Pomo People
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The Pomo are an
Indigenous people of California The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...
. Historical Pomo territory in
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
was large, bordered by the
Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...
to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and
Duncans Point Duncans Point is a cape on the Pacific Coast of northern California in the United States. It is located in Sonoma County at , approximately northwest of San Francisco and approximately west of Santa Rosa. The point lies about halfway betwee ...
. One small group, the Northeastern Pomo, lived in the vicinity of present-day Stonyford in
Colusa County Colusa County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,839. The county seat is Colusa. It is in the North Valley of California, northwest of the state capital, Sacramento. History C ...
, separated from the core Pomo area by lands inhabited by Yuki and
Wintuan The Wintun are members of several related Native American peoples of Northern California, including the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern).Pritzker, 152Potter Valley Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 cens ...
near the present-day community of
Pomo, California Pomo (Pomo for "Those who live at red earth hole") is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located southeast of Potter Valley, at an elevation of 942 feet (287 m). A post office operated at Pomo from 1870 to 1871, ...
in
Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...
. It may have referred to local deposits of the red mineral magnesite, used for red beads, or to the reddish earth and clay, such as
hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...
, mined in the area. In the Northern Pomo dialect, ''-pomo'' or ''-poma'' was used as a suffix after the names of places, to mean a subgroup of people of the place. By 1877, the use of ''Pomo'' had been extended in English to mean the entire people known today as the Pomo.


History

The people called Pomo were originally linked by location, language, and cultural expression. They were not socially or politically linked as a unified group. Instead, they lived in small groups or bands linked by lineage and marriage.


Precontact

According to some
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
theories, the Pomo people descend from the
Hokan The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families that were spoken mainly in California, Arizona and Baja California. Etymology The name ''Hokan'' is loosely based on the word for "two" in the various Hokan ...
-speaking people . One theory places the ancestral community from which the Pomoan languages and cultures are descended in the
Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...
region . This area was where coastal
redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...
forests met with interior valleys with mixed woodlands. In this hypothesis, about 7000 BCE, a Hokan-speaking people migrated into the valley and mountain regions around Clear Lake, and their language evolved into Proto-Pomo. The lake was rich in resources. About 4000 BCE to 5000 BCE, some of the proto-Pomo migrated into the
Russian River Valley The Russian River (Southern Pomo: ''Ashokawna'', es, Río Ruso) is a southward-flowing river that drains of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual average discharge of approximately 1,600,000 acre feet (2.0&nbs ...
and north to present-day Ukiah. Their language diverged into western, southern, central and northern Pomo . Another people, possibly Yukian speakers, lived first in the Russian River Valley and the Lake Sonoma area. The Pomo slowly displaced them and took over these places. Recently, analysis of
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
evidence has suggested that the indigenous historical economy observed by the Spanish at their arrival in the Pomo lands of central California may have first developed during the ''Mostin Culture'' period (8500–6300 BP) in the Clear Lake Basin. This was an economy that was based on women processing acorns by
mortar and pestle Mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used from the Stone Age to the present day to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. The ''mortar'' () ...
.


Tolay Lake site

Over 1,000 prehistoric
charmstone A charmstone, charm-stone or charm stone is a stone or mineral artifact of various types associated with various traditional cultures, including those of Scotland and the native cultures of California and the American southwest. Typically they ...
s and numerous
arrowheads An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as s ...
have been unearthed at
Tolay Lake Tolay Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in southern Sonoma County, California, United States. The lake, nestled within the southern vestiges of the Sonoma Mountains, is the site of significant Native American prehistoric seasonal settlement. In ...
, in southern Sonoma County. These are attributed to both Pomo and
Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Poi ...
people. As a
sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
site, the lake is a ceremonial gathering and healing place.


