Fig. 1. Smelt fishing with traditional "V"-shaped net, near Smith River, California. Ecology and Adaptive Response Among tlie Tolowa Indians of Northwestern California

R. A. GOULD

here is currently a strong trend in the and economy. Instead, we must look for pro­ Tanthropology of California Indians to cesses of adaptation that differentiate hunter- gather new data and reexamine earlier findings gatherers, and in this regard it is especially in the light of problems raised by worldwide useful to examine and compare the extremes of studies of hunter-gatherer ecology and ar­ the hunter-gatherer spectrum. What ecological chaeological explanation. A growing literature relationships can account for essential differ­ addresses the subject of traditional and con­ ences in social and economic organization tact-period Indian adaptations within both among societies as different as, for example, pristine and altered ecosystems throughout the Kalahari Bushmen and Australian desert California. Building upon this, there is also a aborigines, as opposed to the Northwest Coast growing interest in the implications of such and northwestern California Indians? Rather adaptations for increased size and stability of than review the whole range of differences, this settlements, development of class and status paper will focus on one key aspect of this pro­ hierarchies, the roles of trade, warfare, and cess of differentiation: the contrast between ritual as mechanisms for reallocation of re­ what I shall term here sharing vs. aggrandizive sources, and other social elaborations. The systems of resource allocation. rationale for this revitalized interest in Cah­ Most ethnographic and historic hunter- fornia Indian anthropology has centered on a gatherers possess social mechanisms, usually developing awareness that many, if not most, based upon kinship, that enable them to share ancient hunter-gatherers lived in well-favored, food and other key resources and the access to temperate environments comparable to those these resources with other members of the of California, and that it was in settings like same society. Arguments hke Sahlins' about these that major evolutionary developments the essential "affluence" of hunter-gatherer relevant to agriculture took place (Bean and life (Sahlins 1968:85-89; 1972:1-39) notwith­ King 1974:6). standing, most hunter-gatherers must find Thus, we cannot do as Sahhns (1972:8) and ways to overcome uncertainties in availability some others suggest and simply dismiss or ex­ of resources. Most often this is done by means clude relatively affluent hunter-gatherers like of widely-ramified kinship networks that allow the Northwest Coast and many California people who are experiencing scarcities to share Indians as "special cases" that are somehow food and, in some cases, even to take up resi­ unrepresentative of hunter-gatherer ecology dence with their better-favored relatives. Sys- 150 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY tems like this tend to be egalitarian, since an sary to account for the rise of an aggrandizive individual sees his long-term security and that and ultimately status-differentiated social of his immediate family as depending upon the system? This paper assumes at the outset that maintenance of kin obligations by means of a simple abundance of natural resources is not, gift-giving. He thus is eager to "give away" any in itself, sufficient to account for this develop­ food or other goods that exceed his immediate ment, although it is one part of the answer. needs, since he knows he can expect return Moreover, there may well be other avenues to "gifts" at some later time when he has real need. status differentiation, even among hunter- Under these conditions,the personal accumu­ gatherers, than simply aggrandizive behavior. lation of surpluses is actively discouraged. Recent studies by Bean (1972), for example, Security rests in the development and mainte­ show how individuals among the Cahuilla may nance of the widest possible network of kin have acquired status as managers in the busi­ with whom one may share food and access to ness of redistributing resources. But the To­ resources in times of need. lowa present us with an extreme case of ag­ Such a sharing system can be contrasted grandizive behavior to an extent unmatched by with aggrandizive systems that encourage any other known hunter-gatherers and by few individuals or individual families to accumu­ other societies as well, giving us the oppor­ late and store surpluses as security against tunity to examine this particular mode of shortages. This could be called the "money-in- adaptation. the-bank" approach to security, and it is un­ characteristic of hunter-gatherers generally. In THE "FITNESS" OF ABORIGINAL this case, instead of generosity we find thrift, CALIFORNIA ADAPTATIONS which is to say, both systems call for a calcula­ tion of returns at a later date, but they do so in A cautionary note has been sounded by different ways. Neither system is altruistic. Heizer (1974) about the dangers of accepting Aggrandizive systems may be associated with pubhshed and archival data on traditional incipient or developed status or class hier­ California Indian culture at face value, because archies, since such accumulations are generally a long time has elapsed since much of this infor­ unequal and become more or less concentrated mation was first collected, and it has also been in the hands of certain individuals or families. a long time since any California Indians hved We do not normally associate such aggrandi­ off the land in a traditional manner. Much of zive behavior with hunters and gatherers, since such data is erroneous, and the judgement the literature (Service 1966; Lee and DeVore needed to assess its accuracy today is not al­ 1968; Coon 1971; Bicchieri 1972) has empha­ ways well-informed (Heizer 1974:29). There is sized the importance of sharing behavior in no easy answer to these general criticisms, but most if not all hunter-gatherer societies. certainly there are safeguards which present- The Tolowa Indians of northwestern Cali­ day students of Cahfornia Indians can use that fornia are of special interest because they were go beyond such obvious measures as checks for one of the very few hunting and gathering so­ internal consistency and historical and archae­ cieties we know of that operated on a purely ological verification. Since much of the re­ aggrandizive basis. This paper will show how newed interest in California Indians centers on the Tolowa adapted to the ecological require­ problems of an ecological nature, perhaps we ments of the northwestern California region, can borrow a page from the ecologist's note­ and will try to begin at least to answer the ques­ book and apply a general principle which has tion: What ecological relationships are neces­ seen wide use in the field of biological ecology. ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 151

This is the idea of fitness, which can be defined To apply the concept of fitness in a differ­ as " . . . the general level of the heahh of the ent way, some cultural reconstructions will total ecosystem" (Clapham 1973:229). This "fit" the requirements of their total ecosystems term cannot be adequately quantified, but it better than others, and a very poor fit suggests subsumes relationships between ecological a poor reconstruction. Of course, one cannot variables that can be measured, albeit some­ always assume that all aspects of human be­ times in a gross form, and serve as guides to the havior in a cultural system conform optimally general fitness or health of the ecosystem under to the ecological requirements in which that examination. For example, we can observe and system operates. But extreme cases, in which measure Umiting factors in an ecosystem—that hmiting factors are apparently violated, thus is, "... any condition that approaches or ex­ threatening the health of the cultural system, ceeds the limit of tolerance for the organism or should be examined with skepticism and per­ group in question" (Odum 1975:108). Limiting haps even held in abeyance until new evidence factors exist for human as well as natural eco­ permits one to see a closer "fit." This proposi­ systems, and we can be sure that any human tion can be stated as a "Principle of Negative situation which violates these limits will be Determinism," which argues that certain key maladaptive and either fail or else require radi­ ecological requirements must be met by every cal adjustments before it regains its fitness. cultural system. Failure to meet these basic It follows, then, that any reconstruction of requirements will lead to failure or change in aboriginal California Indian cultural systems the cultural system. The ecological require­ can be tested against its fitness with respect to ments in question do not necessarily determine the environmental requirements that could be the specific characteristics of the cultural re­ viewed as possible limiting factors. Such a test sponse (so much for that hoary old straw man, requires a high order of environmental recon­ environmental determinism!), but they do hmit struction. Perhaps we can return at