The Plains and Sierra Miwok were once the largest group of California Indian

Miwok people The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ...

, indigenous to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Their homeland included regions of the Sacramento Valley,

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, and the Sierra Nevada.

Geography

The Plains and Sierra Miwok traditionally lived in the western Sierra Nevada between the

Fresno River The Fresno River (Spanish for "ash tree") is a river in Central California and a major tributary of the San Joaquin River. It runs approximately from the Sierra Nevada Range to the San Joaquin River if measured from the source of Rainier Creek, ...

and

Cosumnes River The Cosumnes River is a river in northern California in the United States. It rises on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and flows approximately into the Central Valley, emptying into the Mokelumne River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Del ...

, in the eastern

Central Valley of California The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...

. As well as in the northern

Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, or California Delta, is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California. The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San ...

region at the confluences of the Cosumnes River,

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley and ul ...

, and

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento� ...

. In the present day, many Sierra Miwok live in or close to their traditional territories and

Indian rancheria Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asi ...

s, including at: *

Buena Vista Rancheria Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Chicken Ranch Rancheria The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

Jackson Rancheria Jackson Rancheria is the landbase for the Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California, a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people, located near Jackson, California. It is located in Amador County, about midway between Jackson and Pine G ...

Sheep Ranch Rancheria Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

Shingle Springs Rancheria Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: ** Wood shingle *** Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle *** Quercus imbricaria, or shingle ...

Tuolumne Rancheria The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people in Tuolumne County, California.Wilton Rancheria Wilton Rancheria is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Miwok people based in northern California. They were formed from Wilton Rancheria Miwok and the Me-Wuk Indian Community of the Wilton Rancheria. It regained recognition in 2009. ...

Culture

The Plains and Sierra Miwok lived by

hunting and gathering A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

, and lived in small local tribes, without centralized political authority. They are skilled at

basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

ry and continue the traditions today.

Religion

The original Plains and Sierra Miwok people world view included

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

ism. One form this took was the

Kuksu religion Kuksu, was a religion in Northern California practiced by members within several Indigenous peoples of California before and during contact with the arriving European settlers. The religious belief system was held by several tribes in Central Cal ...

that was evident in Central and Northern California, which included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual morning ceremony, puberty

rites of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

shamanic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...

intervention with the spirit world, and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms.Kroeber, 1907, Vol. 4 #6, sections titled "Shamanism", "Public Ceremonies", "Ceremonial Structures and Paraphernalia", and "Mythology and Beliefs". Kuksu was shared with other indigenous ethnic groups of Central California, such as the

Pomo The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small ...

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

, Ohlone, Esselen, and northernmost

Yokuts The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. ''Yokuts ...

. However, Kroeber observed less "specialized cosmogony" in the Miwok, which he termed one of the "southern Kuksu-dancing groups", in comparison to the Maidu and other northern California tribes.

Traditional narratives

The record of myths, legends, tales, and histories from the Plains and Sierra Miwok is one of the most extensive in the state. These groups participate in the general cultural pattern of Central California.

Mythology

Miwok

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

is similar to other natives of Central and Northern California. The Plains and Sierra Miwok believe in animal and human spirits, and see the animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote is seen as their ancestor and

creator god A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...

Divisions

Map of the Plains and Sierra Miwok territories (colored)

There were four definite regional and linguistic sub-divisions: Plains Miwok, Northern Sierra Miwok, Central Sierra Miwok, and Southern Sierra Miwok.

Plains Miwok

The Plains Miwok inhabited a portion of the Central Valley's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and adjacent plains in modern southern

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...

, eastern

Solano County Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

, and northern

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San ...

. They spoke Plains Miwok, a language of the Miwokan branch of the

Utian Utian (also Miwok–Costanoan, previously Mutsun) is a family of indigenous languages spoken in Northern California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages of the Utian language family. It has recently been argued that ...

language family.

Villages and local tribes

Classical anthropologists recorded a number of specific Plains Miwok villages, but it remained for work by Bennyhoff in the 1950s and 1960s to recognize multi-village territorial local tribes as the signature land-use organization of the Plains Miwok. The published specific village locations were: *''On the Cosumnes River:'' Chuyumkatat, Lulimal, Mayeman, Mokos-unni, Sukididi, Supu, Tukui, Yomit *''Near the Cosumnes River:'' Umucha, Yumhui; ''on the Mokelumne River:'' Lel-amni, Mokel(-unni), Sakayak-unni; ''on the east bank of Sacramento River below Sacramento:'' Hulpu-mni; ''on Jackson Creek:'' Ochech-ak Among the important landholding local tribes at the time of Spanish colonization in California were: * ''Anizumne'' at Rio Vista on the west side of the Sacramento River * ''Chilamne'' at Bellota on the Calaveras River * ''Chucumne'' at Liberty Island on the west side of the Sacramento River * ''Cosomne'' at the

