ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS 3:3 NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA BY EDWARD SAPIR AND LESLIE SPIER UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1943 NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA BY EDWARD SAPIR AND LESLIE SPIER ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Vol. 3, No. 3 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS EDITORS: A. L. KROEBER, E. W GIFFORD, R. H. LowIE, R. L. OLSON Volume 3, No. 3, pp. 239-298, I map, 5 figures in text, 6 plates Submitted by the editors October 7, I941 Issued September I I, 1943 Price, 75 cents UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, ENGLAND The University of California publications dealing with anthro- pological subjects are now issued in two series. The series in American Archaeology and Ethnology, which was established in 1903, continues unchanged in format, but is restricted to papers in which the interpretative element outweighs the factual or which otherwise are of general interest. The new series, known as Anthropological Records, is issued in photolithography in a larger size. It consists of monographs which are documentary, of record nature, or devoted to the presentation primarily of new data. MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS Preface.Page Preface . . . . .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .. .. v Introductory ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Territory and dialectic divisions .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 History . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . ...................... 248 Material culture ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Food ....... . 249 Medicine . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 252 Clothing and ornament ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Houses .... . 256 Various manufactures and devices .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . 257 Basketry ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Materials .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Twined ware .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Coiled ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Basket designs ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Weapons and warfare ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . ....... . 268 Mental culture ..... . . . . . . . . . . . .I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Birth .. . . ........................................ . 270 Personal names ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Puberty ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . 272 Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Chieftaincy and other social differentials .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Death and burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Games ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Shamanism and religious concepts .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Information on plates ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Bibliography. ..... 295 Index ..... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 FIGURES IN TEXT 1. Diagram showing the placement of wefts at base of cradle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 2. Yana and Atsugewi design elements ............................. . 265 3. Yana design elements.. ............................. 267 4. Yana design elements . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 5. Gambling bone ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 PLATES 1. Shell necklaces; luck-stones and basket to contain them .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 2. Yana baskets ...... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... ......... . 290 3. Yana and Atsugewi baskets ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 4. Yana baskets ...... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. 292 5. Yana baskets ...... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .......... . . 293 6. Cradles ...... .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . ... . . . .. . . . .. . . ..... . 294 MAP 1. Yana territory ........... iv [iii] 8iy Bond Aft+ -Dj"fift''u u r -Awsioua ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CaAi'o AK'KVwamadu A P'u'Is-u'olna ~~~ (o f c~~~~jic-ffc 4,~~~, Seal.