this point the options open to people in any given habitat, to Heizer's (1974:30) criticism that there has and they do mean that prolonged lack of cul­ been a "loss of adequate evaluation of earlier tural conformity to these requirements will reports" by the new generation of California not occur. archaeologists and ethnohistorians, who lack This test has its complexities. It is possible the assurance offered by firsthand knowledge for more than one kind of cultural adaptation of traditional California Indian culture. Since to operate successfully within a single area. The such firsthand knowledge is no longer possible, literature abounds with examples hke the a new basis for informed judgement is needed. Pygmy hunters and Bantu-speaking farmers of I suggest that expanded and rigorous applica­ the Congo Forest, and the Athabaskan-speak- tion of the ecological idea of fitness, beginning ing hunter-gatherers and Pueblo cultivators of with an examination of possible limiting fac­ the American Southwest, whose widely differ­ tors vis-a-vis cultural variables in the recon­ ing adaptive responses within the same region structed system, will provide a basis for judge­ are of long standing. Each culture was fully ment at least as well-informed as the ethno­ aware of the other in its area and interacted graphic background acquired through first­ with it regularly, yet each retained its own basic hand knowledge of traditional California mode of subsistence. Hunters and gatherers do Indians. This approach, of course, goes con­ not automatically become farmers simply be­ siderably beyond California studies and can be cause (a) their country is suitable for farming applied to any part of the world where cultural and (b) they know about farming. The point is reconstructions are being attempted. that each of these cultures occupied its own 152 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY ecological niche within the area, and any at­ Along the coast, annual rainfall averages tempt to reconstruct one of these cultures ade­ up to 100 inches, with annual averages of up to quately must also recognize the specific charac­ 120 inches recorded for some areas slightly teristics of the niche it occupied. While a given inland like Gasquet Flat. This rainfall is aug­ habitat may contain several potential niches mented the year round by frequent and heavy exploitable by alternative kinds of economic or coastal fogs that completely cover the coastal social action, there is no reason to expect that plain and ocean-facing gorges. Rains are strict­ all potential niches in a habitat will be occu­ ly seasonal, with about 80% of recorded falls pied. This seems to have been especially the occurring in the period from early October case in aboriginal California, where areas suit­ through late March. Despite this heavy annual able for cultivation were not cultivated, despite rainfall, the area occupied by the Tolowa In­ cases where the basic knowledge of agriculture dians was served by a river (the Smith River) was available. Thus, the Principle of Negative of modest size when compared with the Kla­ Determinism must always be applied relative math and Trinity Rivers nearby. Temperatures to a particular ecological niche, which in turn are mild but cool during most of the year, with requires that one be willing to make certain strong and cold northwesterly winds prevaihng assumptions about the culture and especially along the coast during the summer months. its level of technology. But given these assump­ Snow rarely occurs on the coastal plain or in tions, this principle is workable and can be the nearby gorges but is common during winter applied to cultural reconstructions as a test of at elevations above 2000 feet. their possible validity. Vegetation

THE NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA Much of the coastal plain is subject to the ECOSYSTEM effects of wind-borne salt spray from the ocean and is thus treeless and covered only by as­ sorted grasses and low shrubs. At various dis­ Topography and Climate tances inland, beyond the reach of sah spray, This is a region of rugged topography and there is a belt of low spruce and pine, and on heavy annual rainfall. The coastline alternates the Smith River coastal plain there was a dense between stretches of sandy beach and rocky stand of redwood, now destroyed by logging. headlands, and offshore there are numerous The redwood belt extends inland 8 to 12 miles, rocks and islets. There is a narrow coastal plain wherever the coastal fog can penetrate and composed of Pleistocene- and Pliocene-age wherever there is protection from the coastal deposits of sand, and a short distance inland winds. The redwood forest itself was an impor­ one encounters low but steep hills which in­ tant basic resource for the Tolowa for house- crease in height as they merge with the foothills planks and canoes, and the forest also con­ of the Siskiyou Range about 20-25 miles in­ tained ferns used in making baskets and was land, ultimately reaching heights up to 7000 frequented by game animals like deer and elk, feet. These hills are cut by the North, South, but on the whole it was a poor area for food and Middle Forks of the Smith River and their resources. Still further inland, where the hills tributaries, formingdeepgorges in someplaces. attain heights of over 2000 feet, one finds large Except for the coastal plain and a number of areas dominated by Douglas fir forests extend­ small flats along the bottoms of these gorges ing in some cases continuously from the tops of there is little level ground anywhere in this the hills to the edges of the river. On scattered region. flats along the east edge of the redwood belt ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 153 and in the gorges in the Douglas fir area there literature covering indigenous food resources are grassy, parklike openings containing and their ecological associations. Sources like small oak groves. Just inland, too, from the Smith(1929),Rostlund(1952),Greengo(1952), redwood beh there is an isolated but distinct Hewes (1942), Kroeber and Barrett (1960), area of chaparral vegetation covering mainly Schaeffer (1958), Hedgepeth (1962), Wolf the steep hills along the drainage of the North (1945), and Baumhoff (1963) provide useful Fork of the Smith River. This is a mixed chap­ accounts of different basic resources, and arral containing various species of manzanita Lewis (1973) has recently offered data bearing and madrone along with open stands of pon- upon possible modifications to the ecosystem derosa pine, and it sometimes can be seen to by the Indians through their use of fire. merge with south-facing slopes containing From all this it is possible to develop a pic­ tanbark oak and madrone on mountains which ture of the ecological requirements for success­ which are otherwise densely covered with ful hunter-gatherer adaptations in this area. In Douglas Fir. order to clarify these relationships, I shall use Mention should also be made of the vegeta­ a modified version of Flannery's (1968) "Pro­ tion associated with the marine and riverine curement Systems" approach in my analysis. components of the ecosystem. Along the lower That is, I shall examine the universe of edible course of the Smith River, where it emerges resources in this region from the point of view onto the coastal plain, and also along the mar­ of how human beings must organize their gins of Lake Earl, Lake Talawa, and Dead movements, technology, and social groups in Lake one finds swales containing tule and order to collect them effectively. Various camas lilies. Camas, though not abundant in classes of resources may be grouped according this area, was eaten by the Indians, and tule to their commonalities with regard to how they rushes were used for fashioning mats. These are obtained by a human population. These marshy areas also sheltered various ducks and commonalities will provide a basis for observ­ geese, although these, too, were of secondary ing the nature of interactions between aspects importance compared to other food resources of human behavior and particular ecological in the area. Along the coast, especially in vari­ variables, leading finally to a view of the total ous rocky inlets, large amounts of seaweed ac­ cultural system operating aboriginally in cumulate. The Tolowa collected this seaweed, this area. dried it, and ate it as a condiment. It also served To begin with, I shall distinguish between as moisture-absorbent packing material in Major or Staple Food Procurement Systems storage baskets, especially when storing food. and Minor or Supplemental Food Procure­ ment Systems. A staple 1 define here as any TOLOWA RESOURCE PROCUREMENT food that constitutes at least 30% of the total SYSTEMS diet by weight at the time it is collected. Ideally As the foregoing description should sug­ such staple foods should be identified through gest, the Tolowa Indians lived in a relatively direct observation and weighing at the time of small area (about 650-700 square miles al­ collection, but, as this is plainly impossible together) composed of rugged terrain and com­ with California Indians, we must be content plex microhabitats of