Achomawi

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Achomawi basket-maker in 1923
Achomawi basket-maker in 1923

The Achomawi (also Achumawi, Ajumawi and Ahjumawi) were one of several bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northern California, USA. They lived in the Fall River valley, Tule Lake and Pit River area near Montgomery Creek in Shasta County to Goose Lake on the Oregon state line. They were closely related to the Atsugewi. The Achomawi spoke a Palaihnihan language.

Contents

[edit] Territory

The Achomawi territory was in the Pit River drainage area (with the exception of Hat Creek and Dixie Valley, which were Atsugewi). Total area was probably one hundred and seventy-five miles in length as the river flows, and began near Round mountain in the south to Goose Lake area to the north.[1] Strictly speaking, Achomawi is the name of only that part of the group living in the basin of the Fall River [2] Other groups in the Pit River area :

  • Madeshi, lowest on the river,
  • Ilmawi, along the river's south side
  • Chumawi, in Round Valley
  • Atuami, in Big Valley
  • Hantiwi, in lower Hot Springs Valley
  • Astakiwi, upper Hot Springs Valley
  • Hamawi, on the south fork of the Pit River

[edit] Food

Like other Northern Californians, the Achomawi lived by hunting, gathering and fishing.Their main foods are grasshoppers, plants, small animals and fish.

[edit] Fishing

One method of catching fish was the building of fish traps near the shore composed of lava stone walls, with an outer wall and inner walls that concentrate the issuing spring water to attract the sucker and trout The openings are then closed using a keystone, canoe prow or log. The inner walls trap the fish in the shallow gravel area directly in front of the spring's mouth where they are taken by spear or basket. The shallow gravel enclosure was also the spawning grounds for the sucker fish, which the Achomawi were careful to maintain for a successful spawn by opening the walls to release the fish. The fish were cleaned, and then sun-dried or smoked on wooden frames for either later consumption or trade with other groups. The harvest was done in the evening using torches for light to show the fish, which could number in the hundreds.[3]

Several fish traps can be seen along the shores of Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park. Fish hooks and fish spears were made from deer bone, the fish spear being a two pronged bone that had a socket for the fitting of a wooden shaft.
Nets were another method employed to snare trout, pike and sucker and the Achomawi made five different types , three of which were bag-shaped dipnets , a seine and a gill net. Of the three dipnets, the Lipake was the smallest, a round bag with an oval hoop sewn at the mouth that was used to scoop the sucker fish into while diving underwater.[4]

[edit] Hunting

Hunting techniques differed from other California Native Americans. A deep pit would be dug along a deer trail, covered with brush, the trail restored including adding deer tracks using a hoof, and all dirt and human evidence taken away. The settlers' cattle would also fall in these pits, so much so that the settlers convinced the people to stop this practice. The pits were most numerous near the river because the deer came down to drink and so the river is named for these trapping pits. [5]

[edit] Gathering

Acorns, pine nuts, seeds of wild oats and other grasses, manzanita berries and other berries were prepared for either consumption, winter storage or for trade. The plant commonly called camas (Camassia Quamash) was (and still is) an important food source of many Native American groups and was widely traded. Used as a sweetener and food enhancer, the bulbs were pit-cooked for more than a day traditionally.[6]

[edit] Basketry

Achomawi basketry was of the twined type. Cooking vessels had broad openings, slightly rounded bottom and sides with willow rods for upright structure. Other types of baskets were the burdenbasket, cradle, serving-tray and the open- mesh beater basket for harvesting seeds. Achomawi made use of bear grass[7] for an overlay of wheat-colored strands with black stems of maidenhair fern for background color.[8]


[edit] Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. (See Population of Native California.) Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achomawi and Atsugewi as 3,000. A more detailed analysis by Fred B. Kniffen (1928) arrived at the same figure. T. R. Garth (1978:237) estimated the Atsugewi population at a maximum of 850, which would leave at least 2,150 for the Achomawi.

Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achomawi and Astugewi in 1910 as 1,100. The population was given as about 500 in 1936.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ S. Curtis's The North American Indian,volume 13, page 129-Northwestern University Library- Digital Library Collections > The North American Indian
  2. ^ Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California, Dover edition 1976 p.307
  3. ^ John W. Foster Senior State Archaeologist Native Fish Traps Along the Shore of Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park
  4. ^ S. Curtis's The North American Indian, volume 13, page 137-Northwestern University Library- Digital Library Collections > The North American Indian
  5. ^ Stephen Powers * Tribes of California*, p. 269 (Regents of the University of California, forward by R. Heizer, 1976)
  6. ^ United State Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service- Plant Guide Common Camas [1]
  7. ^ Also called elk grass, Indian basket grass and bear lily, it is a member of the lily family, latin name: Zerophyllum. The leaves are grasslike, 1 to 3 feet long and very durable.
  8. ^ Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian, volume 13, page 138-Northwestern University Library- Digital Library Collections > The North American Indian

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


[edit] References

  • Garth, T. R. 1978. "Atsugewi". In California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 236-243. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • Kniffen, Fred B. 1928. "Achomawi Geography". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 23:297-332.
  • Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
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