names and the precise boundaries of whose territories are slightly
differently presented by Kroeber and Foster. Merely for convenience the
description of Foster is followed here. Of the eight subtribes the most
numerous and most important were the Ukomnom, who inhabited most of
Round Valley. Next in importance were the Witukomnom directly to the
south. Most of Foster's work was devoted to these two groups.
With respect to village organization Kroeber brought out the basic fact
that the tribe was organized by communities, rather than separate and
wholly independent villages (1925, pp. 161-162).
The community always might and usually did embrace several
settlements.... If designated it was referred to by the name of the
principal village. This place name therefore designates at one time
a cluster of several little towns and on other occasions one of
these towns.
Foster went one step further and clarified the internal organization of
the community. He showed that within each cluster there was always a
principal village of relatively large size called the _nohot_ with a
constellation of small hamlets or, as he usually puts it, "rancherias"
immediately adjacent. The former he likens to a host and the latter to
a group of parasites. The nohot might contain as many as twenty-five
houses and as many as 150 inhabitants. There might be anywhere from "2
to 6 to 8" rancherias per nohot. (See p. 176.) It is therefore
possible, for certain subtribes, to obtain some idea concerning
population from the list of inhabited places remembered by Foster's
informants, particularly since Foster usually specifies what type of
village is meant. This list is quite complete for the Witukomnom and
the Ukomnom and partially so for the Tanom. Kroeber (1925, pp. 163-164)
gives parallel data for a part of the Ukomnom, which can be to some
extent brought into concordance with Foster's list.
The question of local population is difficult because in only one
instance does Foster mention a specific figure: the largest nohot,
which he says contained 25 houses and 150 people. It is of interest
that elsewhere he states that the typical Yuki house would hold 4 to 8
persons. Thus he appears to accept without reservation a family number
of 6. Now of course the average nohot was smaller and must have been
intermediate between the maximum possible with twenty-five houses and
the smaller villages which must have contained four or five. The
halfway point is fifteen, a number which may be accepted with a fair
degree of confidence. The nohot population would then be taken as
ninety. The parasitic village or rancheria was definitely smaller. It
could not have approached 15 houses yet by far the greater number of
rancheria's must have had more than one or two. A reasonable compromise
would be 4 houses and 25 inhabitants. With respect to the number of
these hamlets per community the indefinite "2 to 6 to 8" may be set at
four. Hence the community may be regarded as having on the average 190
inhabitants during pre-invasion times. There is no clear evidence to
justify a larger estimate and on the other hand the whole context of
both Kroeber's and Foster's discussion gives the impression of a group
approaching 200 persons in number. This is somewhat but not materially
greater than the mean number for the 22 subtribes of the Wailaki
according to Goddard's data. That value was 153 and the subtribe among
the Wailaki appears to have been very similar to the community among
the Yuki.
For the Witukomnom Foster lists 15 places, of which 9 are designated as
nohots and 6 as "small." Two points are apparent. First, the informants
of Foster were recalling the _important_ villages which they had seen
or been told about but had forgotten the minor sites, hence the great
preponderance of nohots. In the second place, it is unnecessary for
purposes of calculation to know the names or the number of the
peripheral "parasitic" rancherias if we know the primary towns, the
nohots, for, knowing a nohot, we know a community. Thus we may
immediately set the population of the Witukomnom as at least 1,710
persons. If the informants gave incomplete data, then the number would
be higher.
For the Ukomnom Foster lists 38 place names, most but not all of which
lay in Round Valley. Of these 6 are specified as nohots. This would
yield as a first approximation a population of 1,140. But for the
Ukomnom we have some help from Kroeber. Many of Foster's remaining
places are designated merely "rancheria," since his informants could
remember no further details. For one of them, Kroeber says that there
was a dance house present, which makes the site a nohot instead of a
rancheria. Kroeber's group B includes the village of Pomo, which is not
mentioned by Foster. This was the seat of a head chief, and therefore a
nohot. In addition, Kroeber includes in this group 6 villages in
Williams Valley. Foster says regarding "Flint Valley," by which he is
evidently referring to the same locality, that his informants could
remember no villages. This seems to be an instance where Kroeber's
earlier informants could recall villages which Foster's later ones had
forgotten, for there is no ground for doubting the accuracy of
Kroeber's work. There is no implication that any of these sites was
large, hence they may be regarded as the small type of village with
about 25 persons apiece. We can therefore count 8 nohots plus 6
rancherias, which gives a population of 1,670 for the entire group.