varying richness in terms with estimates based on data available on the of human food potential. Despite the fact that various resources together with existing recon­ logging, mining, and other historic activities structions of the traditional subsistence econ­ have done so much to alter some of these micro- omy. The Major or Staple Food Procurement habitats, this region has a remarkably detailed Systems identified here are so overwhelming 154 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY in their natural abundance (as measured by water were often harpooned. The Tolowa and recent studies) and were so emphatically stated their coastal neighbors used sophisticated com­ by informants and historic sources to be of posite harpoons for this task as well as for importance that I feel reasonably well-assured hunting other swimming sea mammals. Late in designating them as staples, even without each summer there was a first sea lion hunt, firsthand quantified observations. Supple­ akin to the pattern of the first salmon cere­ mental foods never attained the quantitative mony and other "first fruits" ceremonies seen importance of staples, but one should not over­ elsewhere on the north Pacific coast (Gunther look their possible importance with respect to 1926), which involved ritual prohibitions and varying the diet and, at times, perhaps even restrictions on individual hunting until the providing much-needed nutritional elements. "season" was officially opened. Each of the Tolowa coastal villages had one of the large Major Procurement Systems canoes, and sea lion hunts in these canoes were Procurement System No. 1 — Large Sea carried out under the leadership of a single Mammals. One species dominated this pro­ individual (Hewes, in Kroeber and Barrett curement system, the Steller sea lion {Eumeto- 1960:118; Gould 1968:27). The annual first sea pias jubata), primarily because the larger islets hon hunt represented an even higher degree of off this particular part of the Pacific coast are unification, in that all of the participating among the largest summer rookeries for this canoes from the different villages travelled to­ gregarious species. Steller bulls can weigh as gether to the rookeries before the actual hunt much as 2000 lb., although the females are commenced (Gould 1968:26-28). Once the kill­ smaller. The smaller California sea hon (Zalo- ing of the animals began, however, the men in phus californianus) also occurs on this coast each canoe hunted on their own, and each boat during the summer and was hunted, but this independently brought its catch back to its own species does not breed there and was less com­ village. No doubt many sea lions were taken by mon than the Steller. Other pinnipeds that individual hunters or small groups of men on were hunted include sea otter {Enhydra lutris). the rookeries that lay close inshore. For this, Northern fur seal {Callorhinus ursinus), and all that was needed was the small (about 15 feet harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). Whales were not long) river dugout canoe together with clubs actively hunted but were consumed whenever and harpoons. But serious offshore sea hon found stranded on the beaches. hunting required a level of technology and Sea-mammal hunting required perhaps the group interaction well in excess of most To­ most complex technology and highest level of lowa activities. group organization of any activity in Tolowa Sea hons were valued for their meat and culture. Sea lions were hunted from large red­ oil, and the amounts of both after a successful wood dugout canoes up to around 40 feet in hunt were prodigious. A single large canoe length (Powers 1877:69; Gould 1968). These could be counted onto bring in at least 1200 lb. canoes could be handled in the unprotected of edible sea lion meat after a single offshore seas off the northwest California coast and hunt. This figure is based upon statements by were used for hunting on the rookeries that informants that a single large canoe could were farthest out to sea—Northwest and handle one Steller bull or up to four Steller Southwest Seal Rocks,approximately6!/2 miles females at one time. Figures given by White offshore. The preferred method for killing sea (1953:398) indicate that Steller bulls average hons was to land on the rookeries and club the 1600 lb. live weight, with about 70% of this, or animals to death, although animals in the 1300 lb., consisting of edible meat. Steller ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 155 females average 450 lb. live weight, of which shell, although mussels and other shellfish were 70%, or 315 lb., is edible meat. The animals are often sun- or fire-dried, too. reliable in their regular appearance in large Sea mussels were collected on an individual numbers at the rookeries every year, making basis, usually by women. Collection was easy this is an exceptional resource. The Tolowa had and rapid and was limited only by unusually access to more extensive rookeries than their heavy surf Fifty mussels, the amount posited coastal neighbors; although the coast Yurok, for an adult person's daily protein needs, could too, were known for their effectiveness at sea have been collected by a single woman in about lion hunting, especially at Redding Rock half an hour under optimal conditions, the (Kroeber and Barrett 1960:117). only strenuous work being the business of Procurement System No. 2 — Marine carrying large burden-baskets full of shellfish Shellfish. The principal bivalve collected by the back to the village. Many other species of shell­ Tolowa was the sea mussel (Mytilus californi­ fish were collected, too, including the common anus). This species is abundantly available httleneck {Protothaca staminea), rock scallop along rocky shores at the mid-tide zone where (Hinnites multrugosa), northern razor clam there is strong surf action to sweep in nutrients. {SiUqua patula), Washington clam (Saxido- This species was favored for its abundance, the mus sp.), giant chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri), relatively large size and amount of edible short-spine sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus), muscle and other tissue of the individual bi­ and various large barnacles. Like mussels, valves, and its generally good flavor (Greengo these could all be collected efficiently by indi­ 1952:65). Mussels are available in large num­ viduals, although many of the clams are found bers the year round, but during the late sum­ on the sandy beaches and required more effort mer months they may ingest the marine dino- to locate and transport than did mussels and flagellate ' Gonyaulax catenella, which, while other shellfish that tend to be concentrated on it does no harm to the mussels, can cause the rocky parts of the shoreline. severe and even fatal poisoning to people who Procurement System No. 3 — Acorns. Al­ eat infected shellfish. The Tolowa were aware though relatively poor in acorn-bearing oak of the risk of mussel poisoning, but inform­ trees compared to other parts of California, ant testimony indicates that people some­ northwestern California contains three species times became ill and died from eating poi­ of oak that bear well and provided a staple soned mussels despite a general awareness of food for the aboriginal Tolowa. These three these dangers. species are valley oak (Quercus lobata), canyon Nutritional tables cited by Greengo (1952: oak {Q. chrysolepis), and tanbark oak (Litho- 83) provide a rough but useful estimate of food carpus densiflora), and h is the last-named spe­ value for sea mussels based on figures derived cies that is most abundant in the part of north­ from the closely related Mytilus edulis of the western California inhabited by the Tolowa. east coast of North America. According to These trees occur in groves mainly on small, these figures, 100 g. of cooked mussel meat can grass-covered flats in places alongside the provide 18.2 g. of protein, or about one-half Smith River and its branches in some small the adult daily requirement. So the daily pro­ clearings along the east side of the redwood tein needs of an active adult man could be met belt, and they also occur dispersed along the by eating only 50 mussels. In addition, mussels slopes of various canyons. These dispersed are rich in vitamins B,, Bj, and C. Cooking was trees were little used by the Tolowa, since they generally done by placing the mussels directly occur on slopes too steep for easy movement in the fire and allowing them to cook in the or collection, but groves situated on the flats 156 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY were heavily exploited. Farther inland one on California Indians, acorns require process­ finds large oak groves covering portions of the ing before being rendered edible. The Tolowa, open, grassy, bald areas on the tops of many like other California groups, pounded and hills and low mountains, but these areas lay leached the acorn meat until it was free of beyond the normal foraging range of the To­ tannic acid. To accomplish this, they used lowa and were exploited by other groups. Few ground-stone pestles and large, flat rocks as of the best oak groves