The Hupa are the best known of the California Athabascan groups. They
live in the drainage area of the Trinity River from a short distance
above its mouth to a little above the mouth of South Fork Trinity and in
the drainage area of the South Fork Trinity up to the mouth of Grouse
Creek (pl. 10, _a_).
There have been a number of papers published on a variety of aspects
of Hupa life but the main sources of general ethnography are Goddard's
paper (1903_a_) and Kroeber's Hupa section in the Handbook (1925_a_,
pp. 128-137). The Hupa are the same, in many ways, as the Yurok, so the
sizable literature on that group is also useful.
The territory occupied by the Hupa differs in several respects from
that of the other Athabascan tribes. The elevation of their lands is
everywhere over 2,000 feet and in places rises to 4,000 or 5,000 feet.
Because of the elevation there is a good deal of snow in the mountains
surrounding the valley and this fact may have somewhat isolated the Hupa
from their Athabascan neighbors during the winter months, although it is
known that they were in close contact with some of the Whilkut.
The fish resources of the Hupa territory also constituted an important
distinction. The Trinity is the only river in the Athabascan area in
which there is both a spring and a fall run of salmon. This resource
must have been very important to the Hupa. It is significant that in the
many intensive studies of the Hupa there is no report of any summer camp
away from the river. The Hupa were evidently even more firmly attached
to their riverine environment than were the other Athabascans, and this
fact may well have been due to the double salmon run.
Merriam's estimate of the position of the Hupa, given below, is taken
verbatim from his notes.
_The Tin´-nung-hen-n[=a]´-o or Hoopah._--The Hoopah proper,
who call themselves not Hoopah but Tin´-nung-hen-n[=a]´-o, occupy
the lower part of Trinity River and tributary streams from the
mouth of South Fork Trinity northerly to Bull Creek--a distance of
about 20 miles. On the west they extend to the summit of the long
high mountain range known as The Bald Hills (altitude 4,000 ft.),
which separates their territory from that of the Redwood Creek
tribe, the 'Hwilkut [Chilula]. On the east they reach to the lofty
mountain ridge culminating in Trinity Summit (altitude 6,500 ft.),
the northern part of which separates the drainage area of Mill
Creek from that of Redcap Creek; the southern part, the waters of
Horse-Linto and Cedar creeks from those of the westerly branches of
New River.
Their territory, therefore, is difficult of access, being
protected in all directions by ranges of mountains or deep canyons,
while its western border is about 20 miles from the coast, easterly
from Trinidad. The entire region, except the beautiful Hoopa
Valley, 6 miles in length and a mile or two in breadth, where most
of the villages are located, is mountainous and most of it densely
forested. There are one or two small open stretches on other parts
of Trinity River, and a few grassy slopes on some of the ridges;
elsewhere the forest is continuous.
The Tin´-nung-hen-n[=a]´-o are in contact with five tribes
belonging to three linguistic stocks, namely: the Po-lik´-lah
(often called "Yurok") on the north; the Kar´ok on the northeast;
the Athapaskan E´-tahk-n[)a]-lin´-n[)a]-kah on the east [I have
not been able to identify this group. According to Merriam's
map and according to his own testimony (Merriam, 1930) the Hupa
are bordered on the east by the Shastan Tlo-hom-tah-hoi; the
Athapaskan Ts´[)a]-nung-wh[)a] [Southern Hupa] on the south, and
the Athapaskan 'Hwilkut [Chilula] on the west.]