Lake Sonoma sites

*At "the broken bridge site", researchers used
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
of artifacts to determine it was inhabited about 3280 BCE, the oldest human-inhabited site in the valley. They consider it part of Skaggs Phase (3000–500 BCE). *"Oregon Oak Place" was dated at 1843 BCE. The surveyors suggested that, compared to the lower river valleys, this remote area was more sparsely settled before the Pomo people arrived. Both of these Skaggs Phase-sites contained millstones and handstones for grinding seeds. The villages may have been used for hunting or temporary camps.
Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
was used rarely, and it came from Mt. Konocti in present-day Lake County. There were no
petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
. The population lived only along major creeks. "The Dry Creek Phase" lasted from 500 BCE to 1300 CE. During this phase, the indigenous people settled the lands more extensively and permanently. Archaeologists believe a Pomo group took over the lands from the earlier peoples in this phase. They created 14 additional sites in the Warm Springs and Upper Dry Creek areas. Bowl mortars and pestles appeared in this phase, probably used by women to pound acorns (as opposed to the milling stones used for seeds). The sites were more permanent and lifeways "more complex". Decorative beads and ornaments were made in this phase, and half the artifacts were made of obsidian.
Steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
or soapstone objects were found, which must have been imported into the region through trade, as the rock does not exist locally. Relatively soft and easy to carve, soapstone was used to make beads,
pendants A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ' ...
and mortars. Trade was on a large scale beyond the region. The largest and only substantial steatite mine in California existed on Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of what is now Los Angeles. The existence of steatite in Pomo and Northern California native sites is a strong indicator of the size and complexity of native California trade networks. The next phase, named the "Smith Phase" after the Pomo consultants, lasted from 1300 CE to the mid-19th century. Researchers mapped 30 sites in this era showing a gradual transition and intensification of trends. The bow and
arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
appeared as the main technological advancement. Manufacturing of shell beads, with accompanying production of drills to make holes for stringing and sewing, was important. Drills were found in high numbers. Numerous clamshell beads, a major currency among the Indians of Central California, were also found, indicating a vast trade network.


Post contact

There were an estimated 8,000 to 21,000 Pomo among 70 tribes speaking seven Pomo languages at the time of European contact. The way of life of the Pomo changed with the arrival of
Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
at
Fort Ross Fort Ross ( Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America i ...
(1812 to 1841) on the Pacific coastline, and
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and European-American colonists coming in from the south and east. The Pomo native to the coastline and Fort Ross were known as the Kashaya. They interacted and traded with the Russians. The Spanish missionaries stole or enslaved many of the southern Pomo from the Santa Rosa Plain to Mission San Rafael, at present-day San Rafael, between 1821 and 1828. Only a few Pomo speakers went to Mission Sonoma, the other Franciscan mission, located on the north side of San Francisco Bay. The Pomo who remained in the present-day
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...
area of Sonoma County were often called '' Cainameros'' in regional history books from the time of Spanish and Mexican occupation. In the Russian River Valley, a missionary colonized and baptized the Makahmo Pomo people of the Cloverdale area. Many Pomo left the valley because of this. One such group fled to the Upper Dry Creek Area. The archeology surveyors of the Lake Sonoma region believe that European and Euro-American encroachment was the reason why Pomo villages became more centralized; the people retreated to the remote valley to band together for defense and mutual support. The Pomo suffered from the
infectious An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...
diseases brought by the Euro-American migrants, including
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
and
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
. They did not have immunity to such diseases and fatalities were high. In 1837 a deadly epidemic of smallpox, originating in settlements at
Fort Ross Fort Ross ( Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America i ...
, caused numerous deaths of native people in the Sonoma and Napa regions. Mission treatment of Pomo was similar to that of slavery, and many Pomo died due to inhospitable living conditions. The Russian River Valley was settled in 1850 by the 49ers, and the Lake Sonoma Valley was homesteaded out. The US government forced many Pomo on to reservations so that the European-Americans could homestead the former Pomo lands. Some Pomo took jobs as ranch laborers; others lived in refugee villages. During this time period, two settlers named Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone enslaved many Pomo people in order to work as cowboys on their ranch. They forced the Pomo Indians to work in very intense and unorthodox conditions, and sexually abused the Pomo women. The Pomo men were forced to work in harsh conditions and were not given any respect by the settlers. Eventually, the Pomo Indians got sick of the disrespect and horrid practices of Stone and Kelsey, so they rebelled. The Pomo men set up a sneak attack and killed both Stone and Kelsey. Because of the deaths of Kelsey and Stone, United States lieutenant J. W. Davidson and captain Nathaniel Lyon sent an army to retaliate against the Pomo people. This resulted in an event called the Bloody Island Massacre of 1850, on an island in Clear Lake. The 1st Dragoons US Cavalry slaughtered between 60 and 400 people, mostly women and children of the Clear Lake Pomo and neighboring tribes. Shortly after the massacre, during 1851 and 1852, four reservations for the Pomo were established by the United States government in California. Pomo were also part of the forced relocation known as the "Marches to Round Valley" in 1856, conducted by the U.S. federal government. By using bullwhips and guns, white settlers demanded relocation to reservations of the Pomo Indian. The justification given was that to protect their culture, the Pomo Indians had to be removed from their ancestral land. Richerson & Richerson stated that before the European conquests there was an estimated 3,000 Pomo Indians that lived at Clear Lake; after all of the death, disease, and killings, there were only about 400 Pomo Indians left. One ghost town in the Lake Sonoma Valley excavations was identified as Amacha, built for 100 people but hardly used. Elder natives of the region remember their grandfathers hid at Amacha in the mid-1850s, trying to evade the colonizing settlers. They tell that one day soldiers took all the people in the village to government lands and burned the village houses. From 1891 to 1935, starting with ''National Thorn'', the artist
Grace Hudson Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865–1937) was an American painter based in Northern California. She was nationally known during her lifetime for a numbered series of more than 684 portraits of the local Pomo natives. She painted the first, ''Nationa ...
painted over 600 portraits, mainly of Pomo individuals living near her in the Ukiah area. Her style was sympathetic and poignant, as she portrayed domestic native scenes that would have been fast disappearing in that time.


