Hupa

A smoky day at the Sugar Bowl
Edward Curtis, photographer

Hupa (Hoopa, Natinixwe) refers to a Native American tribe in northwestern California. The official name of the tribe is the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

History

Hupa indian sweat house covered with wood plank roof, surrounded by wall of large rocks.

Hupa are Native North Americans whose traditional land is Hupa Valley, California. Their heritage language, Hupa, belongs to the Athabaskan language family. Hupa tradition suggests that they have lived in Hupa valley for over 4,000 years. Some Hupa people also speak Yurok.

In the 19th century, they occupied land stretching from the South Fork of the Trinity River to Hoopa valley, to the Klamath River in California. Their red cedar-planked houses, dugout canoes, basket hats, and many elements of their oral literature identify them with the Northwest Coast culture, of which they are the southernmost representatives; however, some of their customs (the use of a sweat house for ceremonies and the manufacture of acorn bread) are not characteristic of that culture area.

In 1864, the United States government signed a treaty that recognized the Hupa tribe's sovereignty to their land. The United States called the reservation the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, where the Hupa now reside. The reservation is next to the territory of the Yurok at the connection of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in northeastern Humboldt County. The reservation has a land area of 365.413 km² (141.087 sq mi).

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber thought that the 1770 population of the Hupa was 1,000 and that the Chilula and Whilkut accounted for another 1,000. Kroeber estimated the population of the Hupa in 1910 as 500.^[1] In 1943, Sherburne F. Cook proposed an aboriginal population of 1,000 for the Hupa and 600 for the Chilula.^[2] He subsequently suggested a population for the Hupa alone of 2,900.^[3] William J. Wallace felt that the latter estimate was "much too high", and allowed 1,000 for the Hupa, 500-600 for the Chilula, and 500 for the Whilkut.^[4] The Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation has a resident population of 2,633 persons according to the 2000 census.

Notes

1. ^ Kroeber, p.883
2. ^ Cook 1976, p.170
3. ^ Cook 1956, pp.99-100
4. ^ Wallace, p.176

References

• Cook, Sherburne F. 1956. "The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California". Anthropological Records 16:81-130. University of California, Berkeley.
• Cook, Sherburne F. 1976. The Conflict between the California Indian and White Civilization. University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Goddard, Pliny E. 1903. "Life and Culture of the Hupa". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 1:1-88.
• Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
• Wallace, William J. 1978. "Hupa, Chilula, and Whilkut". In California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 91-98. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Census Bureau, Hoopa Valley Reservation

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Hupa

• Hoopa Valley Tribe
• San Francisco State University - Hupa
• Hoopa Tribal Museum