Wilton Rancheria Miwok Wilton Rancheria is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Miwok people based in northern California. They were formed from Wilton Rancheria Miwok and the Me-Wuk Indian Community of the Wilton Rancheria. It regained recognition in 2009. ...

on the Cosumnes River * ''Gualacomne'' at Freeport on both sides of the Sacramento River * ''Guaypemne'' at Terminous on the Mokelumne River delta * ''Lelamne'' at Clements on the Mokelumne River * ''Muquelemne'' at Ione on the Mokelumne River * ''Musupum'' at Andrus Island at the confluence of the Mokelumne and San Joaquin rivers * ''Ochejamne'' at Courtland on the east side of the Sacramento River * ''Quenemsia'' at Grand Island among the distributary channels of the Sacramento River * ''Seuamne'' at Jenny Lind on the Calaveras River (intermediate to Northern Sierra Miwok) * ''Sonolomne'' probably on Dry and Laguna creeks east of Galt * ''Unizumne'' at Thornton at the confluence of the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers * ''Ilamne'' at Yolano on the west side of the Sacramento River (northwest of Freeport)

Post-contact history

The majority of the members of the Plains Miwok local tribes moved to colonial Franciscan

Mission San José Mission San José may refer to: *Mission San José (California), a Spanish mission in Fremont, California * Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, a neighborhood * Mission San Jose High School, a high school in Fremont, California *Mission San José ...

, in some cases through attraction and in other cases through intimidation, between 1812 and 1833. By 1815 they represented 14% of the Indian people at that mission, and by 1830 they had reached 42% of the mission's population. In 1834 and 1835, hundreds of Plains Miwok survivors of the Central Valley's 1833

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

epidemic were baptized at Mission San José. By the end of 1835, Plains Miwok was the native language of 60% of the Indian people at the mission. Between 1834 and 1838 the Alta California missions were secularized (closed as religious and agricultural communes). Many Plains Miwoks moved back to their home areas, where between 1839 and 1841

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area th ...

played the local groups off against one another in order to gain control of the lower Sacramento Valley. Other Plains Miwok families remained in the San Francisco Bay area, intermarried with Ohlone,

Patwin The Patwin (also Patween, Southern Wintu) are a band of Wintun people native to the area of Northern California. The Patwin comprise the southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500 AD. The Patw ...

, and

peoples, and found work on local Mexican ranchos.

Northern Sierra Miwok

The Northern Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the

and the

Calaveras River The Calaveras River is a river in the San Joaquin Valley of California. It flows roughly southwest for from the confluence of its north and south forks in Calaveras County to its confluence with the San Joaquin River in the city of Stockt ...

. One settlement site is within the present day Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park near

Volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

. They spoke Northern Sierra Miwok, a language in the

linguistic group.

Historic villages

The authenticated Northern Sierra Miwok villages are:Kroeber 1925:445, Plate 37. *''At present-day San Andreas:'' Huta-sil *''At present-day Jackson:'' Tukupe-su *''Near present-day Jackson:'' Pola-su *''On the Calaveras River Headwaters:'' Kechenti, Kaitimii, Mona-sti *''Between Calaveras River and Mokelumne Rivers:'' Apautawilti, Heina, Ketina *''On the Cosumnes River:'' Noma (South Fork), Omo (South Fork), Yule (south of river) *''On the Mokelumne River.'' Ktiniisti, Uptistini, Penken-sii (inland south of river), Sopochi (towards Jackson Creek) *''On Jackson Creek:'' Chakane-sii?, Seweu-sii, Tumuti (on the headwaters), Yuloni, on Jackson Creek

Central Sierra Miwok

The Central Sierra Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the Stanislaus River and the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River (Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

. They spoke ''Central Sierra Miwok'', a language in the

linguistic group.

Historic villages

The authenticated Central Sierra Miwok villages are: *''At present-day Sonora:'' Akankau-nchi (1), Kuluti. Also in this vicinity: Hunga, Kapanina, Chakachi-no, Akankau-nchi (2), Kesa, Kotoplana, Olaw_ye, Pokto-no, Pota, Siksike-no, Sopka-su, Suchumumu, Sukanola, Sukwela, Telese-no, Tel'ula, Tunuk-chi, Waka-che. *"On the Calaveras River:'' Humata, Katuka, Newichu (between Stanislaus River and a head branch) *''On the Stanislaus River:'' Akutanuka (northwest), Hangwite (South Fork), Kawinucha (North Fork), Kewe-no, Loyowisa (near the junction of Middle and South Forks), Oloikoto, Sutamasina (South Fork), Takema (Middle Fork), Tipotoya, Tulana-chi, Tulsuna (between the South and Middle Forks), Tuyiwu-nu, Wokachet (South Fork), Wolanga-su (south of the junction between the South and Middle Forks), Wtiyu Yungakatok (near the junction of the North and Middle Forks) *''On the Tuolumne River:'' Akawila (between a branch of Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers), Hechhechi (at headwaters), Hochhochmeti, Kulamu, Pangasema-nu (northern), Pasi-nu (southeast of Sonora), Pigliku (southern), Singawu-nu, Sala *''Near present-day San Andreas:'' Alakani (east), Kosoimuno-nu (towards Stanislaus River), Sasamu (almost due east), Shulaputi (southeast)

Southern Sierra Miwok

Miwok-Paiute ceremony in 1872 at current site of Yosemite Lodge

The Southern Miwok inhabited the lower banks of the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through th ...

and the

Chowchilla River The Chowchilla River is a river in central California, United States and a minor tributary of the San Joaquin River. It flows for from the western side of the Sierra Nevada Range to the San Joaquin River system in the San Joaquin Valley. Most of ...