Population


Demographics

In 1770 there were about 8,000 Pomo people; in 1851 population was estimated between 3,500 and 5,000; and in 1880 estimated at 1,450. Anthropologist
Samuel Barrett Samuel Alfred Barrett (1879 in Conway, Alaska – 1965) was an anthropologist and linguist who studied Native American peoples. Education Barrett received all three of his degrees from UC Berkeley—B.S. in 1905, M.S. in 1906, and a doctorate i ...
estimated a population of 747 in 1908, but that is probably low; fellow anthropologist
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 ...
reported 1,200 Pomo counted in the 1910 Census. According to the 1930 Census there were 1,143 Pomo, and by the 1990 Census there were 4,766. According to the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, there are 10,308 Pomo people in the United States. Of these, 8,578 reside in California.


Languages

Pomo, also known as Pomoan or less commonly Kulanapan, is a language family that includes seven distinct and
mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
languages, including
Northern Pomo Northern Pomo is a critically endangered Pomoan language, spoken by the indigenous Pomo people in what is now called California. The speakers of Northern Pomo were traditionally those who lived in the northern and largest area of the Pomoan terr ...
,
Northeastern Pomo Northeastern Pomo, also known as Salt Pomo, is a Pomoan language of Northern California. There are no living fluent speakers. It was spoken along Stony Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. Northeastern was one of seven mutually unintellig ...
,
Eastern Pomo Eastern Pomo, also known as Clear Lake Pomo, is a nearly extinct Pomoan language spoken around Clear Lake in Lake County, California by one of the Pomo peoples. It is not mutually intelligible with the other Pomoan languages. Before contact wi ...
, Southeastern Pomo, Central Pomo,
Southern Pomo Southern Pomo is one of seven mutually unintelligible Pomoan languages which were formerly spoken and is currently spoken by the Pomo people in Northern California along the Russian River and Clear Lake. The Pomo languages have been grouped to ...
, and Kashaya.
John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...
classified the language family as Kulanapan in 1891, using the name first introduced by George Gibbs in 1853. This name for the language family is derived from the name of one Eastern Pomo village on the south shore of Clear Lake. Stephen Powers (1877) was the first to refer to this entire language family with the name "Pomo", and the geographic names that have been used to refer to the seven individual Pomoan languages (e.g. Southeastern Pomo) were introduced by
Samuel Barrett Samuel Alfred Barrett (1879 in Conway, Alaska – 1965) was an anthropologist and linguist who studied Native American peoples. Education Barrett received all three of his degrees from UC Berkeley—B.S. in 1905, M.S. in 1906, and a doctorate i ...
(1908). The Pomoan languages became severely endangered after European-American colonization of their native territory. Contacts with Russians, the Spanish, and Euro-Americans have impacted these languages, and many are no longer spoken due to
language shift Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are percei ...
to English, accelerated by policies such as the 1887 ban on the teaching in Native American languages put into place by John DeWitt Clinton Atkins. There are about twelve Pomo language varieties that are still in use by Pomo people. One, , which is spoken by Elem Pomo, is in the process of revival due to efforts by Clear Lake Pomo Cultural Preservation Foundation.


