Miwok
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Miwok People |
|---|
 |
| A Sierra Miwok cedar bark umuucha cabin reproduction in Yosemite Valley.[1] |
| Total population |
|
1770: over 11,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| California: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley, Marin County, Sonoma County, Lake County, Contra Costa County |
| Languages |
| Utian languages: Miwok family |
| Religions |
| Shamanism: Kuksu Miwok mythology |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Subgroups: |
Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) can refer to any one of four linguistically-related groups of Native Americans, who lived in what is now Northern California, who spoke one of the Miwokan languages in the Utian family. The word Miwok means people in their native language.
In 2008, Ancient Mi Wuk artifacts were unearthed, some as many as 5000 years old in Calaveras County. Many of the artifacts will be reburied with a special ceremony. Mi Wuk's believe the artifacts belong to the land.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Culture
Generally all Miwok were a hunting and gathering people who lived in small bands without centralized political authority before contact with European Americans in 1769; generally Miwok mythology and narratives were similar to other natives of Northern California. Miwok believed in animal and human spirits and saw the animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote was their ancestor and creator god.
In 1770, there was an estimated 500 Lake Miwok, 1,500 Coast Miwok, and 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok, totaling about 11,000 people, according to historian Alfred L. Kroeber, although this may be a serious undercount, for example he did not identify the Bay Miwok. [3] The 1910 Census reported only 670 Miwok total, and the 1930 Census 491, see history of each Miwok group for more information.[4]
[edit] Groups
There are four geographically and culturally diverse ethnic subgroups of Miwok people:
- Valley and Sierra Miwok: from the western slope and foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
- Coast Miwok : from present day location of Marin County and southern Sonoma County. (This includes the Bodega Bay Miwok and Marin Miwok).
- Lake Miwok: from Clear Lake basin of Lake County.
- Bay Miwok: from present-day location of Contra Costa County.
[edit] Federally recognized tribes
The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognizes nine tribes of Miwok, Mi-Wuk or Me-Wuk descent in California, as follows:
- Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians[5]
- California Valley Miwok Tribe (formerly known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians)[6] [7] [8]
- Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians
- Ione Band of Miwok Indians, of Ione [9]
- Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians
- Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, of Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract)[10]
- Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, of the Tuolumne Rancheria
- United Auburn Indian Community, of the Auburn Rancheria[11] [12]
- Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok[13]
- Middletown Rancheria (Members of this tribe are of Pomo, Lake Miwok, and Wintun descent)
[edit] Non-federally recognized tribes
- Miwok Tribe of the El Dorado Rancheria
- Nashville-Eldorado Miwok Tribe
- Wilton Rancheria of Miwok Indians
- Colfax- Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe
- Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation
- Calaveras Band of Mi-Wuk Indians
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Access Genealogy: Indian Tribal records, Miwok Indian Tribe. Retrieved on 2006-08-01. Main source of "authenticated village" names and locations.
- 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. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Washington, D.C: Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. (Chapter 30, The Miwok); available at Yosemite Online Library.
- Silliman, Stephen. Lost Laborers in Colonial California, Native Americans and the Archaeology of Rancho Petaluma. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8165-2381-9.
[edit] External links
- Barrett, S.A. and Gifford, E.W. Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region. Yosemite Association, Yosemite National Park, California, 1933. ISBN 0-939666-12-X
- California Historical Society
- Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770 (map after Kroeber)
- Tribe information from Angel Island State Park
- U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
| Miwok Indigenous Peoples of California | |
|---|---|
| Distinct Ethnic Groups • Valley & Sierra Miwok • Coast Miwok • Lake Miwok • Bay Miwok |
|
| Regions Sierra Nevada & Central Valley | Marin & Sonoma County | Lake County | Contra Costa County |
|
| Culture • Miwok mythology | Eastern Miwok Narratives | Coast Miwok Narratives | Lake Miwok Narratives |