A further check on the Ukomnom is provided by Foster's map of Round
Valley (p. 158). In the valley proper he shows 37 inhabited villages,
of which 25 are named and 12 are unnamed. Of the former, 7 are known to
have been nohots. Taking the nohots at 90 persons and the other sites
at 25 persons, one gets a total population of 1,380. A balance of 300
is by no means excessive for Williams Valley and the peripheral hills.
Incidentally, this figure for Round Valley yields a density of roughly
45 persons per square mile, one which surpasses any other in California
but one which is quite in accord with all the accounts of early
settlers and explorers.
The Tanom, living on the Eel River to the northwest, are credited by
Kroeber with six "divisions," the names for which he gives. Foster
lists also six names, which he says are "probably districts named after
the principal rancheria" (p. 159). There is no doubt that both authors
are referring to communities or, as Kroeber calls them, "political
units." Hence at 190 persons their aggregate population would have been
1,140.
For the other five subtribes we have very little direct information.
Among the Huitinom Foster knows of two nohots and two rancherias, all
at considerable distances from each other. The country was rugged but
the area large and served by Black Butte Creek, a fishing stream with
several tributaries. Two nohots and two rancherias would indicate a
minimum of 330 people. It would not be excessive to place the number at
400.
The Suksaltatamnom lived to the northeast on the headwaters of the
South Fork Eel River, close to the Pitch Wailaki. They are all dead and
nothing whatever is known of their villages. Their number may be
tentatively placed at 400, since in all other respects their habitat
resembled that of the Huitinom.
On Onkolukomnom lived to the southeast in a large area centering around
Lake Pillsbury. There are none left but Foster thinks (p. 160) "they
are undoubtedly numerous." Certainly they must have exceeded the two
preceding subtribes and an estimate of 600 should not be too much.
The Lalkutnom and the Ontitnom lived close together south and west of
Round Valley. Regarding the former Foster says there were "a number of
nohots and rancherias." If we allow four to be "a number" and assume
that the rancherias were all subordinate to the nohots, the population
would have been 760, a not excessive estimate. The Ontitnom, as far as
Foster could determine, consisted of one nohot or, let us say, 200
persons.
_Yuki proper ... 6,880_
THE HUCHNOM
This important subdivision of the Yukian stock lived along the South
Eel River and its affluents from a point below the junction with Outlet
Creek to the head of Potter Valley, at which region they merged with
the Pomo. They were a river people, with their villages all placed on
the banks of the Eel and one or two of the larger tributaries.
The original modern ethnographic account of the Huchnom was by Barrett
(1908), whose description of villages is accepted almost verbatim by
Kroeber in the Handbook (pp. 202-203). A more recent account, derived
from one informant, is given by Foster (1944, pp. 225 ff., App. 1).
Barrett describes and shows on his map 13 villages, of which 11 are
on the Eel and 2 on Tomki Creek. Of the former 5 are located close
together along the boundary between the Huchnom and the Northern Pomo.
This territory is shown on Foster's map as being within the confines of
the Pomo; hence some confusion might arise, were it not that both
Barrett and Kroeber are very positive in ascribing the sites to the
Huchnom, not the Pomo. Barrett's map is undoubtedly more accurate for
this area than Foster's.
Barrett calls all these "old village sites," as opposed, for example,
to modern inhabited villages. He makes no distinction as to size.
Kroeber in taking over Barrett's list refers to them as "main
settlements." Foster states (p. 227) that "village organization and
society in general were about like the Yuki." Hence it could be
inferred that the 13 places were all of the nohot type, and thus that a
total population of 2,470 is implied.
This may not, however, be entirely justified. Kroeber says _settlements_
not _communities_ and Barrett says _villages_. Reference therefore may
have been to individual dwelling places not to groups or constellations.