Culture

The Pomo Indian cultures are several ethnolinguistic groups that make up a single language family in Northern California. Pomo cultures originally encompassed hundreds of independent communities. Like many other Native groups, the Pomo Indians of Northern California relied upon fishing, hunting, and gathering for their daily food supply. They ate salmon, wild greens, gnats, mushrooms, berries, grasshoppers, rabbits, rats, and squirrels. Acorns were the most important staple in their diet. The division of labor in Pomo Indian communities typically involved gathering and preparation of plant-based foods by women, while men were hunters and fishers.


Religion

The Pomo people participated in
shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
; 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 ...
, which was held by people in Central and Northern California. It included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual
mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...
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 intervention with the spirit world, and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms. 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, along with spirits from six cardinal directions, and
Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
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 ...
.
Medicine men A medicine man is a traditional healer and spiritual leader among the indigenous people of the Americas. Medicine Man or The Medicine Man may also refer to: Films * ''The Medicine Man'' (1917 film), an American silent film directed by Clifford S ...
dressed up as ''Kuksu'', their interpretation of a healer spirit. A later shamanistic movement was the "Messiah Cult", introduced by the
Wintun The Wintun are members of several related Native American peoples of Northern California, including the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern).Pritzker, 152

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.


Ethnobotany

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...
roots are used to make baskets, and used to tend fishing traps. They are also used to make torches.


Basket weaving tradition

Pomo baskets made by Pomo Indian women of Northern California are recognized worldwide for their exquisite appearance, range of technique, fineness of weave, and diversity of form and use. While women mostly made baskets for cooking, storing food, and religious ceremonies, Pomo men also made baskets for fishing weirs, bird traps, and baby baskets. Making the baskets required great skill and knowledge in collecting and preparing the needed materials. Materials for weaving baskets changed with the seasons and years, so did the materials used for the baskets. The Pomo usually covered a basket completely with the vivid red feathers of the pileated woodpecker until the surface resembled the smoothness of the bird itself. With the feathers, 30-50 to every inch, beads were fastened to the basket's border and hung pendants of polished abalone shell from the basket itself. Pomo women sometimes spent months or years making such gift baskets. The materials used to make the baskets—including, but not limited to, swamp canes, saguaro cactuses, rye grass, black ash, willow shoots, sedge roots, the bark of redbud, the root of bulrush, and the root of the gray pine—were harvested annually. After being picked, the materials are dried, cleaned, split, soaked, and dyed. Sometimes the materials are also boiled over a fire and set in the sun to dry. Women traditionally wove Pomo baskets with great care and technique. The three different techniques of Pomo basket weaving are plaiting, coiling, and twining. One drying method was wrapping maiden fern in blue clay and placing underground for several days. This prevented fading in the sun or when cooking mush. There are many different designs that are woven into the baskets that signify different cultural meanings. For example, the Dau is a pattern woven into a basket by creating a small change in the stitching to create a small opening between two stitches. The Dau is the design that is also called the Spirit Door. This Spirit Door allows good spirits to come and circulate inside of the basket while the good or bad spirits are released. Although baskets were made for decorating homes and as gifts, they were centrally used in Pomo daily life as well. Basket weaving is considered sacred to the Pomo tribe and baskets were produced for a variety of purposes. Pomo children were cradled in baskets, acorns (a major food staple to the Pomo) were harvested in great conical burden baskets, and food was stored, cooked, and served in baskets—some even being watertight. There were even "baskets" that were made as boats to be pushed by men to carry women across rivers.