from former times re­ mortar-bases with basketry hoppers to contain main intact today, owing to commercial strip­ the acorn meat as it was being pounded. This ping of bark from the tanbark oak and road- technology, while elaborate, was easily oper­ building and residential development on these ated within the context of the Tolowa family precious parcels of level land. group (i.e., a man's wives and children). The oaks drop their acorns in late fall, and At this point it may be useful to distinguish one must collect them fairly fast, since leaving technologies of this nature, which 1 term appli­ acorns on the ground for long renders them ances, from those involving a wider social con­ susceptible to infestation by weevils. Tanbark text, which can be called facilities (not to be oak acorns are thick-shelled, however, and confused with an earlier and quite different thus less susceptible to spoilage after falling definition by Binford [1968:272]). Here I de­ than other species (Wolf 1945:51). Acorn col­ fine an appliance as any artifact that must be lecting was a group activity, although not in the left more or less permanently at the place where more formal or organized manner of ocean it is used and which is used by a minimal social hunting of sea lions. Families would congre­ group performing the task in question. A facil­ gate at the oak groves and harvest the acorns, ity, by contrast, is an artifact that is built, used, but the actual collection and later transport and, in some cases, maintained by a task group and processing of the acorns into edible form larger than the minimal social group. The To­ was performed on an individual or family basis. lowa ocean-going canoe and its accoutrements Families had to leave the coast at this time, may be regarded as a type of facihty, in the although the distances they travelled were not same way as, for example, the Kepel fish weir of the Yurok (Waterman and Kroeber 1938). great. The oak grove farthest inland that was In the context of this paper, the concepts of regularly used by the Tolowa occurred near appliance and facility refer specifically to food- Gasquet Flat, about 15 miles from the sea. collecting and food-processing implements, al­ Women with burden-baskets full of acorns though these definitions need not be restricted would move constantly back and forth be­ to subsistence in other contexts. Tolowa acorn tween the oak groves and their home villages pestles and mortar-bases were appliances in the on the coast during this period, and they pro­ strictest sense of the definitions offered here. cessed and stored the acorns in these coastal villages. Before leaving an oak grove after the Estimates by Wolf (1945:51, 63) indicate annual acorn collection, families set fire to the that, when dried, 100 lb. of whole Lithocarpus grass over the entire flat. Tolowa informants densiflora acorns will yield 69 lb. of food ma­ claim that this was done to reduce underbrush terial consisting of 2.93% protein, 12.08% fat, and keep the grass from growing too high so 20.14% fibre, and 54.43% carbohydrates, the that it would be easy to see and pick up the remaining 10.42% consisting of water and ash. fallen acorns during the next year's harvest, a In terms of total nutrients, tanbark oak acorns practice similar to that reported for the Kacha are less impressive than those from other spe­ Pomo of Redwood Valley (Kniffen 1939:378). cies of oak, owing mainly to the unusually high As is well known throughout the literature percentage of fibre contained in the thick shell, ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 157 but they are still to be regarded as significant but he also notes that the Smith River is fre­ in an area where so much of the rest of the diet quented by all of the major anadromous spe­ was rich in fats and proteins and, at the same cies of fish in this region, including salmon that time, somewhat short in carbohydrates. Cali­ run both in fall and spring. Of overwhelming fornia acorns in general are high in calories, importance in this regard were King salmon estimated at 2265 calories per pound (Baum­ (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) and Coho sal­ hoff 1963:163). mon {O. kisutch). These fish often ran in large Wolf (1945:31-33, 51) estimates that the numbers on the Smith River and were taken production of acorns by tanbark oak trees was by the Tolowa with spears, net-traps, and vari­ about equivalent to that of the Kellogg oak (0. ous kinds of weirs (Kroeber and Barrett 1960). kelloggii), a tree whose productivity is slightly Most of these devices were built and used by less than the 20 acorns per square foot of col­ small groups of closely related individuals, lecting ground per season (or 160 lb. per tree mainly individual families, but Drucker de­ each season) noted for the blue or Douglas oak scribes a communal fish weir at a spot called (Q. douglasii). In two surviving groves of tan­ munsontun about five miles upstream from the bark oak, one at Pappas Flat on the Middle mouth of the Smith River: Fork of the Smith River and the other near Big Communal weir . . . built at summer low Flat on the South Fork of the Smith River, water on riffle at munsontun and/or milit- I counted mature oak trees in excess of 200 at cuntun (latter site probably older). Owner each grove, while at a smaller flat near Indian gathered, prepared materials; called kin Bar on the South Fork of the Smith River I and friends to put in. Anyone who helped given fish. V-shaped row of alder stakes, noted approximately 70 mature trees. These supported by slanting braces on down­ observations, made in 1972, must be viewed as stream side, supported panels of hazel minimum estimates, since all three of these wickerwork. Point of V was downstream. 2 areas were at least partially logged in historic center stakes driven first, to accompani­ times. Still, if we take a conservative estimate ment of formula; if easily set, weir was successful. Basketry "trap" a rectangular of 125 lb. of acorns per tree (slightly below wicker mat doubled, end and part of side the productivity of Douglas and Kellogg oaks) sewn together to make wide-mouthed and apply it to these three remnant groves closed cylinder, placed in apex of weir. (minimum number, 470 trees), we arrive at a Men went upstream, heated rocks in fire, figure of 58,750 lb. or 29.4 tons of acorns per with formulas, from canoes threw rocks in deep holes, shouted, splashed, to drive fish season, of which about 28,788 lb. or 14.4 tons into weir . .. Weir left to be swept away by would have consisted of usable food materials high water [Drucker 1937:232]. when dried. Incomplete though they are, these estimates should indicate the enormous magni­ While this device did not compare in magni­ tude of the Tolowa acorn harvest under good tude with either the Tolowa ocean-going conditions, especially since informants have canoes for sea hon hunting or the Kepel fish pointed out the locations of five additional weir of the Yurok, it can certainly be rated as a flats that formerly contained much larger oak facility according to the definitions provided groves than the few that I observed in 1972. earlier. Present informants are uncertain in Procurement System No. 4 — Anadro- their recollections of this device, and the social mous Fish. Baumhoff (1963:180) correctly in­ organization surrounding its construction and dicates the river fisheries resource of the To­ use remains vague. lowa as "secondary" in comparison to the Salmon meat is rich in calories, averaging much larger fisheries along the Klamath River, around 1000 calories per pound (Rostlund 158 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

1952:4). Like other freshwater fish, salmon are Point, and several other localities during a rich in a wide array of vitamins (A, D, B,, Bj, brief period in mid-summer when the nestlings and even some C in the roe), protein (about 15- were unable to fly and could be taken easily 20% in edible portions), and fat (although this (Howard 1929:378-383; Gould 1966a:84-85). last-mentioned nutritional component is high-, No dietary figures are available for cormo­ highly variable according to season, feeding rants, but there is no doubt that they were a grounds, and other factors), but are generally staple food during the time they were collected. lacking in carbohydrates. Rostlund (1952:5-6) The Indians went out to the cormorant nesting concludes: "The table of calories shows that areas in small river canoes, either individually the high-calorie fishes are the very ones that or in family groups, and used clubs to take the characterize first-class fishing regions such as immature birds. Aside from the element of the Atlantic and Pacific anadromous areas...", timing, no special techniques or organization and the Smith River, despite its small size, lay were required to make efficient use of this in the heart of one such first-class fishing region. resource. Other anadromous fish besides salmon Procurement System No. 6 — Surf Fish. were taken. Steelhead (Salmo gairdnerii), Abundant runs of smelt (Spirinchus starksi candlefish {Thaleichthyspacificus), and West­ and Allosmerus attenuatus) appear on the ern sea lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) beaches of northwestern California in late were caught regularly, although never in quan­ summer, although the size of these runs is tities approaching those of salmon. Hewes (in known to vary considerably from year to year. Kroeber and Barrett 1960:25-26) describes an The fish were easily taken by individuals using unusual technique employed by the Tolowa the traditional V-shaped dip net in the surf for catching lamprey using a gaffing chute in (Fig. 1), an efficient technique that has been shallow water with a white pebble floor. This widely adopted and used by whites living in the was a night-fishing technique, and informants area today. There is nothing about the use of have shown me the place where it was used, on a these nets that requires any organized effort shallow riffle at the confluence of the Middle above the level of the individual fisherman, and South Forks of the Smith River (where but the catch can be so massive that trans­ these white pebbles occur naturally). This tech­ porting it may be difficult. Observations made nique, hke most other fishing methods of the in 1965 and again in 1972, both years when the smelt runs were large, indicated that a single Tolowa, required the efforts of only a few indi­ man can net as much as 200 lb. of fish in less viduals and could be carried out by members than half an hour, although, of course, some of a single family. With the possible exception time must be spent beforehand in locating the of the salmon weir at munsontun, Tolowa best runs along the'beach. Many Tolowa and riverine fishing did not require large groups of other Indians in the area today continue to live families to reside together at special camps along the beaches during August and early near the place where the fish were taken. September in order to catch smelt, which are Procurement System No. 5 — Waterfowl. still much sought after. Today the Indians use Various species of ducks, geese, rails, and small trucks of four-wheel-drive vehicles to murres were caught by the Tolowa, but cor­ transport the heavy tubs of fish to the camp, morants (P/ja/ocrocora.v sp.) were of by far the but in former times this was done by women greatest importance in the total diet. Cormo­ using burden baskets. Fish that are not eaten rants were captured at their nests on a series of fresh are spread out on driftwood logs to dry in rocks and sea stacks not far offshore from the sun while women and children hving at the Point St. George, Pyramid Point, Battery ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 159 camp shoo away seagulls (Fig. 2). Final drying 75 lb. and was taken in about 4 hours by one is done on the sand (Fig. 3), and the fish are fisherman—but this was and still is a secondary covered at night to keep off the fog. This part of activity compared to catching smelt. the operation takes several days, depending upon the amount of sun, and involves constant Minor Procurement Systems attention but little laborious effort. Thus to exploit smelt efficiently in aboriginal times, as Various land mammals, edible berries and today, it is necessary to have people camped in plants, and ocean fish were frequently obtained reasonably large numbers nearby, although no by the Tolowa, although none in amounts that organized group effort is needed to collect could approach those of the items designated or process the fish. here as staples. Deer and elk were hunted in the Sea perch, particularly the redtail surf- interior, and Lewis (1973:49-56) has pointed to perch (Holconotus rhodoterus), were caught the possible importance of burning by the aboriginally off the beaches by individual Indians of this region as a means of enhancing fishermen, and this practice continues today the game resource. However, deer and elk are among both Indians and whites, especially in solitary game animals and cannot be hunted en the summer. Sometimes the total catch offish masse. Stalking and pit-snares were used by may be large—the largest 1 have seen weighed individual Tolowa hunters to good effect, but

Fig. 2. Smelt being sun-dried on driftwood logs, near Smith River, California. 160 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

;-5ii0»*^--

Fig. 3. Final stage in drying smelt. Fish are laid on platforms of sand to sun-dry during the day. Al night they are covered to keep mois­ ture off in case of fog. Smith River, California. total amounts of meat taken in this way cannot exceptions. Informants were emphatic about have been great compared to even the least pro­ not eating bear, raccoon, skunk, or porcupine ductive of the staple food procurement systems. owing to a taboo based on the idea that the Ocean fishing, like the hunting of land forelimbs of these animals looked like human mammals, was often done by individuals and hands and that there was thus something may also have been a pastime during organized vaguely cannabahstic about eating them. sea hon hunts, but the total catch was probably Drucker's observations (1937:232) indicate not overwhelming. Various sharks, hake, hali­ similar restrictions, although his hst of tabooed but, rockfishes, hngcod, sculpins, and other foods is longer and includes, in addition, dog, kinds of fish were caught, some from boats coyote, cougar, sea gulls, and all birds of prey, when the sea was calm and some directly from along with oddments hke land-bird eggs, the rocky parts of the shoreline. Finally, the snakes, frogs, dove, and octopus. None of these edible bulbs of camas lilies, salal berries, sal­ species had the potential of being a staple food mon berries, huckleberries, and other plants resource. However, it is interesting to note that were collected by women during the summer faunal remains recovered from the proto- months to supplement and add flavor to the historic Tolowa levels excavated at the Point overall diet. St. George site included black bear, raccoon, In terms of both staple and supplemental coyote, and probably sea gulls as well (Gould resource procurement, the Tolowa seem to 1966a:81-84). This evidence suggests that per­ haps these food restrictions were limited in have collected just about every kind of edible some way and that at least some of these sup- food that was available to them—with a few ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 161 posedly tabooed species were consumed by the this resource during the period indicated. The aboriginal inhabitants of this region. dashed hne for anadromous fish is intended to TOLOWA SUBSISTENCE STRATEGY show that some salmon were available the year round at sea and particularly at the mouth and Seasonality lower reaches of the Smith River. The fall and The seasonal occurrences of the major spring salmon runs are indicated in the table as staple foods are summarized in Table 1. In con­ solid blocks, but data about the time of the sulting this table, one must remember that the steelhead run are uncertain, so it has not been exact periods of availability always varied shown. Western sea lamprey ran up the Smith somewhat from year to year, although not River in July and August but are not shown greatly. Marine shellfish were available all either, since their numbers did not approach year, but the poisonous period, especially for those of the salmon. Only cormorants are mussels, would in some years have eliminated indicated under Waterfowl, and only smelt are

Table 1 SEASONAL OCCURRENCE OF MAJOR (STAPLE) TOLOWA INDIAN PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS

PROCUREMENT SYSTEM Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1. Large Sea Mammals >; V/ZA 2. Marine Shelirish y Poisonous /. ^Xj '//. '//. y/, y/, ^ // / Period ^y/j y///^ 3. Acorns A/ 4. Anadromous Fish •y, — y/, '// y- ^ ^ i^ 5. Waterfowl 'Ag 6. Surf Fish ^ i^

1. Large Sea Mammals—mainly Steller sea lion {Eumetopiasjubata), also some whales, sea otter (Enhydra lutris), California sea lion (Zatophus californianus), northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus), and harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). 2. Marine Shellfish—mainly California sea mussels (Afv//7M5 californianus), also common Httleneck (Pro/o- thaca staminea), northern razor clam (Siliquapatula), rock scallop (Hinnites multrugosa), Washington clam (Saxidomus sp.), giant chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri), short-spine sea urchin (Strongylocentro­ tus), etc. 3. Acorns—mainly tanbark oak (Lithocarpusdensiflora), also valley oak(Quercus lobata), and canyon oak (Quercus chrysolepus). 4. Anadromous Fish—mainly King salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha), and Coho salmon (O. kisutch), also steelhead (Salmo gairdnerii), western sea lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus), and candlefish (Tha­ leichthys pacificus). 5. Waterfowl—mainly cormorant (Phalacrocorax sp.), also various ducks, geese, rails, and murres) 6. Surf Fish—mainly smelt (Spirinchus starksi and Allosmerus attenuatus), also redtail surfperch (Holco­ notus rhodoterus). 