Difference between revisions of "Atsugewi" - New World Encyclopedia
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Prior to European contact the Atsugewi were involved in [[barter]] [[trade]] with other indigenous tribes of the area. The Atsugewi gave the [[Achumawi]] furs, hides, meat, seed foods, roots, and vegetables, and received basketry caps, salmon flour, [[steatite]] (soapstone), [[acorn]]s, [[salmon]], [[dentalia]], [[tule]] baskets, and rabbit-skin blankets in return. They gave the Northern [[Paiute]] bows, baskets, and shell beads, receiving from them horses, buckskins, [[red ochre]], and glass beads. They gave the Northeastern [[Maidu]] bows, twined baskets, furs, and horses, and received clam shell disc beads, coiled baskets, and skins. They gave the [[Yana]] buckskin, [[arrow]]s, wildcat quivers, and [[woodpecker]] scalps, and received salt, dentalia, and buckeye fire drills. They traded with the Northern [[Wintun]] with clam shall disc beads and dentalia (Davis 1974). | Prior to European contact the Atsugewi were involved in [[barter]] [[trade]] with other indigenous tribes of the area. The Atsugewi gave the [[Achumawi]] furs, hides, meat, seed foods, roots, and vegetables, and received basketry caps, salmon flour, [[steatite]] (soapstone), [[acorn]]s, [[salmon]], [[dentalia]], [[tule]] baskets, and rabbit-skin blankets in return. They gave the Northern [[Paiute]] bows, baskets, and shell beads, receiving from them horses, buckskins, [[red ochre]], and glass beads. They gave the Northeastern [[Maidu]] bows, twined baskets, furs, and horses, and received clam shell disc beads, coiled baskets, and skins. They gave the [[Yana]] buckskin, [[arrow]]s, wildcat quivers, and [[woodpecker]] scalps, and received salt, dentalia, and buckeye fire drills. They traded with the Northern [[Wintun]] with clam shall disc beads and dentalia (Davis 1974). | ||
| − | The Atsugewi were victims of [[slavery|slave]] raids carried out by the [[Klamath]] and [[Modoc]] tribes who lived in the north and rode [[horse]]s (Aubrey 2006). The Atsugewi who did not have horses could offer little resistance and were captured and sold at an intertribal slave market in [[Oregon]] on the [[Columbia River]] ( | + | The Atsugewi were victims of [[slavery|slave]] raids carried out by the [[Klamath]] and [[Modoc]] tribes who lived in the north and rode [[horse]]s (Aubrey 2006). The Atsugewi who did not have horses could offer little resistance and were captured and sold at an intertribal Dalles slave market in [[Oregon]] on the [[Columbia River]] (Garth 1978). |
European fur-trappers and traders arrived in the area in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, it was not until the [[California Gold Rush]] of 1849 that they disturbed the traditional lifestyle of the Atsugewi. The [[Gold rush]] era brought [[mining]] and other activities that took their lands, and [[disease]]s such as [[smallpox]] that ravaged their population. Conflicts, such as the 1855 [[Rogue River War]] involving tribes to their north in Oregon brought a military presence to the area. Finally, [[Indian reservation|reservation]]s were established and the surviving Atsugewi were forced to to relocate there. | European fur-trappers and traders arrived in the area in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, it was not until the [[California Gold Rush]] of 1849 that they disturbed the traditional lifestyle of the Atsugewi. The [[Gold rush]] era brought [[mining]] and other activities that took their lands, and [[disease]]s such as [[smallpox]] that ravaged their population. Conflicts, such as the 1855 [[Rogue River War]] involving tribes to their north in Oregon brought a military presence to the area. Finally, [[Indian reservation|reservation]]s were established and the surviving Atsugewi were forced to to relocate there. | ||
Revision as of 21:47, 24 November 2008
| Atsugewi | |||
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| Palaihnihan | |||
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| Achomawi, together often referred to as "Pit River Indians" |
The Atsugewi were Native Americans residing in what is now northern California, United States, in the vicinity of Mount Shasta, specifically the Pit River drainage on Burney, Hat, and Dixie Valley or Horse Creeks. They were closely related to the Achomawi, and lived to their south.
Location
The "Pit River Indians," of whom the Atsugewi are one group, traditionally occupied lands along the Pit River in the far northeastern part of California. The Pit River is so called because of the pits dug by local inhabitants for the purpose of catching game. The region, from Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak to the Warner Range, has a tremendous ecological diversity yielding a huge variety of foods, medicines, and raw materials.
