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Pomo People
Pomo girl photographed by Edward S. Curtis in 1924
Pomo girl photographed by Edward S. Curtis in 1924.
Total population

1770: 8,000
1851: 3,500-5,000
1910: 777-1,200
1990: 4,900
Regions with significant populations
California: Mendocino County, Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, Lake County, Colusa County
Languages
Pomoan Family
Religions

Shamanism: Kuksu, Messiah Cult


The Pomo people are a linguistic branch of Native American people of Northern California. Mendocino County is a County located on the north coast of the U Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California Wine industry and often called The Valley of the Moon Napa County is a County located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U Lake County is a County located in the north central portion of the U Colusa County is a County located in the Central Valley of the U Pomoan ( Phōmō also called Kulanapan) is a family of Endangered languages spoken in northern California by the Pomo people on Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a Shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people The mythology of the Pomo people, Native Americans from Northwestern California, centered on the powerful entities of the 'Kunula' a Coyote, Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Northern California is the northern portion of the US state of California. Their historic territory was on the Pacific Coast between Cleone and Duncans Point, and inland to Clear Lake. A country's Pacific coast is the part of its Coast facing the Pacific Ocean. Mendocino County is a County located on the north coast of the U Duncans Point is a cape on the Pacific Coast of northern California in the United States. Clearlake is a city located in Lake County California. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 13142 A separate group speaking a language of the same family, called the Northeastern Pomo, also lived near Stonyford. Colusa County is a County located in the Central Valley of the U

Contents

Etymology

The name Pomo derived from a combination of the words pʰoːmoː and pʰoʔmaʔ in the people's native dialects;[1] it originally meant "those who live at red earth hole" and was once the name of a village in Southern Potter Valley, possibly referring to local deposits of the red mineral magnesite that was used for red beads, or to the reddish earth and clay such as hematite mined in the area. Magnesite is not to be confused with Magnetite or Magnemite. Magnesite is Magnesium carbonate, Mg[[carbon Hematite, also spelt hæmatite, is the Mineral form of Iron(III oxide (Fe2O3 one of several Iron oxides [2] At the same time in the Northern Pomo dialect, -pomo or -poma was used as a suffix after the names of places, to mean a subgroup of people of the place. [3] By the year 1877 (possibly beginning with Powers) Pomo has been extended in English to mean the entire stock of people known today as the Pomo. [2]

Culture

The people called Pomo were originally linked by location, language, and other elements of culture. They were not socially or politically linked as a large unified "tribe. " Instead, they lived in small groups ("bands"), linked by geography, lineage and marriage, and relied upon fishing, hunting and gathering for their food.

The Pomo spoke seven distinct Pomoan languages that are not mutually intelligible. Pomoan ( Phōmō also called Kulanapan) is a family of Endangered languages spoken in northern California by the Pomo people on In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand There are still a few speakers of some of the Pomoan languages, and efforts are being made by the Pomo people to preserve those languages and other elements of their culture.

Language

Main article: Pomoan languages

Pomo also known as Kulanapan, is a distinct language family that includes seven branches, including Southern Pomo, Eastern Pomo and Kashaya. Pomoan ( Phōmō also called Kulanapan) is a family of Endangered languages spoken in northern California by the Pomo people on Southern Pomo is one of seven mutually unintelligible Pomo languages which were formerly spoken in Northern California along the Russian River and Eastern Pomo (also Clear Lake Pomo) is an extinct Hokan language in the Pomoan family formerly spoken around Clear Lake in Kashaya (also Southwestern Pomo, Kashia) is a severely endangered Pomoan language spoken on the Northern California coast in Sonoma Stephen Powell classified the language family as "Kulanapan" in 1891, based on the name first employed by George Gibbs in 1853, who used the name of one band from the Clear Lake Pomo. [4]

