NATIVE CALIFORNIA
INTRODUCTION
California culture area had roughly same boundaries as present state, from crest of Sierras (edge of Great Basin culture area) to ocean, and from Sonoran desert (blending into SW and Baja) to mountainous north (bordering Plateau & NWC areas)
Environment included huge interior valleys (marsh/delta), grassy oak hills, deserts, mountainous regions (incl. rainy Coast Range), and long coastline with rich marine resources in bays & estuaries
Three main subareas usually recognized:
1) Northwest area: forested, mountainous, salmon runs in rivers; influenced by NW Coast culture area (similar env.); main ethnolinguistic groups = Yurok, Hupa, Karok, Tolowa
2) Central and Interior Valley area: most "typical" habitat & culture; dry grasslands, live oak, rivers & marshes; plant foods, deer, fish & waterfowl; ethnolinguistic groups = Pomo, Yokuts, Miwok, Maidu, Ohlone, etc.
3) Southern area: narrow coastal plain, small interior valleys, Mojave desert; resource include shellfish, sea mammals, & fish along coast, acorn & other plants, plus deer in interior; ethnolinguistic groups = Chumash on coast, Cahuilla, Serrano, & others in interior
Linguistic diversity was highest of the 10 culture areas of NNA: 65-80 distinct languages at contact (more than double that found in all of Europe in 1500), drawn from at least 5 language phyla (out of only 7 total for NNA!)
Despite this variety, a set of shared features defined distinct culture area:
1) intensive foraging economy emphasizing acorns/deer/fish
2) dense population in permanent villages (probably densest popn. in NNA outside lower Mississippi)
3) sociopolitical unit = "tribelet" (several hundred people in cluster of adjacent small villages)
4) socioeconomic differentiation into elite vs. commoners
5) tribelet affairs administered by a chief & assistants
6) complex patterns of ceremonial exchange & economic trade btwn tribelets
7) religious practice focused on shamanism, esoteric rituals, ceremonies to honor the dead, puberty rites, and world-renewal rites
This combination of linguistic diversity and cultural similarity suggests repeated movement of Indian peoples into Calif. from other areas, but long enough before European entry to erase most nonlinguistic differences in ancestral culture
SUBSISTENCE
Calif. subsistence strategies varied according to local conditions, but abundant & reliable food resources (wild plants & animals) were found throughout culture area
Acorn was the most important staple for most California Indians
Acorns are nutritious, high in protein & fat -- but processing essential
Acorn utilization: gathered nuts off trees in fall, dried & hulled them, pounded with stone mortar & pestle, leached in boiling water or in stream (slower) to remove tannin, then dried & stored acorn meal; used to make mush or acorn-bread
Interesting that virtually no cultigens (except tobacco and a few gourds) were raised in aboriginal Calif.
Why agriculture failed to spread to Calif. is question that has long intrigued anthros and geographers
Cannot ascribe this to lack of opportunity: trade contacts were extensive & long-lasting -- by AD 600, SW turquoise & pottery appears in SF Bay; and Yuman Indians of lower Colorado R. cultivated maize (corn) right on edge of Calif. culture area
Also cannot ascribe this to failure to understand principles of plant propagation: tobacco grown everywhere (for ritual use); some Calif. Indians transplanted favored wild plants (roots, prickly pear), others annually burned off ground cover and sowed seeds of favored wild plants
Two reasonable hypotheses remain
Oldest is Kroeber's (via geographer Carl Sauer) argument on environmental limitations to aboriginal maize crops
Kroeber was able to predict reliance on maize in much of NNA by mapping areas with at least 120 frost-free days in growing season
But while this worked for rest of NNA, didn't apply to bulk of Calif. culture area, which is plenty warm enough to grow native varieties of maize
Here, Kroeber argued that seasonal distn. of rainfall is wrong: most falls in winter months, and summer growing season is usually very dry;
But this would not have prevented use of irrigation to grow maize in riverine areas (and Calif. Indians had nearby example of Mohave on Lower Colorado R., as well as irrigation of wild grasses by Owens Valley Paiute)
Alternative (and more recent) explanation argues that while horticulture would have been possible, it was inefficient relative to foraging
Popn. density of much of Calif. was quite high, indicating foraging economy allowed many people to be supported quite well, and with ample leisure
Acorns are especially critical here, as they were staple in most areas, and were harvested & processed at same time as maize would have been
In sum, acorns provided a dependable, abundant resource which could be easily stored ) same qualities as domesticate
Furthermore, unlike maize, the native oaks are well-adapted to dry summers
Hence, reasonable to conclude that Calif. foragers chose to remain so, and failed to adopt agriculture because it would have required more work per unit yield (This general point is now widely understood: agriculture is not a necessarily easier way of life, and people choose to remain foragers if population density is low enough -- as illustrated in this graph)
(But Kroeber's point re rainfall still relevant -- helps account for high cost or low efficiency of indigenous agriculture relative to foraging)
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Due to decimation of native population from introduced diseases, expropriation of best land, and forced relocation to missions with Spanish colonization (beginning 1769), much of what we know about aboriginal Calif. culture is based on oral history and archaeology rather than detailed ethnographic observation
(Re magnitude of popn. decline, Cook (1978) estimated that from 1770-1900, aboriginal popn. of 310,000 declined to 20,000 -- a 95% decline in 130 yrs!)