The Atsugewi occupied an area to the south of the Achomawi along three streams—the Hat Creek, the Burney Creek, and Horse Creek Dixie Valley)—that drained northward into the Pit River. The Atsugewi consisted of two groups (the Atsugé and the Apwaruge). The Atsugé ("pine-tree people") from the Hat Creek area, and the Apwaruge ("juniper-tree people") of the Dixie Valley.
Due to their location along the Hat Creek, Atsugewi are also known as the "Hat Creek Indians." Hat Creek rises in two forks on the eastern slopes of Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and flows northward through Lassen National Forest to its mouth at Lake Britton near Burney, California. It has a trout population consisting of wild rainbow and brown trout. In the summer they roamed over the higher elevations of Black Butte and Mount Lassen, while in the winter they remained in villages closer to the river. This area is densely wooded; by contrast the Apwaruge lived in the plains of Dixie Valley, an area with fewer trees although rich in marshes.
Population
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achuwawi and Atsugewi as 3,000. A more detailed analysis by Fred B. Kniffen (1928) arrived at the same figure. T. R. Garth (1978:237) estimated the Atsugewi population at a maximum of 850.
Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achumawi and Astugewi in 1910 as 1,100. The population was given as about 500 in 1936.
History
Prior to European contact the Atsugewi were involved in barter trade with other indigenous tribes of the area. The Atsugewi gave the Achumawi furs, hides, meat, seed foods, roots, and vegetables, and received basketry caps, salmon flour, steatite (soapstone), acorns, salmon, dentalia, tule baskets, and rabbit-skin blankets in return. They gave the Northern Paiute bows, baskets, and shell beads, receiving from them horses, buckskins, red ochre, and glass beads. They gave the Northeastern Maidu bows, twined baskets, furs, and horses, and received clam shell disc beads, coiled baskets, and skins. They gave the Yana buckskin, arrows, wildcat quivers, and woodpecker scalps, and received salt, dentalia, and buckeye fire drills. They traded with the Northern Wintun with clam shall disc beads and dentalia (Davis 1974).
The Atsugewi were victims of slave raids carried out by the Klamath and Modoc tribes who lived in the north and rode horses (Aubrey 2006). The Atsugewi who did not have horses could offer little resistance and were captured and sold at an intertribal Dalles slave market in Oregon on the Columbia River (Garth 1978).
European fur-trappers and traders arrived in the area in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, it was not until the California Gold Rush of 1849 that they disturbed the traditional lifestyle of the Atsugewi. The Gold rush era brought mining and other activities that took their lands, and diseases such as smallpox that ravaged their population. Conflicts, such as the 1855 Rogue River War involving tribes to their north in Oregon brought a military presence to the area. Finally, reservations were established and the surviving Atsugewi were forced to to relocate there.
Culture
The Atsugewi lived by hunting and gathering, and lived in small groups without centralized political authority. Their villages were organized into autonomous "tribelets" which consisted of a central village and a number of satelites.
They depended on fish and other river resources to survive, as well as on acorns and other vegetables growing in the river valleys. Like other Californian tribes they are masters at basketry, creating beautiful designs colored with vegetable dyes.
Summer homes were cone-shaped, with tule matting as coverings. In the winter they lived in partially underground houses, built with wooden frames and coverings of tule, grass, and bark.
Language
The Achumawi and Atsugewi languages are two closely related members of the Palaihnihan branch of the greater Hokan linguistic family.
Traditional beliefs
Atsugewi traditional narratives include myths, legends, and oral histories. Their oral literature reflects the transitional position of Atsugewi culture between central California, Northwest Coast, Plateau, and Great Basin regions.
Contemporary Atsugewi
Today there are eleven bands of the Pit River Indian tribe, which include the Atsugewi as well as the Achomawi and others. Today there are around 1,800 tribal members living on the Alturas, Big Bend, Big Valley, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek, Redding, Roaring Creek, and Susanville rancherias, as well as on the Pit River, Round Valley and X-L Ranch reservations. A small number of Atsugewi live in their ancestral homelands.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Garth, T. R. 1978. "Atsugewi." In California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 236-243. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- Kniffen, Fred B. 1928. "Achomawi Geography." University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 23:297-332.
- Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
- Waldman, Carl. 2006. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, NY: Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0816062744
- Dixon, Roland B. 1908-1909. Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales. Journal of American Folk-Lore 21(81): 159-77, 22(85): 283-287. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- Aubrey, Val. [2004] 2006. Eagle Lake Fishing Information USFS Passport in Time. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- Davis, James Thomas. 1974. Trade Routes and Economic Exchange among the Indians of California. Ballena Press.
External links
- Pit River Indians (Achumawi, Atsugewi)
- Atsugewi
- Achomawi, Atsuwegi, & Shasta peoples San Francisco State University's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences webpage.
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