Foster begs the question entirely by referring merely to the work of the
previous investigators as "ample." On the other hand, if the Huchnom
organization was similar to that of the Yuki, as Foster avers, then at
least some of the names mentioned must have been community capitals, or
nohots, the smaller villages peripheral to which have been forgotten.
We have a few additional items which are helpful. The northernmost
village, _cipomul_, is said by Foster's informant to have been the
residence of a "captain." Hence it was a principal village or nohot.
Three villages are stated by Barrett (and so shown on his map) as
having been located on both banks of the Eel River. Such extension
suggests a size greater than that of a small parasitic hamlet, whether
or not they may be regarded as nohots. Moreover the distribution of
Barrett's sites along the river is interesting. According to his map,
the line of 11 villages along the stream, disregarding minor
meanderings of the latter, extended about 40 miles. From the northern
border and going upstream there are 6 villages in the first 25 miles,
the minimum distance between any two being 3 miles. Since the usual
distance between a primary village and its satellites among the Yuki,
according to Foster, is not more than a mile or two, none of these 6
settlements can have been of the secondary type. The cluster of 4 named
towns along the 5 miles of river at the extreme south were quite close
together, and not more than 2 of them may have been of this type. At
the headwaters to the extreme east there was one definitely isolated
village, which may be placed in the larger category, as may also the
two sites on Tomki Creek. Of the 13 places given by Barrett there is
therefore reason to believe that at least 11 were of the nohot variety.
Indirect confirmation of this conclusion comes from comparison of the
Huchnom village distribution with that of the subtribes of the Yuki
proper. The Tanom had 6 nohots scattered along approximately 20 miles
of the Eel River and the Witukomnom had 4 or 5 along some 15 miles of
stream valley. The Huchnom territory was about 270 square miles and,
judging roughly from the maps of Foster and Barrett, the Tanom and the
Witukomnom areas were approximately 200 square miles each. The Tanom
possessed at least 6 nohots and the Witukomnom 9 (Foster's data). Hence
the average area covered per nohot would be 33 for the Tanom and 22 for
the Witukomnom. If we allow 11 primary villages or nohots for the
Huchnom the average area covered by each would be 25, entirely within
the same range. Now the character of the terrain for the three groups
did not differ in any essential respect. Hence there is no reason to
suppose that the population density of the Huchnom, computed on a
riparian or area basis, was any less than that of the other two
subtribes. Furthermore I can see no evidence pointing to a smaller
individual community or village population among the Huchnom. Eleven
nohots or village constellations would yield a total population of
2,090, or approximately 2,100, an estimate somewhat smaller than the
one given previously but one which I can find no reason for further
reducing.
Some confirmation of the figure derived from village data is contained
in the survey of Heintzelman (1855). He mentions as one of his
principal divisions the Bi-lo-ki, a name which is the same as Balokai.
The latter were the Pomo of Potter Valley, according to Kroeber and
also Barrett (p. 128). This group, Heintzelman says, included 3,000
persons. However, he breaks them down into six smaller divisions and
says that "these Indians reside between Clear Lake and the heads of
Eel, Russian and Trinity Rivers." The six divisions are: Tar-toos,
Si-dam, Po-ma Pomes, Si-mas, Di-no-kis, and Du-che-calla-os. The Si-dam
and Po-ma Pomes are undoubtedly Potter valley Pomo. The Si-mas,
according to a personal communication received from Dr. Barrett, are
probably Yuki from the region of the headwaters of the South Eel River
(the tcimaia mentioned in the Ethnogeography of the Pomo, 1908. p.
247). The Di-no-kis and the Du-che-calla-os Dr. Barrett is unable to
identify. The Tar-toos are undoubtedly Huchnom (see Barrett's
monograph, 1908. p. 256; also confirmed by personal communication).
Their number is given by Heintzelman as 1,600. This value, for 1855,
bespeaks an aboriginal population not far from 2,000. Hence again the
ethnographic method is supported by the estimate of the contemporary
observer.