162 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY shown under Surf Fish, since these were the that a natural crop failure of a staple like principal species taken in each case. acorns, for example, would not undermine In terms of timing. Table 1 shows that the economy to the extent of becoming a hmit­ staple foods of one kind or another were avail­ ing factor. Shortages of a particular food re­ able to the Tolowa continuously throughout source may have led to temporary nutritional the year. Peak periods for harvesting occurred imbalances, but the caloric needs of the popu­ during mid-June to mid-September (sea lions, lation were easily met at all times. One impor­ cormorants, and smelt) and early September to tant way of overcoming shortages is storage, early November (acorns, salmon), with the and the Tolowa possessed a well-developed latter peak representing the only period during technology for preparing and storing food. the year when interior resources predominated Shellfish, fish, and sea lion meat were all sun- over coastal ones. Note, too, that for over six dried and/or smoked in large quantities in months of the year more than one staple was addition to being eaten fresh. Dried meat and available in harvestable quantities. In most fish were kept in large storage baskets within cases, this was true for natural species that the dwelling houses on the coast, as were occur close together, like acorns and salmon acorns. Periodically, in sunny weather, acorns (oak flats invariably lie close to salmon-bearing were taken out of their baskets by the women streams), but there were occasions during some and laid on mats to dry, thus preventing or at years when scheduling of resource collection least retarding damage from fungus and in­ became a problem. This was especially true in sects. Informants agree that the amounts of late August-early September, when a particu­ food thus stored were prodigious, filling many larly fine smelt run might continue into the large baskets that stood atop the parapet that beginning of the acorn harvest. These two re­ hned the housepit in each dwelhng house. sources occur far enough apart geographically Under these conditions, shortages, when for it to be impossible for both to be harvested they occurred, took place only in the context simultaneously. But scheduling problems of of individual families rather than throughout this kind were the exception rather than the the society at large. That is, there could be rule, which for at least half the year was simul­ shortages of food without famine. Such short­ taneous harvesting whenever possible. ages were not commonplace but occurred often enough for informants to recall them (see espe­ Storage and Scarcity cially Gould 1966b:77-78 for examples). Ac­ The "lean" period of the year tended, as cording to the informants, these shortages was true in most of California, to be early resulted more from improvidence by the fam­ spring, as Baumhoff (1963:161) notes, before ilies concerned than they did from any actual the start of the spring salmon run. However, shortage in the environment. Each family har­ "lean" in this case does not mean famine. In­ vested most of its own staple foods and pre­ pared these for storage by its own efforts. Only formants have always agreed that there was the hunting of large sea mammals (Procure­ never any famine in this area, although we ment System No. 1) and the possible use of the know that (1) for 4-5 months of the year only a munsontun fish weir for catching salmon (Pro­ single staple, shellfish, was available in signifi­ curement System No. 4) required families, or at cant quantities, and (2) amounts of particular least the adult males in these families, to unite staples might vary greatly from one year to the their efforts, however temporarily, in food- next, something that was especially true of getting activities. Similarly, there was no shar­ acorns, salmon, and smeU. The diversity of ing of food between famihes following a natu- resources plus their general abundance ensured ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 163 ral harvest except in the case of sea hons and lier, productive oak flats were situated only a stranded whales, both of which are creatures short distance from the coast, generally be­ too large for any one family to handle effec­ tween 5 and 15 miles inland, so travelling dis­ tively or to consume on its own. This view of tances were never great even between the most Tolowa subsistence agrees with the earlier widely-separated staple resources. In conse­ observation that: quence, the Tolowa followed a seasonally regu­ lar, but narrowly-circumscribed pattern of By subsistence economy is meant the movement between harvesting areas. In late exploitation of the plentiful natural re­ sources available to any industrious indi­ summer, usually August, families moved from vidual. Although there were privately the large coastal villages onto the beaches to owned fishing sites, ordinarily these were camp for several weeks while the smelt were used freely by any person within the village running. Then they moved inland to various group .... Individuals who had been lazy oak flats where they could collect acorns and, or inefficient in gathering food . . . were forced to buy it [i.e. with prestige goods at the same time, fish during the fall salmon like dentalia shell beads, red-headed wood­ run. At the end of the acorn harvest these fam­ pecker scalps, and obsidian blades] [Du ilies would make their way individually back to Bois 1936:50], the coastal villages where they remained for the remaining 9-10 months of the year. although it is apparently contradicted by the further observation by Du Bois that: These seasonal movements were not or­ ganized, wholesale movements of village popu­ . . . they [the Tolowa and Tututni] are not lations. A wealthy headman generally took the accustomed to translate the value of dried initiative in such a move, but it was up to each salmon or a basket into dentalia and then make exchanges whose dentalia equiva­ family to move on its own. Moreover, families lents are of equal value. In the realm of did not move to the beaches or the oak flats as subsistence economy the Tolowa-Tututni village entities. Villages broke up in late sum­ were on a barter basis without translation mer and were reconstituted in the late fall upon into another medium [Du Bois 1936:50]. return from the oak flats. Finally, movements Perhaps the best way to reconcile these appar­ away from the villages did not mean total aban­ ently contradictory statements is to point out donment of the villages, since women con­ that there really was no "subsistence economy" stantly travelled back and forth between the among the Tolowa above the level of the indi­ collecting areas and the villages carrying bas- vidual family—that is, a man, his wives, chil­ ketloads of fish and acorns to place in storage. dren, and close adherents. Except for the gene­ The seasonal pattern of village unity and ral division of shares of sea lion and whale dispersal is reflected in traditional concepts of meat there were no sharing or barter-based land and resource tenure. Tracts of shoreline exchanges of food, although sometimes im­ were claimed by particular villages. These provident families or individuals experienced tracts were well-defined, and the boundaries shortages and were forced to "buy" food with between them were defended, especially in their prestige goods. cases where whales became stranded on the beaches. With one exception, every Tolowa Seasonal Movement and Resource Tenure village claimed tracts of shoreline that included Only Procurement System No. 3, Acorns, both rocky headlands and sandy beach, thus required any wholesale movement of people ensuring that each village had access to the away from the coast, and this was only for a staple resources available in each of these few weeks during late fall. As mentioned ear­ microenvironments. The single exception was 164 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY the village of "^ect^uuled, situated on a neck of at the time of contact is certainly too low, and land between Lake Earl and Lake Talawa, only considering the extent of proto-historic and a short distance from the ocean. In this case historic village sites in the area, the estimate of the lakes themselves may have furnished re­ 1000 also seems too low. In terms of the some­ sources in a localized concentration sufficient what subjective grounds of abundant natural to offset this village's lack of a rocky foreshore, resources of this region and wide extent of but the argument remains speculative and is archaeological and historic remains, the high­ not intended to explain away this exception to est estimates appear to be the best offered so the general pattern. Individuals and individual far. If one accepts such high aboriginal esti­ families, however, claimed ownership of par­ mates one must also accept the idea that epi­ ticular oak groves or even specific trees as well demic diseases like measles and cholera intro­ as fishing and eeling places along the streams, duced by white contact had a devastating and it was to these places that they moved in impact on these populations, leading in a few the late fall. There was no clear correlation be­ years to populations reduced to a few hundred. tween villages and interior