is tah-chis´-tin ke-ah-hahng. He does not give any boundaries for them.
IV. and V. Merriam gives the following names for the tribelet occupying
the territory around Blue Rock and Bell Springs Creeks: tsi-to´-ting
ke´-ah, from the name of Bell Springs Mountain; sen-chah´-ke´-ah;
s[)e]-so ke´-ah-hahng, "Blue Rock Band"; then´-chah-tung k[=a]´-ah,
"Blue Rock Band." On the other hand, he gives the following names for
the people who occupied the west bank of the Eel for a mile or more
south of the mouth of North Fork: nin-ken-n[=e]tch k[=a]-ah-hahng;
nung-ken-ne-tse´ ke´-ah; n[)e]-tahs´ ke-ah-hahng. Goddard says that the
entire stretch from the mouth of North Fork south to Blue Rock Creek
on the west bank of the river was occupied by a single tribelet called
nIñkannitckaiya, a name clearly corresponding to Merriam's names for the
people on the west bank of the Eel, south of North Fork. I am inclined
to think that Merriam is correct and that there were two tribelets in
this area. Merriam's notes include five different references to the
southern tribelet as a separate group, so there is a distinct impression
of autonomy. If Merriam is correct in separating the two groups, the
division line no doubt falls a mile or two north of Bell Springs Creek.
VI. On the eastern side of the river Merriam gives two names for the
tribelet holding the land south from Kekawaka Creek. He says the
yu-e-yet´-te ke´-ah was the tribelet north of Chamise Creek. Their
southernmost village, called sko´-teng, was on the east side of the
river a half-mile or a mile south of Kekawaka Creek. The sko´-den ke´-ah
Merriam gives as the name of the tribelet on the east side of the Eel
River and about a half-mile south of Kekawaka Creek. Goddard gives
i[-l]kodAñkaiya, corresponding to Merriam's sko´-den ke´-ah, as the
name of the group extending from about two miles south of the mouth of
Chamise Creek nearly to the mouth of Kekawaka Creek. Both Merriam and
Goddard indicate some doubt whether these people were Wailaki.
VII. Merriam gives the names ch[=e]s-kot k[=e]-ah-hahng,
chis´-ko-ke´-ah, and t[=o]s-ahng´-kut for the tribelet living in
Horseshoe Bend. The first two names come from the word chis-kot, the
name for Copper Mine Creek. Goddard also gives these last two names for
the group (written tciskokaiya and tosAñkaiya, "water stands people"),
and he says their territory includes the land between Copper Mine Creek
on the south and a point a mile or two south of Chamise Creek on the
north.
VIII. Goddard says that a tribelet named slakaiya or sEyadAñkaiya
occupied the territory between Copper Mine Creek in the north and Willow
Creek in the south. Merriam gives the name nung-ken-ne-tse´ ke´-ah to
this group, which he locates on the east side of the Eel River at Island
Mountain. He gives no boundaries for the group.
IX. Merriam gives two names for the tribelet occupying the Indian Creek
region. The chen-nes´-no-ke´-ah was the band on chen-nes-no´-kot Creek
(Indian Cr.) from Lake Mountain to the Eel River; he also writes this
name ken-nis-no-kut ke-ah-hahng. His other name for the group has the
variants bas-k[=a]´-ah-hahng, bas-ki´-yah, bus-k[=a]-ah-hahng. This
group is said to have been on the east side of the Eel River a mile
or two north of Indian Creek (in the Fenton Range country). Goddard
gives the name bAskaiya, "slide people," corresponding to the last of
Merriam's names, for the tribelet from Willow Creek south to Cottonwood
Creek. The name refers to a hillside, usually of clay, which has broken
loose and has slid down.
X. Merriam identifies no group as occupying the land from Cottonwood
Creek south to the mouth of North Fork. Goddard says the region was
occupied by a tribelet called sE[-l]tchikyokaiya, "rock red large
people."
XI. Merriam says the s[=a]´-tan-do´-che ke´-ah-hahng was the name of
a tribelet on the north side of North Fork and about a half-mile from
its junction with the main Eel. The name means "rock reaching into the
water." Goddard's name for this same group is sEtandoñkiyahAñ, a clear
correspondence, and he indicates that their land was on about the last
mile of North Fork.
XII. According to Merriam the next group up North Fork was named
s[)e]-cho ke´-ah-hahng. Its land was on the north side of North Fork a
mile or more above its mouth. Goddard has the same name for the group,
sEtcokiyahAñ; he says the people occupied both the north and south sides
of a one-mile stretch of North Fork beginning a little way below the
mouth of Wilson Creek and extending downstream from there.
XIII. Merriam says ki´-ye ke´-ah-hahng was the name of the tribelet on
both sides of North Fork at the mouth of Wilson Creek. This is in accord
with Goddard's data. He gives the name as kAiyEkiyahAñ. Neither Goddard
nor Merriam gives the limits of this group up North Fork. Presumably
they coincide with the tribal boundary.
XIV. According to Goddard a tribelet called nE[-l]tcikyokaiya was in
possession of the territory on the east bank of the Eel from McDonald
Creek northward to the mouth of North Fork. Merriam does not record this
group.
XV. The southernmost tribelet on the eastern side of the Eel is called
sE[-l]gAikyokaiya, "rock white large people," by Goddard. They are said
to have occupied the territory from McDonald Creek south to Big Bend
Creek. This group is not recorded by Merriam.