_Huchnom ... 2,100_
_YUKI TOTAL ... 9,730_
THE ATHAPASCANS AND THE YUKI
If we total all the Yukian divisions, including the Coast Yuki and the
Huchnom, we get 9,730 persons. Similarly, the Athapascan tribes
collectively give 15,450. The combined total is 25,180. Some of the
groups, such as the Tanom and Huchnom, may have been overestimated, but
this will be compensated by underestimates for other groups, such as
the Onkolukomnom. If we accept as valid the published ethnographic data
of Barrett, Kroeber, Foster, and Gifford, together with the manuscript
material of Merriam, it is very difficult to fix the population of the
Athapascan and Yukian stocks at a figure much below 25,000.
In this connection it is interesting to consider the estimates of
Heintzelman, because his figures for the Kato and for the Huchnom have
been shown to conform in general to those derived from village lists.
Many of Heintzelman's Indian names cannot now be identified and his
localities are frequently vague and obscure. However, a reasonably
clear line can be drawn between the Pomo and those tribes living north
of the Pomo.
The first five groups mentioned in the report are unequivocally Pomo.
Then come the "Bi-lo-ki, Po-mes" with the six divisions previously
mentioned called Tar-toos, Si-dam, Po-ma Pomes, Si-mas, Di-no-kis, and
Du-che-calla-os. The Si-dam and Po-ma Pomes are Potter Valley Pomo. The
Tar-toos are Huchnom. The Si-mas are probably southeastern Yuki. The
Di-no-kis and Du-che-calla-os cannot be identified by Dr. Barrett
(personal communication) and are therefore probably not Pomo. Since the
whole group was said by Heintzelman to reside "between Clear Lake and
the heads of Eel, Russian and Trinity Rivers" these two unidentified
divisions may be ascribed to the Yuki. The numerical aggregate of the
four Yukian divisions is 2,450.
Following the Bi-lo-ki on Heintzelman's list are the Me-che-pomas who
inhabit the east part of Kinamoo Valley and the "Eel River Mountains,"
40 miles northeast of the proposed site, i.e., Fort Bragg. Covelo is
almost exactly 40 airline miles northeast of Fort Bragg. Barrett (1908,
p. 249, fn.) says that the Pomo name for Round Valley is maca-kai, and
quotes another variant, Me-sha-kai. In a personal communication he
states his belief that Round Valley is here referred to. Along with the
Me-che-pomas Heintzelman lists the Be-dar-ke-sill, which he says are
found in the south part of Trinity County and the north part of
Mendocino County, 50 miles from Fort Bragg. Since the name cannot be
identified, the people may be allocated on the basis of location alone
to the southern part of the Wailaki. The aggregate population of these
two groups is given as 2,100.
The next seven names on Heintzelman's list are the Car-toos, Ba-tims,
Kab-in-a-toos, Kon-ispilla, Koss-ill-man-u-pomas, Kam-ill-el-pomas, and
So-as. These are all stated to be north of the selected site, Fort
Bragg, with the most remote tribe 35 miles away. In his textual
statement Heintzelman says that he went up the coast as far as Cape
Mendocino, but from his times and distances it appears more likely that
he reached approximately the Mendocino-Humboldt County line before
turning eastward and going inland. This would bring him just about 30
or 40 miles above Fort Bragg.
It has already been pointed out that the first two names of this group.
Car-toos and Ba-tims, refer to the Kato. Dr. Barrett thinks that the
third name, Kab-in-a-toos, may possibly be the Kabenapo of Clear Lake.
He says (personal communication):
We know that the Lake people visited the coast. Perhaps Heintzelman
encountered some of these kabenapo over on a salt-gathering
expedition to some point on the coast north of Fort Bragg.
If Barrett is correct, then this tribe must be excluded from the
present enumeration. The Kon-is-illa cannot be traced, yet the name has
definite similarity to the Coast Yuki name (Pomo form) Kabesillah, as
given by Kroeber in the Handbook (p. 212). Koss-ill-man-u-pomas cannot
be identified, but Barrett says that Kam-ill-el-pomas is the same as
kamalal pomo, a name given by the Pomo to the Coast Yuki (1908, p.
260). The term So-as is thought by Barrett to refer to the village
sosatca in Sherwood Valley.
