SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETH-NOLOGY BULLETIN 78 HANDBOOK OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA BY A. L. KROEBER WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1925 [BUI,[,. 7S nunitv dances, no wor- . When they dance, it articular individual or )repare themselves for CHAPTER 21. adolescence, to acquire id there they stop. It THE ACHOMfAWI AND ATSUGEWI. tion of the poor high- THE ACHOMAWI: Habitat, 305; divisions, names, and population, 306; war and The contrast is pecu- trade, 308; food, 303); industries. 310; dress, 310); minoey, 311; dwellings, math were close neigh- 311; social institutions, 313; ritual, 313; shamanism, 314; mythology, 315; 315. THE ATSUGoEvI, 315. d centers of northwest- place of culture, La visited and watched THE ACIIOMIAWI. ating. een reported from the HABITAT. { be accepted, since the The territory of the Achomawi comprised the drainage of Pit hwestern culture. The River-an eastern affluent of the Sacramento much larger than the [ration, or made on the so-called main river-from near Montgomery Creek in Shasta County Lake on the Oregon line; with the exception of the ter- Lfrom the Modoc about up to Goose southern tributaries, Burney, Hat, and Horse arok and perhaps the ritory watered by three or Dixie Valley Creeks, along which the Atsugewi were lodged. this movement seems to Like, the northwestern Californians and the Shasta, the Achomawi ley of the "big head" Their villages were all on Pit River itself or 1, via the Wintiin on the were a stream people. on the lower courses of its affluents. The back country was visited A solid color on the map accordingly ic number of the Shasta. and owned, but not settled. of the relation of many Californian ns. gives a one-sided impression tribes to their habitat. This is particularly true of the Achomawi, all of whose territory are left gic and adventure. with is high and comparatively barren as soon as the streams of Pit but without order, se- behind, while a large part. of it, particularly to the north of the present condition River, is pure waste lava. For this reason the boundaries of Achomawi land are of little inted by the Shasta are significance compared with an understanding of the narrow tracts iomawi and neighboring actually dwelt in. [e cosmogony that occurs On the north, toward the Modoe, the Achomawi territorial limits are particu- creator an(1 hardly any larly vague and immaterial. We knon merely that they hunted to Mount ipress of the idea of an Shasta and Medicine Lake; but the Modoc may have gone as far or farther south pursuits. The essential relation was that the settlements of the among the Karok and in legitimate is one people were on Lower Klamath and Rhett Lakes and Lost River, of the e in the past two genera- other on Pit River. with a great emptiness between. of the reflective than of The shores of Goose Lake, out of which Pit River flows, have been claimed t the qualities described in their entirety for the Achomawi, the Modoc, and the Northern Paiute. As considerable degree even there appears to be no specific mention of villages of any of the three groups as actually on the shores of the lake, the uncertainty has been compromised on 305 306 BUTREAU! OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY IBULL,. 78 K ROMBER] HANI the map by extending the Achomawi to it and giving the hulk of its shores to the Paiute. The mountains west of Goose Lake would seem to have formed farther away, they the western boundary of the Paiute; but we do not know. generic designation The range between the Achomawi South Fork of Pit River and the Paiute A similar situati Middle and Lower Lakes can hardly have been other than a recognized limit. apparent difference Still farther south and west the undrained Madeline plains and Eagle Lake one hand, and, say, Basin offer difficulty to the cartographder. The latter has been variously as- signed to Achomawi, Atsugewi, Maidu, and perhaps Paiute, though no authority a different topogra appears to have asserted that any of them lived on the lake drainage. The organization. Whe rcgion is more similar in its character to the territory of the two northern basins separated by groups than to the Maidu range; and of the two northern and allied peoples, as among the Yurc the Atsugewi had the nearer habitations in Dixie Valley. of river or, as witl Our knowledge also fails to suffice for the drawing of a real line between the Achomawi and the Atsugewi, except that the former, on Pit River, held broken but generall the mouths of the three streams along which, farther up, the latter lived. equally favorable tb Beaver Creek is between Dixie Valley Creek and Hat Creek, but is specifically have less occasion t4 