Archival and ethnohistoric research over last 70 yrs has increasingly revealed the complex details of Native Calif. social and ceremonial systems
Although some local variation, certain social institutions seem to be found throughout native Calif.
Of these, one of most important is tribelet, which has some parallels elsewhere in NNA, but is quite distinctive (& ubiquitous) for Calif.
Tribelet = politically autonomous local group controlling a territory (resource base), with a centralized administration (including a chief), and economically integrated via redistribution network
Tribelet consisted of several villages (village cluster), with one main village being ceremonial & political/economic center (home of chief, etc.)
Typical tribelet size estimated at 500 (range ca. 100 to >1,000)
Several hundred tribelets estimated to have existed in Calif. at time of European entry; few if any were united into larger political alliances, but everywhere neighboring tribelets were allied via economic & ceremonial exchange
Besides these alliances, adjacent tribelets were also grouped by shared cultural features & language into about 50 ethnolinguistic units (e.g., "Ohlone" and "Pomo" each consisted of 30-40 tribelets sharing linguistic & cultural affinities, but not any political centralization or even sense of ethnic unity prior to colonization)
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & POLITICS
In contrast to egalitarian societies of Basin & Plateau, Calif. societies characterized by distinct internal differences in wealth, status, and political power ) what social scientists commonly refer to as social stratification
Typically, 3 or 4 strata were culturally recognized (see Bean reading):
1) elite: chiefly families, ritual co-ordinators, econ. administrators
2) craft specialists: spent most of time in specialized production (often employed by chief & supported through public coffers)
3) commoners: average members of society who lacked membership in "good family" and who were not particularly wealthy
Bean mentions a 4th category of "vagabonds," those who lacked family ties and any fixed residence or role in society, but this was not an important or numerous category
In some societies there was a 5th class of slaves (war captives) and/or indentured servants (working off debt to wealthy family), but they appear to have been quite rare & played minor socioeconomic role
Though social strata not strictly hereditary, members of elite inherited status & wealth (plus ritual knowledge) from parents or other close kin; thus power & status not primarily achieved as was case in more egalitarian NA societies (e.g., Basin, Plateau)
Elites justified & maintained their power & position thru two primary avenues:
1) monopolizing ritual knowledge
2) managing the system of economic redistribution that integrated each tribelet and tied it to adjacent tribelets
Elites were also distinguished symbolically via special etiquette, aristocratic language and dress, and possession of much inherited wealth and sacred objects (displayed in rituals, etc.)
Elite endogamy (preference to marry elites of other tribelets whenever possible) kept them distinct from commoners, and also cemented inter-tribelet alliances
ECONOMIC & CEREMONIAL EXCHANGE
I noted earlier that although each tribelet was politically autonomous, was linked closely to adjacent tribelets through economic & ceremonial exchange
Good example of this is the Trade Feast found among Pomo
Pomo speakers divided into 34 tribelets, scattered along Russian River drainage in no. coastal Calif (currently Sonoma & Mendocino Co.)
Pomo region stretched from ocean to interior over coast range, covering 3 zones:
1) coastline & redwood forest (marine foods, salmon runs, but least favorable habitat for human subsistence)
2) interior valleys (grassy, oak groves--abundant acorns & game)
3) Clear Lake area (fish, waterfowl, much game, roots, etc. -- most favorable)
Because of this environmental diversity, as well as seasonality of some resources, adjacent tribelets often had very different set of resources
When a large abundance of a particular resource was harvested in any one tribelet's area, a trade feast was held; these usually linked tribelets occupying diff. env. zones (and hence complementary sets of resources) [DIAGRAM]
Chief decided when to call a feast, and sent out a runner to a tribelet chosen to be guests; runner announced date to guest chief, and gave him invitation stick with a sample of the surplus item to be traded (e.g., acorn, fishtail)
Guest chief decided whether to accept invitation, and if so sent word to all households of his tribelet that they should send him shell money
Guest villagers & chief then journeyed to host village, and guest chief presented shell money to host chief
There followed several days of feasting (house to house, often involving kin ties), social and ceremonial activities, shamanistic seances, gambling, men taking sweat baths together, etc.
Meanwhile, host chief and advisers counted up shell beads, and based on estimated amount of surplus food to be traded, established exchange value (e.g., string of 100 beads = 5 salmon)
At end of visiting & feasting, pile of beads placed in central spot, then host households brought out their surplus & pile up, receiving appropriate number of beads from their chief or other administrator in exchange
This was repeated until either surplus or beads were exhausted
Finally, guest chief redistributed food in equal shares to each of his tribelet's households; he kept some food, and any extra shells, as "fee" for his administrative labors
Note that because of rules governing exchange of beads for food, trade feasts acted to reduce disparity of resources between tribelets, and also reduced wealth diffs. within guest tribelets (except chief), but increased it within host tribelet (though every tribelet played both roles)
Wealthier families motivated to contribute disproportionate share of shell beads because of increased prestige (also expected to make higher contribution at mourning ceremonies, etc.)