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L" d Map 1. Yana territory. I I . - . PREFACE The Yana are, or rather were, a small lin- guistic group of north-central California, occu- pying the broken hill country of the northeastern Sacramento River drainage. Four dialect groups were known among them: Northern, Central, and Southern Yana, and, most southerly, the Yahi. The Northern and Central groups, possibly with the Southern Yana, were known to Stephen Powers and other early writers as No'zi, the Yahi as Kombo. The last named, the Yahi, have a unique place in North American ethnography, having pro- vided the last wild Indian of California, and perhaps of the United States. The dramatic story of this man, Ishi, whose final refuge was with the Department of Anthropology, University of California, is probably well known to most American ethnologists. The Yana are described here as a cultural unit Local variations may have existed more exten- sively than we now know: the dialectic diversity suggests that. Most of our notes pertain pri- marily to the Northern and Central Yana, a few to the Southern Yana, and not at all to the Yahi. It seems the sense of the informants that all three Yana subgroups formed a social and cultural unit distinct from the Yahi, and presented no striking dissimilarities of culture among them- selves. To place the Yana in general, it may be said briefly that theirs was an impoverished hill cul- ture like that of the Wintu and Shasta, not one rich in forms like Maidu and Wintun of the Sac- ramento Valley. In 1907 Edward Sapir undertook the recording of Yana texts and the compilation of a grammar for the University of California, working pri- marily with two Northern and Central informants. It was eminently characteristic that he felt im- pelled to go beyond the immediate linguistip task to record what he could of their culture from the last two informed survivors. These eth- nographic notes were collected almost wholly as glosses on words occurring in the language texts. They are, therefore, brief and fragmentary, and it seems palpable that only because they bulked to considerable number did Dr. Sapir decide to marshal them into the present paper. In 1915 he returned to California to record the Yahi dialect from Ishi, who had been "captured" and brought to San Francisco in 1911. Some additions to the Yana picture may have been added at this time. As I understand the tale, Ishi's knowledge of English remained so rudimentary up to the time of his death that Dr. Sapir was obliged to make use of his own acquired mastery of Yana to communi- cate with him. When Dr. Sapir died on February 4, 1939,I fell heir to his ethnographic manuscripts and note-' books. Among them was the present manuscript, completed to its midpoint (specifically, to the end of the section on hairdress). Fortunately there was with it an outline of the whole manu- script as he had planned it, with cross-refer- ences to the occurrence of the items in the field notebooks. With this were a series of notes, drawings, and photographs of Yana specimens he had collected for the University of California, a list of botanical identifications, and the like. The Yana notebooks of the late Dr. Roland B. Dixon, mentioned by Dr. Sapir in his introductory remarks, were also found among the latter's be- longings. There is internal evidence that the manuscript was written before 1911, slightly revised in 1913 and again in 1916. In the last year T. T. Water- man completed a description of The Yana Indians (published 1918) and it is quite possible that knowledge of the existence of this manuscript de- terred Dr. Sapir from completing his own. The first half of the manuscript is reproduced here substantially as he wrote it. There were a few items and turns of phrase which had meaning to the ethnographer of thirty years ago, but which I felt Dr. Sapir would now delete or change. My contribution to this first section is wholly edi- torial. I have, however, incorporated other ma- terial made available since his visit to the Yana, as well as some analyses and comparisons which I thought should be included. It would have been awkward for the reader had I bracketed every in- terpolation and change from the original; where they are of any length, however, I have indicated my responsibility by subscribing my initials. The descriptive sections beginning with "Ornamental Objects" are wholly in my words, based on Sapir's notes. This paper comes to no more than some notes on the culture of the Yana, lamentably fragmentary, but offered for what they may be worth. It would have been feasible to draft a reasonably full pic- ture of the outlines of Yana life on the basis of what these fragments suggest in the lives of their better known neighbors. But so far as is possible without leaving the notes meaningless, we have tried to set down the information precisely as recorded without enlarging on it. The result is not a happy one: we would much have preferred to describe Yana life in full-blooded, rounded form. This is no longer possible. So far as I can learn, Yana culture and language are gone. There remains some Yana blood but no knowledge of the past. In 1934, E. W. Gifford and Stanislaw Klimek obtained a series of notes on elements of culture from the last "two surviving informed individuals" (published as Culture Element Distributoions: II-- Yana). Since it seemed preferable. tb leave the present notes in their origin4l form, I have not attempted collation with their list. These notes [v] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS are offered, fragmentary as they are, as probably the last items that can ever be placed on record for the Yana. I am grateful to Mrs. Jean Sapir for having entrusted the completion