Post-contact

A commercial market developed in the latter part of the 19th century developed for authentic baskets, and it lasted from about 1876 to the 1930s. Two Pomo people who capitalized on this market were
William Ralganal Benson William Ralganal Benson (1862-1937) was an Eastern Pomo basket maker from California. He and his wife Mary Knight Benson (Pomo) excelled in traditional basket making. Their work can be found in the collections of major museums. Early life and fami ...
and his wife,
Mary Knight Benson Mary Knight Benson was a Pomo woman who excelled in traditional basket making. Her work is highly collectible and renowned for fine craftsmanship. She and her husband, William Ralganal Benson, partnered as basket weavers, and their work is curate ...
and the Bensons may have been the first California Indians who supported themselves solely by crafting and selling their baskets to collectors and museums. Even though most of their original land was taken over, this was the first turning point for the Pomo people. They had finally escaped the harsh road they were once a part of, and even though they had to settle on poor, isolated land, they finally got to make a stride towards tradition and basket weaving. From 1852 to 1878, many Pomo Indians tried to rekindle their cultures and find peace to what had happened to them. Many people let this time be a learning and spiritual time, where they could have visions and see what the future would have in store. It was a time to build, a time to connect, a time of hope, and a time of change. The Pomo Indians did not have enough money to buy land. The Pomo men decided to work for ranchers and the woman went back to making baskets. The "white" people loved the baskets, especially the designer, feathered ones, which led to a basketry movement. Finally, in 1878, the Pomo Indians bought their first piece of land in California. Paula Giese noted, "In 1878, a group of Northern Pomo people bought 7 acres in Coyote Valley. In 1880, another Northern Pomo group bought 100 acres along Ackerman Creek (now known as Pinoleville)". In 1881, Yokaya Rancheria was financed by central Pomo people. Once the Pomo Indians had bought the land, it was time to make money. Baskets were in so much demand at this point, even though they were once used for trade and bartering with other tribes and people, they now became the Pomo people's way to make money and build their newly found empires. Women had preserved Pomo basket weaving traditions, which made a huge change for the Pomo people. The baskets were wanted all over California; it was a piece of art that traders wanted. Grandmothers and daughters taught other Pomo women, who had lost the tradition of basket weaving, how to make the all-powerful baskets. Within this time period in addition to basket weaving, the Pomo also manufactured elaborate jewelry made from abalone and clamshells. Assembled during the winter, during the summer the Pomo would travel from various sites along the coast where they would fish and gather all of their materials needed to create their jewelry. The Pomo Indians would create stunning, beautiful, and intricate forms of jewelry that were worn during celebrations and rituals, and even given as gifts. Both of these traditions of creation and culture have slowly dispersed and have become less common over the history of the tribe but more evident in today's culture.