assigned to the Achomawi. The reason for this distribution is evidently the group consciousness fact that Beaver Creek flows parallel and close to Pit River. while the other scending it, and ex streams come in from a distance and at right angles. On their lower Pit River range the Achomawi border on Yana, Wintttn, and name, as among the Okwanuchu. The stated boundary between Achomawi and Okwanuchu cuts can begin justly to s across the headwaters of the McCloud. which may be true, but would be bad nizable political unii Indian custom unless the Achomawi had villages on these headwaters. The recognizing the aut recorded line perhaps signifies nothing more than that the Okwanuchu had no Achomawi divisions .villages there. At that, it is hardly conceivable that they should not have hunted on these upper courses, and the real question would seem to be whether unit communities, cc the Okwanuchu and Achomawi avowedly shared the right of visit to the district, have been enumerate or whether the former owned the tract and the latter poached on it when they is little present meai felt themselves strong enough. These are the divisioi As to Mount Shasta, there were no Achomawi near It. That they hunted to Achomnawi, on Fall Rive it, and did so within their rights, is likely. It was customary for great peaks Crook; Chumawi, in Rc to be regarded by Californian peoples as the starting points of their several boundaries. Hot Springs Vhlley; As South Fork of Pit Rivei DIVISIONS, NAMES, AND POPUIATION. Of the several subdivi named after a principal We know no Pit River villages. Some S or 1() group names on have also been recorded record are given below. They refer collectively to the people of f in Achomawi or any a may in reality natural areas, such as valleys or drainage basins. It is needful not refer to Valley people as a who] to apply habits of interpretation formed from acquaintance with erners," by the Wintun eastern tribes to these names. There is little to show whether or not also been recorded for the villages in any such area felt themselves united politically; in force, since Yuki means other words, whether it would be justifiable to reckon them as tribes. logical usage has come Even the names appear to be geographic and not national, much as Coast Range on the othei were called Akowigi by in a larger view we speak of Sudan or South American peoples. It Aehomawi division. is even doubtful whether the inhabitants of each valley used their On the basis of speer name, except as now and then they might on occasion copy the pected that the Achomav practice of outsiders. To themselves they may have been only the (loose Lake; but nothing people of this and that particular village. But when they thought In native parlance, Ac] ing in the basin of Fall of the inhabitants of the next basin, and particularly of those still Atsugewi generic term P language-the Hamawi, _Y1 ;01l,OGY I BULL. 78 KROIDBDRI HANDBOOK OF INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA 307 ig the hulk of its shores to farther away, they no doubt generally spoke of them under their to have formed ould seem designations. know. generic The Pit River and the Paiute A similar situation has been described among the Yuki. [er than a recognized limit. apparent difference between these people and the Achomawi, on the ine plains and Eagle Lake one hand, and, say, the Miwok on the other, may be a, reflection of tter has been variously as- a different topography, rather than of another type of political Palute, though no authority organization. Where the country falls into naturally habitable an the lake drainage. The ritory of the two northern basins separated by unsettled tracts, group names spring up. Where, iorthern and allied peoples, as among the Yurok, villages are threaded along a single stretch alley. of river or, as with the Miwok, scattered indiscriminately over a ,ing of a real line between broken but generally uniform country, all parts of which are about former. on Pit River. held equally favorable to permanent location, the larger group names Lrther up, the latter lived. at Creek, but is specifically have less occasion to arise. It is only where we encounter definite Distribution is evidently the group consciousness not based on topography but frequently tran- Pit River. while the other scending it, and expressed in an individual dialect and a group As. name, as among the shifting but solidary Yokuts divisions, that we Yana, Wintn. anid .rder on to speak of tribes. Everywhere else the only recog- nawi and Okwanuchu cuts can begin justly be true, but would be bad nizable political unit remains the small cluster of adjacent villages on these headwaters. The recognizing the authority of the same head man.