of the manuscript to me. Dr. Sapir recorded his indebtedness to the late Dr. H. M. Hall and Dr. W. A. Setchell, of the University of California, for botanical identifi- cations. To this I must add mine to Mr. Donald Scott for permitting the study and inclusion of illustrations of Yana specimens in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Uni- versity, and to Mr. E. W. Gifford for photographs of specimens collected by Dr. Sapir in the Museum of Anthropology, University of California. Leslie Spier University of New Mexico vi NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA BY EDWARD SAPIR AND LESLIE SPIER INTRODUCTORY The following notes on the culture of the Yana Indians of northern California lay no claim to even outline completeness, their only excuse for presentation being the almost complete ab- sence of published ethnological information on this tribe, mythology excepted. They were ob- tained as a mere incident to the recording of Yana texts and the working up of the Yana grammar for the Department of Anthropology of the Uni- versity of California, work done in the latter part of the summer of 1907 and in December of the same year. The primary informants were Betty Brown (In- dian name Tsi'daimiya), speaking the Northern Yana (gari"i) dialect and Sam Battwl of the Central Yana (gat'&" if dialectic group, from which two also the linguistic material was ob- tained. Both of these informants were full-blood Indians. Betty Brown, who died in the fall of 1907, was, so far as known, of pure Yana blood; she was said to have been raised by a white woman, but her command of English was rather limited. She seems always to have lived in the neighbor- hood of Montgomery Creek and Round Mountain. Sam Bat'w1 passed his childhood at ft-u'wiha on Battle Creek, where he spoke the now extinct Southern Yana dialect. Later in life he moved north to Cow Creek and learned to use the Central dialect, now his readiest means of communication, while of the Southern dialect he remembers words and phrases, but has lost the- ability to speak it fluently. At present [1911] he lives in the out- skirts of Redding, in what was formerly Wintu territory. His father was a Central Yana from Old Cow Creek (North Fork of Cow Creek); his mother was half (Southern) Yana and half Maidu, her mother having been a "Big Meadows" Indian (Northeastern Maidu). A few items of information were also obtained from Stone*'ll Jackson (Indian name Sa'ulala or K'i'l'muli, the latter being a probably Achomawi nickname said to mean "Big Water"), Bill Cayton (Indian name Y-u'dalla, Burnt Hand, or Da'sala), and Dick Gere. These live in the neighborhood of Montgomery Creek; the first speaking the Central, the other two the Northern dialect. Some notes on the Yana, ob- tained in 1900 for the American Museum of Natural History from the last and deceased Northern Yana chief, Round Mountain Jack (Bul'yas i or Dusa't- truwi; nicknamed Bala'uwalla, Bewhiskered), have been kindly put at my disposal by Dr. R. B. Dixon and have been incorporated with my own material. The published material on the Yana is very scanty. Stephen Powers, in his Tribes of Cali- fornia, gives a short chapter on "The No'zi, etc.,? embracing under this title the No'zi or No'si (Northern and Central Yana) and the Ko'mbo (Yahi). Though a few facts of value are given, the chapter consists in the main of dramatic anec- dotes and absurd theories. In Powell's Indian Linguistic Families North of Mexico (135) a few notes are given on the population and geographic distribution of the Yana. Jeremiah Curtin, in his Creation Myths of Primitive America, gives a set of thirteen Yana myths (281-484; notes on 520-528), with some historical and geographical information (517-520, 531). Finally, Dixon gives some scattered notes on Yana mythology and basket designs (Northern Maidu, 339-340, 342; and Bas- ketry Designs of the Indians of Northern Califor- nia, 19). See also Eroeber's Indian Myths of South Central California (178-179); Basket Designs of the Indians of Northwestern California (148, 152); and California Basketry and the Pomo (236, 239), in which the remarks on Yana basketry are based on specimens obtained by the author of the present paper. A few linguistic notes are to be found in Dixon and Kroeber's Native Languages of California (7, 11, 12, 15, 18, 26). A brief paper by Waterman, The Yana Indians, relates almost wholly to the Yahi and their destruction by the whites (1850-65); a few remarks on Yahi culture and some illustrations are included. A check list of culture items among Northern and Central Yana by Gifford and Klimek (Culture Element Dis- tributions: II--Yana) gives in outline form data for comparison with the present paper. [239] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS TERRITORY AND DIALECTIC DIVISIONS The Yana-Indians formerly occupied a part of northern California that may be roughly defined as lying between the Sacramento River on the west and a line of peaks of the northern Sierra Nevada (Lassen Butte, Crater Peak, Magee Peak, Burney Butte) on the east, while the northern