Pomo

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North American Indian people living in northern California, U.S. The name Pomo, which may have been derived from the name of a village, was given to seven distinct Hokan-speaking peoples who inhabited the Russian River valley. Fish, waterfowl, deer, and wild plant foods were plentiful in this region. Coastal Pomo constructed dwellings of heavy timber and bark; inland Pomo used poles, brush, and grass. Pomo religion was characterized by dance, ritual, membership in a secret society, and the impersonation of spirits. Pomo basketry is often considered among the finest in the world. Early 21st-century population estimates indicated approximately 8,000 individuals of Pomo descent.

Pomo, Native Americans of N California, belonging to the Hokan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The Pomo were the most southerly Native Americans on the California coast not brought under the mission influence of the Franciscans in the early 18th and 19th cent. The Pomo have been especially noted for their basketry arts, and many of their works are now valued art objects in museums and private collections. Of these arts, the Pomo developed feather-covering, lattice-twining, checker-work, single-rod coiling, and several other specializations. They now occupy several reservations in N California; the reservation near Clearlake Oaks is the site of gambling casinos. In 1990 there were about 5,000 Pomo in the United States.