Basket weaving today

Pomo basket weaving is still valued and honored today, not only by the Pomo Indians themselves, but also by amateur enthusiasts, buyers for curio dealers, and scientific collectors. The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are a federally recognized American Indian tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians. During the past 30 years, the appreciation for American Indian art has been on the rise, and the art has become in demand – specifically Pomo Indian basketry. Dr. Joallyn Archambault, director of the American Indian Program at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History says: "Since the 1880s, when Pomo baskets first became sought after, the Pomo have changed their lifestyles enormously." Pomo today live normal modern lifestyles, but the basket weavers are still heralded and praised within the community for their artistic ability and skill. One of those basket weavers is
Julia F. Parker Julia Florence Parker (born February 1928) is a Coast Miwok- Kashaya Pomo basket weaver. Parker studied with some of the leading 20th century indigenous Californian basketweavers: Lucy Telles (Yosemite Miwok-Mono Lake Paiute); Mabel McKay, ( ...
. She is a master weaver, having woven under Lucy Telles. Her childhood was rough, constantly moving around until boarding school after her parents’ death at 6. Lucy had taught Julia because of her perceived interest in preserving Indian culture and specifically basketry. Julia Parker became cultural demonstrator after Lucy Telles death in 1956. She continued in her studies and later studied Pomo basketry with Pomo master weaver
Elsie Allen Elsie Comanche Allen (September 22, 1899 – December 31, 1990) was a Native American Pomo basket weaver from the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California in Northern California, significant as for historically categorizing and teachi ...
(1899–1990) at Ukiah and several others. Julia belongs to the Miwok Pomo and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Many of her baskets are in museums in Yosemite, Mono Lake and other museums; she even presented her baskets to
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
. The materials for baskets were sedge root, willow shoots and roots, bulrush or blackroot, redbud shoots, sometimes bracken fern and a variety of colorful bird feathers, abalone and other types of shells, magnesite beads and sometimes glass beads. Redbud shoots, used for the darker reddish colors in basket designs are gathered in October. Good redbud is hard to obtain around Ukiah, so it is usually found at Clear Lake. All these materials are gathered with a thankful heart and the gatherers talk continuously to the plants. They were, after all, living things that were giving themselves for something useful and beautiful. In order to preserve the soil and creek banks, sedge gathering was done with care. The commonly held decision would be leaving behind about half of what was found. Dyeing of the bulrush root takes about three to six months in a concoction of black walnuts, rusty metal and ashes in water. Today, new Pomo baskets might sell for as much as $1,000, and the more historical ones might sell for more than $10,000. Dealing of these baskets has not always been so lucrative and many have tried to exploit the artists and communities. Dealers and collectors may have exploited the lucrative basket market, but it still paid well enough to provide income to Pomo women where hunting and gathering were no longer feasible and money was needed for survival. Today you will see rare baskets being sold for the prices mentioned above. Due to the time and preparation necessary to weave these pieces of art; basket weavers today have more requests than they can fulfill, and many customers wait months before receiving orders. The rarity of the baskets and the skill are required in making them in what makes them valuable. The demand is greater than the supply, and collectors facilitate a high demand for these artistically made baskets.


Villages and communities


Federally recognized tribes

The United States acknowledges many groups of native people of the United States as "
federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
", classifying them as "domestic dependent nations" under the jurisdiction of the federal government, but with some autonomy from their respective states, including California. Many other self-identified Native American groups are not federally recognized. Since the late 20th century, some states have begun to give formal recognition to tribes in varying ways. The Pomo groups presently recognized by the United States are based in Sonoma,
Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
, and Mendocino counties. They include the following tribes: * Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria *
Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California. The tribe is currently considered "landless", as they do not have any land that is in Federal Trust. In 2008 they acquired approx ...
*
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California The Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley, California is home to about 170 members of the Coyote Valley tribe of the Native American Pomo people, who descend from the Shodakai Pomo. They are a federally recognized tribe, who were formerly ...
*
Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people, an indigenous people of California. It has a reservation near Geyserville, California, in Sonoma County, where it operates the River Rock Casino Resort. ...
* Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria *
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians. The tribe was officially restored to federal recognition in 2000 by th ...
(a tribe of
Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Poi ...
and Southern Pomo) *
Guidiville Rancheria of California The Guidiville Rancheria of California are a Pomo tribe located in Mendocino County, California. History During the California Gold Rush, an influx of non-Indian settlers drove the Guidiville Pomos from their ancestral lands near Lake County, ...
* Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake *
Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria The Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Mendocino County, California, south of Ukiah.
*
Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Sonoma County, California.Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford Univ ...
* Koi Nation of the Lower Lake Rancheria *
Lytton Rancheria of California The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Native Americans. They were recognized in the late 1980s, as lineal descendants of the two families who lived at the Lytton Rancheria in Healdsburg, California from 1937 to ...
*
Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria The Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, formerly named the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria, is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California. The tribe is a community of ...
*
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California The Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians, as well as some Wappo and Lake Miwok Indians,
* Pinoleville Pomo Nation *
Potter Valley Tribe The Potter Valley Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Mendocino County, California. They were previously known as the Little River Band of Pomo Indians
*
Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California The Redwood Valley Rancheria (officially known as Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo Indians) is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California. The tribe is primarily composed of Pomo Indians. Re ...
* Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California *
Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California, United States. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County. The total land area, incl ...
(a confederation of several tribes, including Pomo) *
Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California, also known as the Scott's Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Sugar Bowl Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo and Wailaki Indians in Lake County.
* Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California