_The Ts´[)a]-nung-wh[)a]._--(An Athapaskan tribe closely
related to the Hoopah.) The territory of the Ts´[)a]-nung-wh[)a]
lies directly south of the Tin´-nung-hen-n[=a]´-o or Hoopah proper,
embracing the drainage basin of South Fork Trinity River from
Grouse Creek to the junction of South Fork with the main Trinity,
and including also the rather narrow strip between South Fork
on the west and the main Trinity on the east as far up as Cedar
Flat. At the mouth of South Fork they crossed the main Trinity
and claimed a narrow strip two or three miles in length on the
north side of the canyon where two of their villages were located,
Ti´-koo-et-sil´-lah-kut on the high bench opposite the mouth of
South Fork, and Me´-m[)e]h, on the site of the present Fountain
Ranch about 1-1/2 miles east of the other. Their western boundary
was the divide between the tributaries of South Fork Trinity and
those of Redwood Creek (a little west of the courses of Madden
Creek and Mosquito Creek). The eastern boundary was the deep canyon
of Trinity River from the mouth of South Fork to Cedar Flat; the
southern boundary, Grouse Creek and a line running from its mouth
northeasterly and following Mill Creek to the main Trinity at Cedar
Flat--thus including the Burnt Ranch country.
The land of the Ts´[)a]-nung-wh[)a] is mountainous and
forested, and the principal streams flow in deep canyons. It is
roughly circular in outline, and of small extent, measuring in
an air line hardly 15 miles in either direction--north-south or
east-west. Nevertheless it seems to have been rather well populated
for there were at least a dozen villages--all situated on high
benches overlooking the canyons.
Their language differs only slightly from that of the Hoopah.
The Tsa-nung-wha were in contact with four tribes:
the Tin´-nung-hen-n[=a]´-o or Hoopah on the north,
E´-tahk-n[)a]-lin´-n[)a]-kah [Tlo-hom-tah-hoi] and Che-ma-re´-ko
[Chimariko] on the northeast, the Che-ma-re´-ko on the east and
south, the 'Hwi´l-kut [Chilula] on the west.
The following account of Merriam's first visit to the Hoopa Indian
Reservation is taken from his California Journal, Vol. 2, September 5,
1898.
The present Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation Agency is built
around a hollow square, formerly old Fort Gaston. In order to reach
the agency we had to ford Trinity River, here more than a hundred
feet broad, the agency being on the west or coast side. Purchased a
number of sahah baskets.
The night before coming down into Hoopah Valley we camped on
Trinity Mountain where we found a colony of _Aplodontia_ [Mountain
beaver], the Hoopah name of which is Nea't-saas.
The range west of Hoopah Valley between Supply Creek canyon
and Redwood Creek is 3,400 feet in altitude; in other words, 3,000
feet above Hoopah Valley. This range is covered with a rather dense
forest mainly of Douglas Fir, more or less mixed on the warmer
slope with Ponderosa and Sugar Pines and Black, White, and Live
Oaks, among which Madrones, Chinquapins, and Cedars occur.
On the slope east of Hoopah Valley the splendid _Rhododendron
californicum_ occurs. Here also two species of _Cornus_,
_nuttalli_ and the black-berried _sessilis_, were seen, and in a
gulch nearby we found the rather rare Lawson Cypress. On this range
at an altitude of 3,250 feet is a stone pile around a post said to
mark the west boundary of Hoopah Reservation.
On this same range the coast Plume Fern is common and
the ground over a considerable area is carpeted with delicate
_Vancouveria hexandra_.
At Redwood Creek we saw the beautiful ringed tail of a
_Bassariscus_, which animal is said to be common here.
The Redwood (_Sequoia sempervirens_) common along the coast
pushes up Redwood River to a point about two miles below the Bair
ranch. The man at the ranch, W. F. Boyce, told me that during
the previous year he had trapped in the region 32 Black Bear, 21
Coyotes, numerous Wildcats, 3 Panthers, and one Badger, besides
killing any number of deer. Other mammals said to occur here in
addition to Deer are Gray Fox, Otter, Fisher, Marten, Mink, big
and little Skunks (_Mephitis_ and _Spilogale_) in addition to the
Ring-tail _Bassariscus_, here called kil-how'^{ch}.
One of the commonest trees in Redwood Valley is the Tan Oak
(_Lithocarpus densiflora_), the bark of which is used for tanning.
Madrones also are common, many of them four feet or more in
diameter.
The rare Cypress (_Chamaecyparis lawsoniana_) also occurs here
but Douglas Fir is not only the dominant tree but grows to large
size, thousands of them reaching diameters of five to seven feet.