All these groups are clearly stated by Heintzelman to lie north of Fort
Bragg. Nevertheless, in view of the possibility that Kab-in-a-toos may
represent Clear Lake inhabitants and that the So-as may be a village in
Sherwood Valley, and hence be Pomo, these two divisions may be omitted
from consideration. The remainder may with considerable safety be
ascribed either to the Coast Yuki, the Kato, or perhaps the Sinkyone on
the coast above the Yuki. The total for the five divisions is 1,700
persons.
The next five names on Heintzelman's list are quite definitely Northern
Pomo. Then come, as the last two tribes, the Ki-pomas and the
Yo-sol-pomas. The former were said to inhabit Kinomo Valley, 40 miles
from Fort Bragg, and the latter to live on the coast 50 miles north of
Fort Bragg. According to Barrett, the Ki-pomas are probably the Kai
Pomo of Powers (1908, p. 279, fn.). If so, they lived not in Kinomo
Valley (Round Valley) but in the area between the headwaters of the
South Fork of the Eel River and the Middle Fork of the Eel. Thus they
must have been Athapascan, whether Kato, Sinkyone or Wailaki, it is now
impossible to say. The Yo-sol-pomas are probably the Yu-sal Pomo of
Powers, who were an Athapascan people near Usal, on the coast above
Westport (see Barrett, 1908, p. 260).
The Ki-pomas and the Yo-sol-pomas had a combined population of 2,200.
Thereafter Heintzelman says: "From the Yo-sol-pomas to Eel River on the
north, and east to the ridge from Humboldt to Kin-a-moo Valley there
cannot be less than four thousand...." The area thus delineated is very
ambiguous. It may be taken roughly, however, as embracing--according to
the general map in Kroeber's Handbook--the southern third of the
territory of the Mattole and Sinkyone, together with that of the Kato
and the Wailaki. To this must be added the region which includes all
branches of the Yuki.
The population estimates based upon the village lists of the
ethnographers are as follows: one-third the Sinkyone, 970; one-third
the Mattole, 400; the Kato, 1,100, the Wailaki, 3,350; and the Yuki as
a whole, 9,730. The general total is 15,550. By comparison
Heintzelman's figure for approximately the same area is 12,450.
Considering the imponderable and unassessable factors involved in both
computations the correspondence is remarkably close, particularly in
view of the fact that Heintzelman was not in the region until 1855, at
which time the population was by no means aboriginal.
THE POMO
From a poverty of ethnographic material with the more northerly tribes
we pass to an embarrassment of riches with the Pomo. (Barrett, 1908;
Gifford, 1923, 1926; Gifford and Kroeber, 1937; Kniffen, 1939; Stewart,
1943). The first major study was that of Barrett in 1908. Barrett's
principal contribution was a painstakingly compiled list of Pomo
tribes, villages, and camp sites as recalled by his informants during
the years 1903 to 1906. However he missed the significance of the Pomo
community style of social organization with its implications for
evaluation of village size and importance and hence probable
population. Moreover, many of his place names have since been shown to
be wrongly applied. His work remains therefore chiefly valuable as a
compilation and check list against more recent and more critical work.
Gifford's two papers (1923, 1926) stand as models of investigation of a
single social unit, the village of Cigom. They are useful in a wider
sense as a point of departure and a basis for comparison with other
communities, particularly in the Clear Lake region. The work of Gifford
and Kroeber (1937), although primarily dealing with cultural matters,
contains much pertinent information concerning the sixteen communities
investigated together with several paragraphs pertinent to the
population problem.
Kniffen (1939) made a careful study of the geographical and ecological
status of certain selected groups: the Clear Lake area, the Kacha of
Russian River, and the Coast Pomo. Steward (1943) reviewed the
boundaries and villages of all groups except a few on Clear Lake, using
also the ecological approach.
When one attempts to establish what were the Pomo community groups and
chief villages, he encounters a great deal of divergence of opinion on
detail among these investigators, due largely to differences among
informants. Without extensive field work, which might in fact now be
impossible, many of the discrepancies cannot be resolved. On the whole,
the later students appear to have come closer to the truth and are
probably more reliable.
CLEAR LAKE POMO