Historical groups

The following historical list of Pomo villages and tribes is taken largely from John Wesley Powell, 1891: * Balló Kaì Pomo, "Oat Valley People"(Potter Valley, Mendocino County) * Batemdikáyi * Búldam Pomo (Rio Grande or Big River) * Chawishek * Choam Chadila Pomo (Capello) * Chwachamajù * Dápishul Pomo ( Redwood Canyon) * Eastern People (Clear Lake about Lakeport) * Erío (mouth of Russian River) * Erússi (
Fort Ross Fort Ross ( Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America i ...
) * Gallinoméro (better Kainameah, Kianamaras or Licatiuts) (Russian River Valley below Cloverdale and in Dry Creek Valley) * Gualála (better Ahkhawalalee) (northwest corner of
Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...
) * Kabinapek (western part of Clear Lake basin) * Kaimé (above
Healdsburg Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, in California's Wine Country. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,254. Owing to its three most important wine-producing regions (the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valle ...
) * Kai Pomo (between Eel River and South Fork) * Kastel Pomo (between Eel River and South Fork) * Kato Pomo, "Lake People" (Clear Lake) * Komácho (
Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...
and Rancheria Valleys) * Kulá Kai Pomo ( Sherwood Valley) * Kulanapo (Clear Lake) * Láma (Russian River Valley) * Misálamag u or Musakak u (above Healdsburg) * Mitoám Kai Pomo, "Wooded Valley People" (Little Lake) * Poam Pomo * Senel (Russian River Valley) * Shódo Kaí Pomo ( Coyote Valley) * Síako (Russian River Valley) * Sokóa (Russian River Valley) * Yokáya (or Ukiah) Pomo, "Lower Valley People" ( Ukiah City) * Yusâl (or Kámalel) Pomo, "Ocean People" (on coast and along
Usal Creek Usal Creek is the southernmost drainage basin unbridged by California State Route 1 on California's Lost Coast. The unpaved county road following the westernmost ridge line south from the King Range crosses Usal Creek near the Pacific coast, b ...
) Non-Pomo villages and tribes considered "Pomo" in Powell, 1891: * Batemdikayi (name of a Cahto/Kato Athabaskan band) * Kai Pomo ('grass people', the Cahto/Kato Athabaskan band of Long Valley) * Kamalel Pomo ('ocean people', Coast Yuki people, possibly also the Sinkyone Athabaskan people of
Usal Creek Usal Creek is the southernmost drainage basin unbridged by California State Route 1 on California's Lost Coast. The unpaved county road following the westernmost ridge line south from the King Range crosses Usal Creek near the Pacific coast, b ...
area) * Kastel Pomo (
Wailaki The Eel River Athabaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near the Eel River and Van Duzen River o ...
Athabaskan bands, possibly including some of the northern Cahto bands) * Kato Pomo ('lake people', the Cahto/Kato Athabaskan band of Cahto Valley) * Yusal Pomo ('Usal people', the Sinkyone Athabaskan people of Usal Creek area)