Trade feast thus functioned to redistribute resource surpluses, allowing one tribelet to "bank" its excess foodstuffs in form of durable wealth
It also was a main avenue for chiefs to demonstrate their administrative & diplomatic skills, and to accumulate wealth in payment for this
In addition to economic exchanged & alliances, most California tribelets also participated in elaborate ceremonial interactions (as described in readings, and below)
NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA: Wealth Quest
& World Renewal
The first peoples who live in the NW corner of California occupy a culturally & environmentally distinct subarea, on boundary btwn Calif & NW Coast culture areas & habitats
Rugged, forested region on or near coast, with rich salmon streams
These peoples (Yurok, Karok, Tolowa, & Hupa) are linguistically diverse (3 ling. stocks = Hokan, Athapaskan, & Macro-Algonkian), but shared several distinctive features:
1) Emphasis on individual status & quest for wealth
2) Set of rules governing acquisition & transfer of wealth items
3) World-renewal ceremonies
In other respects, they were similar to other Californians: small permanent villages organized into "tribelet" clusters, moderately nonegalitarian social org, intensive foraging economy
Individuals or households owned a surprising range of property, including many unharvested natural resources: salmon-fishing spots, acorn groves, shellfish sites, root beds, driftwood-collecting sites, marked redwood trees (used for building houses & canoes), etc.
Prestige economy (centered around wealth items) differentiated from subsistence economy, although in times of misfortune & famine, wealth could be converted into foodstuffs
Wealth items included albino or unusually-colored deerskins, dentalium & other shells, woodpecker feathers, large blades of obsidian, civet skins, etc.
Wealth important in several areas:
1) necessary for bride-price (note: higher for women from wealthier families)
2) fines for certain transgressions: homicide, physical injury, adultery, uttering name of dead person (paid their relative) (fines higher for wealthy victims)
3) shaman's fees (varied by skill of shaman & seriousness of illness)
Wealth could be obtained through industry (especially trade), but in general most wealth was obtained thru inheritance -- thus fostering persistence of socioeconomic differences
If person too poor to pay fine for transgression, had to borrow from wealthy; if really poor, could end up in "debt slavery" (indentured servant status)
Main purpose of accumulating wealth was to use it to display high status, especially as sponsor of major ceremony (analogous to jewels & thrones of European royalty, or religious treasures and costly robes of Catholic hierarchy)
Most important such ceremonies were "World Renewal" rites, held annually
Sponsoring individual or family provided wealth items, elaborate regalia worn by dancers, and foodstuffs needed for carrying out these rites (which were extremely costly undertakings)
Two World Renewal ceremonies that have been described in detail are White Deerskin Dance and Jumping Dance (this last a.k.a. Red Woodpecker Hat Dance, and still held today)
These certainly are not simply "dances" but rather multi-faceted & sacred ceremonies: they serve to revitalize world for coming year, "firm up the earth," restore balance of nature, ward off famine & disasters
Held annually, in late summer or early fall, each lasting 10 days
Divided into 2 parts: esoteric phase with few participants, and public dance phase, with many participants & big audience
Esoteric phase involves a few men, purified thru ritual + abstinence from food & sex, who travel to a number of prescribed sacred locations, carrying out rites to ensure renewal of natural forces & good fortune in coming year
Public phase involves long narrative telling how ancient spirits established the ceremony (and sacred spots associated with it), followed by performance involving display of sacred/valuable objects, sacred songs, and ritual dancing:
The Deerskin dancers wear aprons of civet cat or deerhide about the waist, masses of dentalium necklaces, and forehead bands of wolf fur that shade the eyes....The dancers hold poles on which are white, light grey, black, or mottled deerskins, the heads stuffed, the ears, mouths, throats, and false tongues decorated with woodpecker scalps...The singer in the center of the line, and his two assistants [wear a] net of feathers...At the end of the line and in front of it is a dancer who carries an obsidian blade. Over his wolf-fur forehead band is a strap from which project...half a dozen or more... canine teeth of sea lions....[Two of these] dancers advance and pass each other in front of the row of deerskins several times during each song, crouching, blowing a whistle, and holding their obsidians conspicuously.
-- Kroeber (1923; quoted in Spencer & Jennings, p 214)
SUMMARY
Primary features of California culture area:
1. High linguistic and environmental diversity
2. Rich resource base + intensive foraging economy (but no agriculture) resulting in dense, sedentary population
3. Primary sociopolitical unit = tribelet (cluster of villages, owned territory, economically integrated, politically autonomous)
4. Socioeconomic stratification (elites, commoners, etc.), formal tribelet administrators (chief, assistants, priests)
5. Economic redistribution within groups, exchanges between groups (e.g., Pomo trade feast)
6. Tribelet-wide (or even multi-tribelet) ceremonies including esoteric rites by specialists (e.g., White Deerskin Dance)