and southern boundaries were respectively Pit River and Mill Creek, both of them eastern tributaries of the Sacramento. The exact definition of the boundaries of the Yana is a matter of some difficulty, though it can hardly be doubted that they were pretty clearly established, as, indeed, were the terri- torial limits of most Californian stocks. In Powell's Indian Linguistic Families,1 the Yana territory is thus described: the eastern boundary formed by a range a little west of Lassen Butte, the northern by a northeast-southwest line pass- ing near the northern side of Round Mountain, three miles from Pit River, with the western boundary at an average of ten miles east of the Sacramento south of Redding, at twice this dis- tance north of that place. The southern boundary is not given in Powell's work. Information se- cured in 1907 [by Sapir], in part corroborated by Dixon's earlier notes, would fix the boundary as follows: on the north, from a point on or near Pit River approximately midway between Montgomery and Hatchet creeks west along the southern bank of Pit River to a point approximately south of Copper City; on the west, from this point south to Woodman on Little Cow Creek, thence south along the eastern banks of Little Cow and Cow creeks to or near to Sacramento River, where, as Sam Bat'wI expressed it, "the line turned a cor- ner" and followed the eastern bank of the Sacra- mento south to Mill Creek; on the south, along Mill Creek to beyond its headwaters near Lassen Butte; on the east, from a point just about east of Lassen Butte irregularly north to the starting point on or near Pit River, the line following the high land at the headwaters of Hat and Burney creeks and passing close by the foot of KEidi'lu, a mountain north of Lassen Butte (probably Snow Mountain--possibly Crater Peak--is meant). This would make the greatest east to west and north to south lines of the Yana territory amount to rather less than-forty and sixty miles respec- tively. One difficulty lies in deciding whether the Yana did or did not hold the shore line of Pit River between the points just defined and of Sacramento River between the mouths of Cow and Mill creeks. According to Powell, whose informa- tion was probably obtained from Curtin, they did not extend to either of these streams. His esti- mates of ten and twenty miles east of the Sacra- mento, south and north respectively of Redding, P. 135. as their distances from this river are, however, undoubtedly excessive. Powers estimates the mar- gin7 of Wintu territory east of the Sacramento, north of Battle Creek, as no more than a mile and represents the Yana as making forays on the river, during the salmon season of June and July, for fish and incidentally slaves. Sam Bat'wi claimed, however, that the Yana had regular fishing sta- tions on the Sacramento at Ball's Ferry and the mouth of Battle Creek, probably also at other points farther south, though no regular villages were established on the river itself. In one of the Yana myths2 the Yana are represented as dwell- ing close to the east shore of the Sacramento, south of Battle Creek, fishing for salmon with seine nets, and contending with their enemies, the Ya"wi (a name now regularly used for the Wintun, represented as dwelling on the west shore). As to the occupancy of Pit River, it seems fairly certain that no Yana villages were established on the river, yet here again the names of several Yana fishing places were obtained from Betty Brown. The truth of the matter seems to be that the Yana nowhere permanently occupied the shores of Pit and Sacramento rivers, their villages being all situ- ated on or near creeks tributary to these streams, except that it is barely possible that they did actually hold the eastern side of the Sacramento from Battle Creek south to Mill Creek. During the seasons of the salmon run, however, their rights to well-defined fishing stations on both Pit and Sacramento rivers were doubtless recognized by the neighboring Pit River and Wintun Indians. More recent information on the territories oc- cupied by neighboring tribes partly confirms this formulation and in part fails to resolve its un- certainties. It may be said however, that the major outlines of Yana territory are sustained, the primary question still being&in how 'far the Yana were in possession of the east bank of the Sacramento. ' The map of Yana territory published by Water- 4 man agrees with our northern, eastern, and south- ern boundaries, south of which Yahi territory is mapped. Again, it is essentially identical with respect to the lands assigned Northern, Central, aifd Southern divisions. Kroeber's Yana boundaries and subdivisions'also agree.5 It is probable that Waterman and Kroeber are correct in assigning Mill 2Sapir, Yana Texts, 72-73. 3This paragraph and the several following (up to the last paragraph in column 1 of p. 242) are interpolations by Spier. 4Waterman, 40, map 1. "The native geographi- cal information especially was obtained in large part from Ishi," the last surviving Yahi (37). It is just possible that Waterman's information on Yana lands, as distinguished from Yahi, was obtained from Sapir (ibid., 40). 