collecting areas, and Although it cannot be quantified in any way, there were no bounded and defended village informant testimony strongly supports this tracts in the interior. Individuals or families idea of a population catastrophe due to intro­ wishing to use interior resources other than duced diseases. their own had to seek permission from the Baumhoff (1963:188) has suggested that owners, and, although informants say this per­ the aboriginal population of the Yurok and mission was often granted, they also stressed other Klamath River groups was well below that it was not granted automatically. Unfor­ the potential carrying capacity of this region, tunately, our knowledge of the rules governing at least without permanent structures, despite such permission remains vague, although we the fact that most villagers left the coast for know that there were disputes (and subsequent about two months each year. These villages oc­ indemnities) arisingfromambiguities of owner­ cupied a coastal strip that represented only a ship or failure to obtain permission. small fraction of the total area used by the To­ lowa—perhaps 35 square miles out of a total of POPULATION AND 700. Thus, if one computes an average popula­ SETTLEMENT PATTERN tion density of 3.43 people per square mile, one Estimates of the pre-white contact popula­ must also remember that for about 9-10 months tion of the Tolowa vary widely, ranging from every year the actual population density was an extreme low by Cook (1943:4) of 450 indi­ probably more like 68.6 people per square mile, viduals to extreme highs by Cook (1956:101) due mainly to the richness of marine resources and Baumhoff (1963:231) of 2400 individuals. to which this narrow coastal strip provided Kroeber (1925:883) estimated the pre-contact access. Except for occasional forays by indi­ Tolowa population at 1000. By 1910 a U.S. viduals or families to hunt and fish, and the fall Government census of northwestern Califor­ acorn and salmon harvest, most of the Tolowa nia and southwestern Oregon revealed that hinterland remained unused and unoccupied only 383 Tututni and 121 Tolowa Indians re­ most of the time. mained in this region (Curtis 1907-1930:96), THE NATURE OF and it has never been possible in post-contact TOLOWA SUBSISTENCE times to make accurate estimates of the aborigi­ nal population of this area by means of direct The Tolowa and their coastal neighbors enumeration. The estimate of 450 individuals present an example of a "resource-optimizing" ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 165

subsistence system. It was a system that aimed from the Tsurai site (Hum-169) at Trinidad at deriving the highest possible level of harvest­ Bay, Patrick's Point (Hum-118), and two sites ing productivity without consideration of po­ farther north along the Oregon coast (Ti-1 and tential risk. The particular seasonal patterns Cs-23) range between 500 and 150 years ago of movement and residence adopted by the and serve to document the further growth and Tolowa, together with occasional efforts to spread of human population along the north­ unite above the level of the individual family west California-southwest Oregon coast dur­ in the pursuit of particular resources (sea lions ing the last 1000 years. There is no way of and salmon), were all part of a subsistence stra­ knowing at this time how much of this growth tegy, whether conscious or unconscious, that was due to natural increase and how much was sought to collect all harvestable resources at due to migration, but there is a good possi­ their time and place of maximum availability, bility that the trajectory of this growth was and to a very large extent it was successful. continuing up to the initial historic period. There was little occasion for the Tolowa to be However, we lack vital statistics, so any at­ concerned with the problem of scheduling, that tempt to model population growth against re­ is, they rarely had to choose among harvesting sources in this area would be purely specula­ two or more resources that appeared simul­ tive. One thing seems clear, however, and it is taneously in widely separated niches. Yet, at that whether or not the population was still the same time, their basic staples were varied expanding at the time of white contact, it had and reliable and furnished a reasonably bal­ not yet reached a critical level that placed strain anced diet. Few other examples in the litera­ upon the economy. ture on hunter-gatherers offer such a picture of The foregoing discussion of Tolowa sub­ total affluence in subsistence with, at the same sistence is intended as a corrective to the ten­ time, a minimum of risk. No shortages in any dency in the literature for anthropologists (and single resource or resource-procurement sys­ here I include myself) to focus their attentions tem can be pointed to as a hmiting factor in upon the more conspicuous elements of north­ either the short or long run of Tolowa eco­ western California Indian social behavior— nomic hfe. especially wealth-questing. But, more impor­ Under such optimal conditions one might tantly, it is also intended as the basis for a re- expect that the aboriginal population was ex­ analysis of these social activities. To what ex­ panding, and indeed it may have been. Ar­ tent should wealth-questing and concomitant chaeological evidence in the form of increases social activities among the Tolowa be regarded in the number and size of sites suggests that as adaptive behavior in the context of the total the Indian cultures of this coastal region experi­ northwestern California coastal ecosystem? enced a phenomenal growth in population Wealth-Questing as an during the last 2000 years. Human settlement Aggrandizive Mechanism at the Gunther Island site (Hum-67) on Hum­ boldt Bay was well established by 1050 years Because of the balanced, abundant, and ago (Heizer 1964:132), and a radiocarbon date varied nature of their wild staple resources, the of 310 B.C. predates the period of intensive, Tolowa did not experience famine. As men­ proto-historic Tolowa settlement at DNO-11, tioned earlier, shortages of food did occur, but the Point St. George site (Gould 1972). These were felt only at the level of the individual and two dates suggest that this major expansion of his immediate family. Since each family was population began sometime between 1000 and able, largely through its own unaided efforts, 2000 years ago. Additional radiocarbon dates to collect, prepare, and store its own staple and 166 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

supplemental food resources, there was no lated to salmon fishing (especially the construc­ compelling need for sharing networks between tion of weirs), canoe building, and house con­ families. Before we can begin to explain the struction, it was the women who collected the presence of an aggrandizive system of resource bulk of the acorn harvest and who did most of procurement and use, we must first understand the shellfish collecting. Women collected drift why a sharing system was not necessary. In the timber offthe beaches for firewood. While men case of the Tolowa, it was not simply that they actually netted smelt in the surf, it was the lived in an environment rich in natural re­ women who carried the catch back to camp sources but that their natural resources became and took charge of drying the smeU for storage. available at times and places where they could Similarly, women prepared acorns and all be harvested economically by individuals and other foods for storage and consumption. individual families. Aside from sea lions and Thus, the amount of food a family could accu­ some salmon, no other food procurement sys­ mulate and store was directly dependent upon tems required a cooperative effort above the the number of women in the household. A man level of the individual family to harvest, pre­ with several hard-working wives and daughters pare, or store staple foods. Indeed, one could could store up large reserves, and not only argue that individual families, because of their could he use these as security against possi­ greater flexibility, were more responsive to ble scarcities, but he could also commission fluctuations in the availability of certain re­ "feasts" when he wished to recruit people to sources and could move quickly and easily to construct a large canoe or house. In a sense this take advantage of them. Large cooperative was a form of redistribution of food, but this groups would, in all probability, have been un­ redistribution did not extend to people who wieldy and without advantage. The basis for were in need due to food shortages. Instead, all economic success in the sphere of subsistence food was distributed with the clear expectation among the Tolowa rested almost entirely upon of immediate repayment, either in labor (as the efforts of individuals and individual fam­ with canoe-building) or in prestige goods (as when an improvident family ran short of food). ilies, and these efforts were as well or better re­ In those rare cases when a family short of food warded than would have been the efforts of could not pay for it, it was given grudgingly as a larger, cooperative foraging and hunting form of charity: groups. The partial adoption of this latter operation in the case of ocean sea lion hunting and perhaps some salmon fishing shows that If they [people short of food] were too poor the Tolowa were ready to use cooperative tech­ to pay for it, they were given food by others but they were looked down upon. 