, as well as

Mariposa Creek Mariposa Creek, originally called the Mariposa River, is a creek that has its source in Mariposa County, California. It flows through the town of Mariposa then southwest through the Sierra foothills, into and across the San Joaquin Valley in Mer ...

. They spoke Southern Sierra Miwok, a language in the Utian linguistic group. Broadbent, 1964. The Merced River flows from the High Sierras, through

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Hal ...

, and into the

near present-day near Livingston. The

Mono tribe The Mono ( ) are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south of Bridgeport), the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. The Eastern mono is often grouped under t ...

people (considered Northern Paiute) occupied the higher eastern Sierras and the

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

Basin, and entered Yosemite from the east. The

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

name for the Southern Miwok was qohsoo?moho. Miwoks occupied the lower western foothills of the Sierras and entered from the west. Disputes between the two tribes were violent, and the residents of the valley, in defense of their territory, were considered to be among the most aggressive of any tribes in the area. When encountered by immigrants of European descent, the neighboring Southern Sierra Miwok tribe referred to the Yosemite Valley residents as "killers". It is from this reference and a confusion over the word for "grizzly bear" that Bunnell named the valley Yosemite. The native residents called the valley ''awahni''. Today, there is some debate about the original meaning of the word, since the Southern Miwok language is virtually extinct, but recent Southern Miwok speakers defined it as "place like a gaping mouth." Those living in ''awahni'' were known as the Awahnichi (also spelled Ahwahnechee and similar variants), meaning "people who live in awahni".Bunnel, 1892.Anderson, 2005. The naming of the

Ahwahnee Hotel The Ahwahnee Hotel is a grand hotel in Yosemite National Park, California, on the floor of Yosemite Valley. It was built by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company and opened for business in 1927. The hotel is constructed of steel, stone, concre ...

was derived from the Miwok word.

Historic villages

The authenticated Southern Sierra Miwok villages are: *''Near present-day Mariposa:'' Kasumati, Nochu-chi *''On the Chowchilla River headwaters:'' Nowach, Olwia *''On the Fresno River:'' Wasema, Wehilto *''On the Merced River:'' Alaula-chi, Angisawepa, Awal, Hikena, Kakahula-chi, Kitiwana, Kuyuka-chi, Owelinhatihu, Palachan, Sayangasi, Siso-chi, Sope-nchi, Sotpok, WilitoYawoka-chi

Post-contact history

After Euro-Americans entered Yosemite Valley and the adjacent Sierras, and established

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

, the residents were of both Paiute-Mono and Miwok origin. They had either fought to a stalemate or agreed to peaceful coexistence and had intermixed to a limited extent.

Population

Alfred L. Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...

estimated there to be 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok combined in 1770, but this is an arguably low estimate.Kroeber Richard Levy estimated there were 17,800.Levy, 1978, page 401. In 1848 their population was estimated at 6,000, in 1852 at 4,500, in 1880 at 100, and in 1910 the population was estimated at 670.Cook, 1976, pages 236-245.

Notable Plains and Sierra Miwoks

* Lucy Telles — master basket weaver, based in Yosemite Valley.

Notes

References

* Anderson, Daniel
''Origin of the word Yosemite''
Retrieved on 2006-08-01. * * Bennyhoff, James A. 1977. ''Ethnogeography of the Plains Miwok''. Center for Archaeological Research at Davis Publication Number 5. University of California at Davis. * Bunnell, Dr. Lafayette

3d ed. New York City and Chicago, IL: F. H. Revell Company, 1892. * Callaghan, Catherine A. 1984. ''Plains Miwok Dictionary''. University of California Publications in Linguistics, Volume 105. * Cook, Sherburne. ''The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization''. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1976. . * Kroeber, Alfred L. 1907. ''The Religion of the Indians of California'', ''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"; available a
Sacred Texts Online
* 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 a
Yosemite Online Library
* Levy, Richard. 1978. ''Eastern Miwok'', in ''Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8 (California)''. William C. Sturtevant, and Robert F. Heizer, eds. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978. / 0160045754, pp. 398–413. * Milliken, Randall. 2008. ''Native Americans at Mission San Jose''. Banning, CA: Malki-Ballena Press. * Mithun, Marianne. 1999. ''The Languages of Native North America''. University Press, Cambridge.

External links