Achomawi

Achomawi

Achomawi woman (circa 1920)
Regions with significant populations
United States 1,800 - Pit River Indians [1]
Languages
Palaihnihan
Footnotes
San Diego State Univ.

The Achomawi (also Achumawi, Ajumawi and Ahjumawi) were one of several bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA. They lived in the Fall River valley, Tule Lake and Pit River area near Montgomery Creek in Shasta County to Goose Lake on the Oregon state line. They were closely related to the Atsugewi. The Achomawi spoke a Palaihnihan language.^[2]

Territory

Historically, Achomawi territory was in the Pit River drainage area (with the exception of Hat Creek and Dixie Valley, which were Atsugewi). This 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. Total area was probably one hundred and seventy-five miles in length as the river flows.^[3] Strictly speaking, Achomawi is the name of only that part of the group living in the basin of the Fall River.^[4]

Fishing

One method of catching fish was the building of fish traps near the shore composed of lava stone walls, with an outer wall and inner walls that concentrate the issuing spring water to attract the sucker and trout The openings are then closed using a keystone, canoe prow or log. The inner walls trap the fish in the shallow gravel area directly in front of the spring's mouth where they are taken by spear or basket. The shallow gravel enclosure was also the spawning grounds for the sucker fish, which the Achomawi were careful to maintain for a successful spawn by opening the walls to release the fish. The fish were cleaned, and then sun-dried or smoked on wooden frames for either later consumption or trade with other groups. The harvest was done in the evening using torches for light to show the fish, which could number in the hundreds.^[5]

Several fish traps can be seen along the shores of Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park. Fish hooks and fish spears were made from deer bone, the fish spear being a two pronged bone that had a socket for the fitting of a wooden shaft.
Nets were another method employed to snare trout, pike and sucker and the Achomawi made five different types , three of which were bag-shaped dipnets , a seine and a gill net. Of the three dipnets, the Lipake was the smallest, a round bag with an oval hoop sewn at the mouth that was used to scoop the sucker fish into while diving underwater.^[6]

Hunting

Hunting techniques differed from other California Native Americans. A deep pit would be dug along a deer trail, covered with brush, the trail restored including adding deer tracks using a hoof, and all dirt and human evidence taken away. The settlers' cattle would also fall in these pits, so much so that the settlers convinced the people to stop this practice. The pits were most numerous near the river because the deer came down to drink and so the river is named for these trapping pits. ^[7]

Gathering

Acorns, peanuts, pine nuts, seeds of wild oats and other grasses, manzanita berries and other berries were prepared for either consumption, winter storage or for trade. The plant commonly called camas (Camassia Quamash) was (and still is) an important food source of many Native American groups and was widely traded. Used as a sweetener and food enhancer, the bulbs were pit-cooked for more than a day traditionally.^[8]

Basketry

Achomawi basket-maker in 1923

Achomawi basketry was of the twined type. Cooking vessels had broad openings, slightly rounded bottom and sides with willow rods for upright structure. Other types of baskets were the burdenbasket, cradle, serving-tray and the open- mesh beater basket for harvesting seeds. Achomawi made use of bear grass^[9] for an overlay of wheat-colored strands with black stems of maidenhair fern for background color.^[10]

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. (See Population of Native California.) Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achomawi 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, which would leave at least 2,150 for the Achomawi.

Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achomawi and Astugewi in 1910 as 1,100.

Edward S. Curtis, a photographer and author in the 1920s, gave a 1910 population of Achomawi at 984.

Achomawi of today

Known as the Pit River Indians or "Tribe", the Achomawi are eleven autonomous bands: Ajumawi, Atsugewi, Atwamsini, Illmawi, Astarawi, Hammawi, Hewisedawi, Itsatawi, Aporige, Kosealekte, and Madesi, that since time immemorial have resided in the area known as the 100-mile (160 km) square, located in parts of Shasta, Siskiyou, Modoc, and Lassen Counties in the State of California.^[11].

There is a Housing Authority that through Government grants has developed community housing projects, such as housing for low income families and elders. The Tribe operates a Day Care center, and environmental program. The Pit River Tribe currently operates Pit River Casino, a Class III gaming facility located on 79 acres (320,000 m²) in Burney, California.

Today there are around 1,800 tribal members enrolled in contemporary Achomawi federally recognized tribes, that are as follows:

• XL Ranch
• Big Bend Rancheria
• Likely Rancheria
• Lookout Rancheria
• Montgomery Creek Rancheria
• Roaring Creek Rancheria.^[12]

On August, 1964, a Constitution was formally adpted by the Pit River Tribe. The Preamble states:

"... for the purpose of securing our Rights and Powers inherent in our Sovereign status as reinforced by the laws of the United States, developing and protecting Pit River (Ajumawi - Atsugewi) ancestral lands and all other resources, preserving peace and order in our community, promoting the general welfare of our people and our descendants, protecting the rights of the Tribe and of our members, and preserving our land base, culture and identity,..."^[13]

While the Pit River group originally filed a separate land claims, after the Indian Claims Commission was created in 1946, the Pit River tribe was encouraged in 1963 to participate in the larger claims -- Indians of California vs U. S. – but ultimately there was disharmony within the tribe and they rejected their monetary award.^[14]

See also

• Achumawi language
• Achomawi traditional narratives

Footnotes

References

• Evans, Nancy H.,1994. "Pit River," in Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia, ed. Mary B. Davis (NY: Garland Pub. Co).
• 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.
• Jaimes,M. Annette, 1987. "The Pit River Indian Claim Dispute in Northern California," Journal of Ethnic Studies, 14(4): 47-74.
• 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.
• Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press.
• Olmsted, D.L. and Omer C. Stewart. 1978. "Achumawi" in Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8 (California), pp. 225-235. William C. Sturtevant, and Robert F. Heizer, eds. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-004578-9/0160045754.
• Tiller, Veronica E. Velarde, 1996. Tiller's Guide to Indian Country (Albuquerque: BowArrow Pub. Co.): see X-L Ranch Reservation, pp. 308–09. There is a new later edition, 2005.

External links

• Native American Rights Foundation, a non-profit legal assistance organization. accessed 21 Oct. 2008
• Four Directions Institute, a nonprofit school. accessed 21 Oct. 2008
• San Francisco State University's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences webpage. accessed 21 Oct.2008
• Far Western Anthropological Research Group-A consulting firm. Their Achumawi page accessed 21 Oct.2008
• Pit River Tribal Office: 37014 Main Street, Burney, CA 96013; (530) 335-5421