Religion

The Pomo people participated in shamanism; one form this took was the Kuksu religion that was evident in Central and Northern California, which included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual mourning ceremony, puberty rites of passage, shamanic intervention with the spirit world and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms. Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a Shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people A rite of passage is a Ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath [5][6] The Pomo believed in a supernatural being the Kuksu or Guksu (depending on their dialect) who lived in the south and who came during ceremonies to heal their illnesses. Medicine men dressed up as Kuksu. Another later shamanistic movement that took place was the Messiah Cult, introduced to them by the Wintun and was practiced through 1900. Wintun (also Wintuan, Wintoon) is the name generally given to a group of related Native American tribes who lived in Northern California, including This cult believed in prophets who had dreams, "waking visions" and revelations from "presiding spirits" and "virtually formed a priesthood. " The prophets earned much respect and status among the people. [7]

Traditional narratives

Main article: Pomo traditional narratives

The record of Pomo myths, legends, tales, and histories is extensive. Pomo traditional narratives include myths legends tales and oral histories preserved by the Pomo people of the North Coast region of northwestern California The Traditional Narratives of Native California are the myths legends tales and oral histories that survive as fragments of what was undoubtedly once a vast unwritten literature The body of narratives is classed within the Central California cultural pattern, but influences from the Northwest Coast and, more tenuously, from the Plateau region have also been noted. [5]

Mythology

Main article: Pomo mythology

The Pomo had a strong mythology of creation and world order, that includes the personification of the Kuksu or Guksu healer spirit, spirits from six cardinal directions, and the Coyote as their ancestor and creator god. The mythology of the Pomo people, Native Americans from Northwestern California, centered on the powerful entities of the 'Kunula' a Coyote, The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" A creator deity is a Deity in a Creation myth responsible for the creation of the World (or Universe) [8]

History

Prehistory

According to some linguistic reconstructions, the Pomo people descend from the Hokan-speaking people in the Sonoma County, California region, which was a critical meeting point of coastal redwood forests and interior valleys with their mixed woodlands. Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of California, is one of the northernmost counties of the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area, U Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living Species of the Genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly In this hypothesis, about 7000 BC, a Hokan-speaking people migrated into the valley and mountain regions around Clear Lake, and their language evolved into "Proto-Pomo. " The lake was rich in resources to them. About 4000 BC to 5000 BC, some of the pro-Pomoans migrated into the Russian River Valley and north to present day Ukiah. For other uses see Russian River. The Russian River is a River in the Northern California counties of Mendocino Ukiah (pronounced You-kai-uh juːˈkаɪjə is the County seat and largest city of Mendocino County California. Their language diverged into western, southern, central and northern Pomo. Another people, possibly Yukian speakers, lived first in the Russian River Valley and the Lake Sonoma area, but the Pomoans slowly took these places over. Yuki-Wappo (also Yukian, Wappo-Yuki) is a small extinct Language family of western California consisting of only two languages [9]

Over 1,000 prehistoric charmstones and numerous arrowheads have been unearthed at Tolay Lake, in Southern Sonoma County that are attributed to both Pomo and Coast Miwok people. A charmstone is a mineral specimen believed to have Healing, mystical or Paranormal powers or energy Tolay Lake is a shallow Freshwater Lacustrine Water body in southern Sonoma County, California, United States. The Coast Miwok were the second largest group of Miwok Native American people The lake was thought to be a sacred site and ceremonial gathering and healing place. [10]

Lake Sonoma area

One Pomo area that was studied in great detail by archaeologists was the Lake Sonoma area, consisting of 17,000 acres (69 km²) in the North Coast Range, west of the town of Geyserville) (considered an "upland" valley in Pomo territory). Geyserville is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County California, USA It was surveyed and excavated in 1978 by the Warm Springs Cultural Resources Study of Sonoma State University, before the valley was submerged under water with the completion of the Warm Springs Dam in the 1980s. There the archaeology surveyors documented over 62 sites of Pomo prehistory, including 38 middens and numerous petroglyphs. A midden, also known as a kitchen midden, or a shell heap, is a dump for domestic waste. Among their excavations and findings were:

Both of these Skaggs Phase sites had millingstones and handstones for grinding seeds and may have been hunting villages or temporary camps. Obsidian was used only rarely, mainly from Mt. Konocti. Obsidian is a naturally occurring Glass formed as an extrusive Igneous rock. Mount Konocti is a 4299 foot (1310 m Volcano in Lake County California, on the south shore of Clear Lake. Petroglyphs were absent, and population was focused only along major creeks. [12]

The "Dry Creek Phase", lasting about from 500 BC to 1300 AD, was very different. The land was populated more extensively and permanently. Archaeologists believe a Pomoan group took over the lands in this phase and created 14 additional sites in the Warm Springs area and Upper Dry Creek Area. Bowl mortars and pestles appeared in this phase, probably used to pound acorns (as opposed to the milling stones used for seeds). The sites were more permanent and lifeways "more complex" as beads and ornaments appeared in this phase and half the artifacts were made of obsidian. Steatite objects were found that must have been imported into the region to make beads, pendents and mortars. Trade was clearly on a large scale. [13]

The "Smith Phase," named after the Pomo consultants, ranged from 1300 AD to the mid-19th century. The surveyors mapped 30 sites in this era showing a gradual transition and intensification of trends. The bow and arrow appeared as the main technological advancement. A bow is a Weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow An arrow is a pointed Projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most Cultures. Shell-bead manufacturing and drill production was important. Drills were found in high numbers. Clamshell beads were also found in numbers, a major currency among the Indians of Central California, indicating a vast trade network. [14]

Post contact

The way of life of the Pomo people changed with the arrival of immigrating Spanish and European-Americans in California. At first with the Spanish missionaries, some of the southern Pomo were moved to the Mission San Francisco, later the Mission Sonoma to work and live. The Mission District, also commonly called "The Mission " is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, USA, named after the Another mission bearing the name San Francisco Solano is the Mission San Francisco Solano in Coahuila, Mexico.

In the Russian River Valley, a missionary baptized the Makahmo Pomo people of the Cloverdale area, and many Pomo people fled the valley because of this. Cloverdale is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States. One such group fled to the Upper Dry Creek Area. The surveyors of the Lake Sonoma region believe this is why the villages became more centralized. They suggest the people retreated to this remote valley and attempted to band together and defend themselves there. [15]

In 1837 a very deadly epidemic of smallpox that came from settlements at Fort Ross wiped out most native people in the Sonoma and Napa regions. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. [16]

In 1850 the Russian River Valley Area was settled by the 49ers, and "Lake Sonoma Valley" area was homesteaded out. The California Gold Rush (1848&ndash1855 began on January 24 1848 when Gold was discovered by James Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California Many Pomo were then taken to reservations so that the new Americans could homestead the former Pomo lands. Some Pomo took jobs as ranch laborers; others lived in refuge villages.

One ghost town in the Lake Sonoma Valley excavations was identified as "Amacha" built for 100 people but hardly used. Elder natives of the region remember their grandfathers hid out from the oncoming immigrants in the mid-1850s at Amacha and think that one day soldiers reputedly took all the people in the village to government lands and burned the village houses. [17]

National Thorn was the first of Grace Hudson's 684 popular portraits of Pomo individuals
National Thorn was the first of Grace Hudson's 684 popular portraits of Pomo individuals

From 1891 to 1935, starting with National Thorn, Grace Hudson painted over 600 portraits, mainly of Pomo individuals living near her in the Ukiah area. Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865 - 1937 was an American painterShe was nationally known during her lifetime for a numbered series of more than 684 portraits of the local Pomo Indians Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865 - 1937 was an American painterShe was nationally known during her lifetime for a numbered series of more than 684 portraits of the local Pomo Indians Ukiah (pronounced You-kai-uh juːˈkаɪjə is the County seat and largest city of Mendocino County California. Her artistic style in treating her subjects was sympathetic, poignant and endearing, portraying domestic and idyllic native scenes that would have been fast disappearing in that time. [18]

