Pomo people

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Pomo People
Pomo girl photographed by Edward S. Curtis in 1924
Pomo girl photographed by Edward S. Curtis in 1924.
Total population 1770: 8,000
1851: 3,500-5,000
1910: 777-1,200
1990: 4,900
Regions with significant populations California: Mendocino County, Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, Lake County, Colusa County
Language Pomoan Family
Religion Shamanism: Kuksu, Messiah Cult

The Pomo people are a Native American people of Northern California. They live on the Pacific Coast in the Northern San Francisco Bay Area between Cleone and Duncan's Point, and inland to Clear Lake. A separate group, called the Northeast Pomo, also lived near Stonyford.

Contents

[edit] Culture

The people called Pomo were originally linked by location, language, and other elements of culture. They were not socially or politically linked as a large unified "tribe." Instead, they lived in small groups ("bands"), linked by geography, lineage and marriage, and relied upon fishing, hunting and gathering for their food.

The name Pomo is derived from a suffix -pomo or -poma, which was attached to the names of villages and local groups, the meaning of which is "at red earth hole," since their languages is one of many endangered languages.

The Pomo spoke seven distinct Pomoan languages that are not mutually intelligible. There are still a few speakers of some of the Pomoan languages and efforts are being made by the Pomo people to preserve those languages and other elements of their culture.

[edit] Religion

The Pomo people participated in Shamanism, one form this took was the Kuksu religion that was evident in Central and Northern California, which included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual mourning ceremony, puberty rites of passage, shamanic intervention with the spirit world and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms.[1][2] The Pomo believed in a supernatural being the Kuksu or Guksu (depending on their dialect) who lived in the south and who came during ceremonies to heal their illnesses. Medicine men dressed up as Kuksu. Another later shamanistic movement that took place and lasted through 1900 was Messiah Cult, introduced to them by the Wintun that was practiced through 1900. This cult believed in prophets who had dreams, "waking visions" and revelations from "presiding spirits" and "virtually formed a priesthood". The prophets earned much respect and status among the people.[3]

[edit] Traditional narratives

Main article: Pomo traditional narratives

The record of Pomo myths, legends, tales, and histories is extensive. The body of narratives is classed within the Central California cultural pattern, but influences from the Northwest Coast and, more tenuously, from the Plateau region have also been noted.[1]

[edit] Mythology

Main article: Pomo mythology

The Pomo had a strong mythology of creation and world order, that includes the personification of the Kuksu of Guksu healer spirit, spirits from six cardinal directions, and the Coyote as their ancestor and creator god.[4]

[edit] U.S. Recognition

The United States acknowledges many groups of native people of the United States as "federally recognized tribes," giving them a quasi-sovereign status similar to that of states. Many other groups are not recognized. The Pomo groups presently recognized by the United States are based in Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties and include, among others:

  • Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians
  • Lytton Band of Pomo Indians
  • Cloverdale Band of Pomo Indians
  • Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians
  • Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians
  • Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians
  • Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians
  • Hopland Band of Pomo Indians
  • Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians
  • Kashia Band of Pomo Indians

[edit] Population

Population: In 1770 there were about 8,000 Pomo people, in 1851 population was estimated between 3500 and 5000, and in 1880 estimated at 1450.[5] The 1910 Census reported 777 Pomo, but that is probably low. The anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber estimated 1,200 in the same year [6]. According to the 1930 census there were 1,143. In 1990, the census showed 4900.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Kroeber, Alfred. The Religion of the Indians of California, 1907, Vol. 4 #6, sections titled "Shamanism", "Public Ceremonies", "Ceremonial Structures and Paraphernalia", and "Mythology and Beliefs".
  2. ^ The Kuksu Cult paraphrased from Kroeber.
  3. ^ Barret, 1917, page 398, 440-441.
  4. ^ Barret, 1917, page 397-441.
  5. ^ Cook, pages 236-245.
  6. ^ Kroeber.

[edit] References

  • Barret, Samuel A. Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians, Published by University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnicity, July 6, 1917, Vol. 12, No 10., pages 397-441.
  • Cook, Sherburne. The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1976. ISBN 0-520-03143-1.
  • Kroeber, Alfred L. The Religion of the Indians of California, 1907, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 4:#6. Berkeley, sections titled "Shamanism", "Public Ceremonies", "Ceremonial Structures and Paraphernalia", and "Mythology and Beliefs".[1]
  • Kroeber, Alfred L. Handbook of Indians of California, 1919. (discusses Kuksu religion).[2]
  • Kroeber, Alfred L. Native American research and population data.
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