'Any­ niques when it was obviously to their advan­ body could do what he liked with them' tage, but that otherwise such techniques were [Du Bois 1936:50]. avoided. On the other hand, personal and family ag­ Thus a man with several industrious wives and grandizement of food resources by means of daughters could, in time, expect his household efficient collection, preparation, and storage to accumulate larger reserves of food than fam­ worked well and adequately met the needs of ilies with fewer active women. all but the most improvident or unlucky. Women were "working capital" in the full­ Women were the primary producers in Tolowa est sense. As stressed elsewhere (Gould 1966b), society. Although men performed physically women were a source of bridewealth that con­ intense activities like sea lion and land-mammal sisted of specific prestige goods—red-headed hunting and carried out most of the tasks re­ woodpecker scalps, dentalium, and obsidian ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 167 blades, to mention the more commonly circu­ break down her sharp distinction between pres­ lated items. Direct exchange of prestige goods tige and subsistence economies. for food occurred but was uncommon. More The eventual result of all these manipula­ important was indirect exchange through the tions plus direct inheritance was that wealth purchase of women as primary producers by goods as well as food became concentrated in means of prestige goods. A man purchased a particular households—those of wealthy men wife in the hope that she would work hard to or mitxBsxe—and one such wealthy man usu­ maintain his family's domestic food supply, ally appeared as paramount within each vil­ but he also bought rights to the bridewealth lage. These men were not formal chiefs, and any daughters she might bear would eventually they lacked authority in most matters. But they attract. Direct patrilineal inheritance, indem­ acted as intermediaries in marriage negotia­ nities, trade, gambling, and other schemes were tions and indemnity settlements, and they were also important avenues to wealth in so-called in a position to initiate projects like canoe- and prestige goods, although views have differed house-building and the annual first sea hon concerning the relative importance of these ap­ hunt. Given the optimizing nature of tradi­ proaches to wealth and the manner of their tional Tolowa subsistence procurement sys­ manipulation. Du Bois (1936) distinguished tems, the presence of a non-authoritarian between "prestige" and "subsistence" econo­ leader in each village who could take the initia­ mies within Tolowa society. The prestige econ­ tive in the few subsistence activities that re­ omy was based on transactions involving the quired cooperative organization and who special goods mentioned above, while subsist­ could marshall resources to construct the facil­ ence was on a barter basis, with no exchanges ities necessary for these activities can be re­ between the two economies. Thus, Du Bois garded as highly adaptive. The institution of a concluded, the prestige goods acquired and "wealthy man" in each village provided a manipulated by the Tolowa were not all-pur­ higher degree of ecological fitness for Tolowa pose currency, to be subdivided and exchanged society than would a purely egahtarian system, for goods of any kind. Drucker (1937:241) ac­ since without some form of leadership the cepted Du Bois' basic distinction between pres­ opportunities to harvest sea lions and salmon tige and subsistence goods but nevertheless would have been severely limited. argued that prestige goods were true money. Of course ecology cannot "explain" all the He pointed out on the one hand that kin-based particular manipulations and attendant sym­ exchange of food could not be called a special bolism of wealth-questing among coastal economy, and on the other hand that prestige northwestern California Indians. What this goods could be used by the Tolowa to buy paper has tried to show is that the essentially everything that was for sale and therefore were aggrandizive nature of wealth-questing is inter­ true money. Du Bois (1936:55-56) emphasized related in a consistent manner with the optimiz­ the importance of manipulation and haggling ing subsistence behavior of these people. In­ on the part of Tolowa men to achieve weaUh; deed, this paper has gone farther and shown Drucker (1937:242) stressed the role of direct, that at least some aspects of wealth-questing, patrihneal inheritance as the principal means particularly the brideprice and the institution of becoming a wealthy man. In my analysis of the wealthy man, arise from and in turn sup­ (1966b) 1 have accepted Du Bois' emphasis on port traditional Tolowa subsistence procure­ manipulation as an avenue to weaUh, but 1 ment systems. In this sense, wealth-questing, as have stressed the importance of bride-purchase an expanded form of a wider type of behavior as a specific form of manipulation that tends to I have termed "aggrandizive," can be regarded 168 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY as adaptive for hunter-gatherers living within tain (Smith River), Mrs. Harriet Smith (Smith the northwestern California coastal ecosystem. River), Mr. Creed Wilson (Big Flat), Mr. Joe By contrast, sharing and redistributive be­ Seymour (Crescent City), Mr. Fred Charles havior with regard to subsistence resources are (Crescent City), and Mrs. Anna Sanderson more adaptive within ecosystems that contain (Smith River). a greater element of risk, where risk-minimizing Tututni: Mrs. Ida Bensel (Siletz, Oregon) rather than optimization is important. Placed and Mr. Tom Van PeU (Harbor, Oregon). as they are near the pole of greatest affluence Yurok: Mrs. Ella Noris (Klamath), Mr. and least risk within the whole spectrum of Seely Griffin (Blue Creek), Mr. Harrison known ethnographic and historic hunter- Williams (Elk Valley), Mrs. Alice Spott Taylor gatherer adaptations, the Tolowa case points (Requa), Mrs. Maggie Pilgum (Klamath), the way to a hypothesis that should be tested Mrs. Nelly Griffin (Blue Creek), and Mrs. OIlie whenever possible: Among hunter-gatherer so­ James (Klamath). cieties aggrandizive behavior increases with re­ To these people 1 express my warmest spect to the total economy in direct proportion thanks and best wishes. Their continuing inter­ to the opportunity for optimal harvesting with est in this research has been of real value, and minimal risk by individual family or house­ 1 earnestly hope that this paper gives a faithful hold groups. and accurate account of their traditional cul­ ture and that it will provide the basis for an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS informed appreciation of that culture. I wish to acknowledge with thanks the sup­ Finally, I wish to thank the many col­ port and advice that has made the research for leagues who have generously offered their ad­ this paper possible. Initial funds were provided vice and criticism concerning this project. in 1963 by the Department of Anthropology, Dr. Robert Heizer, Dr. Albert Elsasser, and University of California, Berkeley, later fol­ Dr. Frederica de Laguna all gave valuable as­ lowed in 1964-1965 by a Graduate Fellowship sistance at the beginning of this research, and from the National Science Foundation. In their help has been followed by that of Mrs. 1972, the University of Hawaii provided a Re­ Florence Shipek, Dr. Dale Valory, Mrs. Myra search Travel Grant that made further field- Tuggle, Dr. Patrick McCoy, and Dr. Lowell work possible. Mrs. Ruth Roberts of the Del Bean. In particular, 1 wish to acknowledge the Norte County Historical Society also assisted idea of "negative determinism" proposed by this project in a wide variety of ways through Mr. Terry Grandstaff in the course of discus­ her knowledge of the local Indians and her in­ sions about this paper and related matters. formed advice on local matters. However, 1 also take full responsibility for the No project of this kind is possible without views expressed in this paper and any errors it the enthusiastic interest and cooperation of the may contain. local Indians, and in this respect I was especial­ University of Hawaii ly fortunate to have the assistance of the fol­ Honolulu lowing persons: REFERENCES Tolowa: Mrs. Lydie George (Smith River), Baumhoff, Martin A. Mr. Sam Lopez (Elk Valley), Mrs. Mandy 1963 Ecological Determinants of Aboriginal Lopez(ElkValley), Mrs. Amelia Brown(Smith California Populations. Berkeley: Uni­ River), Mr. Ed Richards (Smith River), Mrs. versity of California Publications in Bernice Coughlin (Smith River), Mrs. Lila American Archaeology and Ethnology Moorehead (Smith River), Mrs. Ellen Lafoun- 49:155-236. ECOLOGY AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE AMONG THE TOLOWA 169

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