Federal recognition

Further information: Federally recognized tribes

The United States acknowledges many groups of native people of the United States as "federally recognized tribes," giving them a quasi-sovereign status similar to that of states. Federally recognized tribes are those Indian tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for certain federal government Many other groups are not recognized. The Pomo groups presently recognized by the United States are based in Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties and include:

Population

In 1770 there were about 8,000 Pomo people; in 1851 population was estimated between 3,500 and 5,000; and in 1880 estimated at 1450. Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of California, is one of the northernmost counties of the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area, U Lake County is a County located in the north central portion of the U Mendocino County is a County located on the north coast of the U The 70-acre Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley, California is home to about 170 members of the Coyote Valley tribe of the Pomo Native American This page is for the Indian band in California For the government of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson people in Lytton British Columbia, Canada The Redwood Valley Rancheria (also called Redwood Valley Reservation) is the land reservation where the Native American community known as the The Redwood Valley [19] The 1910 Census reported 777 Pomo, but that is probably low. Anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber estimated 1,200 in the same year [20]. Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11 1876&ndashOctober 5 1960 was one of the most influential figures in American Anthropology in the first half of the twentieth According to the 1930 census there were 1,143. In 1990, the census showed 4,900.

Villages and communities

Historical

The following historical list of Pomo villages and tribes is taken largely from John Wesley Powell, 1891:[4]

Present-day Pomo communities

See also

Pomo mentioned in:

Notes

  1. ^ Campbell, Lyle (1997). The 70-acre Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley, California is home to about 170 members of the Coyote Valley tribe of the Pomo Native American The Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians (also known as the Elem Band of Pomo and Sulfur Bank Band of Pomo Indians) are a Native American band of Pomo based The Redwood Valley Rancheria (also called Redwood Valley Reservation) is the land reservation where the Native American community known as the The Redwood Valley The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly the Federated Coast Miwok, was officially recognized by the U The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation lying primarily in northern Mendocino County California, USA. The Bloody Island Massacre (also called the Clear Lake Massacre) occurred on an Island called Bo-no-po-ti at the north end of Clear Lake, Lake County Lake Mendocino is a large Reservoir in Mendocino County California, northeast of Ukiah. Santa Rosa Creek is a 22 mile (35 km long Stream in Sonoma County California which rises on Hood Mountain and discharges to the Laguna de Santa American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 379 n. 68
  2. ^ a b McClendon and Oswalt 1978:277.
  3. ^ McClendon and Oswalt 1978:277; Handbook of American Indians, 1906.
  4. ^ a b Powell 1891:87-88.
  5. ^ a b Kroeber, Alfred. The Religion of the Indians of California, 1907, Vol. 4 #6, sections titled "Shamanism", "Public Ceremonies", "Ceremonial Structures and Paraphernalia", and "Mythology and Beliefs".
  6. ^ The Kuksu Cult paraphrased from Kroeber.
  7. ^ Barret, 1917, page 398, 440-441.
  8. ^ Barret, 1917:397-441.
  9. ^ Stewart 1985:13-15.
  10. ^ Tolay Lake Park: Natural and Cultural History, County of Sonoma Regional Parks Department: Tolay Lake Regional Park, August 20, 2007.
  11. ^ Stewart 1985:53-56.
  12. ^ Stewart 1985:53-56.
  13. ^ Stewart 1985:56-59.
  14. ^ Stewart 1985:59.
  15. ^ Stewart 1985:59.
  16. ^ Silliman 2004.
  17. ^ Stewart 1985:59-60.
  18. ^ Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House
  19. ^ Cook, pages 236-245.
  20. ^ Kroeber

References

Further reading

External links

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