Notable Pomo people

*
Elsie Allen Elsie Comanche Allen (September 22, 1899 – December 31, 1990) was a Native American Pomo basket weaver from the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California in Northern California, significant as for historically categorizing and teachi ...
(1899–1990) *
Mary Knight Benson Mary Knight Benson was a Pomo woman who excelled in traditional basket making. Her work is highly collectible and renowned for fine craftsmanship. She and her husband, William Ralganal Benson, partnered as basket weavers, and their work is curate ...
(1877–1930) *
William Ralganal Benson William Ralganal Benson (1862-1937) was an Eastern Pomo basket maker from California. He and his wife Mary Knight Benson (Pomo) excelled in traditional basket making. Their work can be found in the collections of major museums. Early life and fami ...
(1862-1937) *
Chuck Billy Charles Billy (born June 23, 1962) is an American singer who is best known as the lead vocalist for thrash metal band Testament. Career Testament Billy joined Legacy in 1986, replacing vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza who would later join Exod ...
(born 1962), singer of the metal band Testament *
Elmer Busch Elmer Eugene "Pete" Busch (June 1, 1889 – January 14, 1949) was a professional football player with the Oorang Indians of the National Football League in 1922. He was a Native American member of the Pomo tribe. He played his college footbal ...
(1890–1949) *
Mabel McKay Mabel McKay (1907–1993) was a member of the Long Valley Cache Creek Pomo people, Pomo Indians and was of Patwin people, Patwin descent. She was the last Dreamer of the Pomo people and was renowned for her basket weaving. Greg Sarris publishe ...
(1907–1993) *
Julia F. Parker Julia Florence Parker (born February 1928) is a Coast Miwok- Kashaya Pomo basket weaver. Parker studied with some of the leading 20th century indigenous Californian basketweavers: Lucy Telles (Yosemite Miwok-Mono Lake Paiute); Mabel McKay, ( ...
(born 1928) *
Essie Pinola Parrish Essie Pinola Parrish (1902–1979), was a Kashaya Pomo spiritual leader and exponent of native traditions. She was also a notable basket weaver. Biography Parrish was born Essie Pinola in 1902 at the Stewarts Point Rancheria in Stewarts Poin ...
(1903–1979) *
Luwana Quitiquit Luwana Quitiquit (Pomo, November 13, 1941 – December 23, 2011) was a Native American administrator, activist, and basket weaver. During the Occupation of Alcatraz she worked as one of the cooks who provided food to those living on the island. H ...
(1941–2010), basket weaver who created a program to revive the craft


See also

*
Point Arena Rancheria Roundhouse The Point Arena Rancheria Roundhouse, in Mendocino County, California near Point Arena, California, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It has also been known as the Manchester Rancheria Roundhouse and was established ...
, also known as "Manchester Rancheria Roundhouse", listed on the National Register of Historic Places *
Frog Woman Rock Frog Woman Rock (Pomo: ''Bi-tsin’ ma-ca Ka-be'') is a distinctive volcanic monolith located in Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County, California, in the Russian River (California), Russian River canyon through the California Coast Rang ...
*
Lake Mendocino Lake Mendocino is a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, northeast of Ukiah. It covers and was formed by the construction of Coyote Valley Dam in 1958. The lake and dam provide flood control, water conservation, hydroelectric powe ...
* Santa Rosa Creek * Bloody Island Massacre


Notes


References


Books, reports

* Catalog of an exhibition held at the
Grace Hudson Museum The Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, California, is adjacent to the Sun House which artist Grace Hudson and her husband John designed and had built in 1911. They lived there until their deaths in 1936 and 1935, respectively. Today the house and museum ...
in 1993 and the
Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cal ...
in 1996. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Magazine & newspaper articles, web sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading


Newspaper articles

* and *


Books for primary & secondary school students

* * *


External links


Gold, Greed & Genocide: The Pomo & The Paiute




as part of a virtual tour for the
National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...
exhibit ''All Roads Are Good''. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomo People Native American tribes in California California Mission Indians History of Colusa County, California History of Lake County, California History of Napa County, California History of Sonoma County, California Native American tribes in Mendocino County, California Native American tribes in Sonoma County Lake County, California Napa County, California Sonoma County, California