5Kroeber, Handbook, 338, fig. 30; Patwin, map. It is possible that Kroeber's information was de- rived in part from Waterman and Sapir. 240 I .?i, .1 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA Creek to Yahi rather than to Southern Yana, as Sapir would have it (of which more below). The northeastern frontage of the Yana the crest of the Sierra Nevadas from Lassen butte northward at least as far as the head of Mont- gomery Creek, coincides with that derived by Kniffen and Merriam from Atsugewi sources.6 Neither people had settlements anywhere near this boundary, high and uninviting, covered with heavy snows in winter. The northern boundary facing the Achomawi is somewhat in question although the area involved is of no great moment. Kniffen agrees with the present paper that Montgomery Creek was in Yana possession, but also adds Hatchet Creek immedi- ately north. This would seem reasonable since both streams stand together and apart from the Big Bend which was Achomawi land. Yet Sapir's most northerly village was on Montgomery Creek. Since the villages of the Achomawi (Madesi di- vision) were north of Pit River at Big Bend, ac- cording to Kniffen, we may surmise that the area of Hatchet Creek and northward to Pit River was a no-man's land. Merriam differs however, in making Montgomery Creek the line tetween Yana and Achomawi. In this his data are open to question. He places Madesi villages on the south as well as on the north bank of Pit River at the Big Bend and adds "South of the main body of the tribe [Madesi], whose headquarters are at Big Bend, are two other bands--by some Indians regarded as dis- tinct tribes--the Ah-me'-che [a variant form is given as Ah'-mits] at 'The Cove' about midway be- tween Big Bend and Montgomery Creek; and the E'-poo'-de whose principal rancheria was on Mont- gomery Creek two or three miles above its mouth."7 Such a rancheria would be precisely where Sapir locates the Yana village Iwi'ldjami' (or Iwi'l- djamna) at or near the present town of Montgomery Creek. It is barely possible that this was a joint settlement occupied in post-white days. But Montgomery Creek, like Cedar Creek, by our evidence seems to have been clearly regarded by the Northern Yana as their home. Further, Mer- riam appears to have the names of these two "bands" listed among geographic names used by the Madesi (though in slightly differing phonetic form): Ah'-mitz' "The Cove" (as defined above), and E'-pur' -re 4Montgomery Creek: Stream flowing west from northern Sierra to Pit River; boundary between Mo-des'-se and Yah'-nah." It is further to be noted that the eastern Atsugewi.band of Dixie Valley is called Ah'-mit'-che (A-mits'-che, Ah-mitch'-e, A-mitch'-e) by the four Achomawi subgroups to their north (Achomawi proper, At- wamsini, Astariwawi Hamawi) and that Ah-mit' is the place name for bixie Valley in Atwamsini.8 The upshot of this is that Ah-me'-che and E'-poo'-de seem to be place names south of Big Bend, not band names and unless there is more convincing evidence to the contrary we may assume the boundary to have been somewhat to the north of Montgomery Creek. Discrepancies in the placing of the western 6Kniffen, 314-315, map 2; Merriam, 36, map. 7Merriam, 15, 16-17, 43, map. 8Ibid., 20, 21, 25, 28-30, 34, 40, 41. Yana boundary are best handled in two segments: one northward from a point midway between Red Bluff and Redding, the other the segment facing the Sacramento from the same point southward. The eastern boundary of the Wintu (the north- ernmost Wintun-speaking people) as determined by Du Bois,9 coincides for the most part with the western Yana line as given in the present paper.- Du Bois maps it as the eastern bank of the Sacra- mento north from the mouth of Cottonwood Creek (below Redding), thence northward along Cow Creek to Woodman. This permits Yana access to the east bank of the Sacramento as described by our in- formants. From this point our boundary runs due north to Pit River; Du Bois' map carries it north- eastward along Little Cow Creek nearly to Cedar Creek, thence to Pit River. Du Bois offers little specific geographic information in her text but her statement that both banks of the lower tit River Valley were thickly populated by Wintu, coupled with our own lack of evidence for perma- nent Yana villages on the-south bank, leads us to suppose that she is justified in assigning to the Wintu this small area adjacent to the river. Merriam's boundary in this sector substantiates Du Bois and ourselves as against Waterman (see below): Cow Creek north to Woodman, thence in an intermediate position northeast to the Pit. The western front from the mouth of Cow Creek southward offers the greatest uncertainty. Should the Yana be credited with holding the eastern shore of the Sacramento? Waterman sets the west- ern edge of Yana territory from six to ten miles east of the Sacramento throughout its whole length from Little Cow Creek southward. In this he fol- lows Powell and, in turn, is followed by Merriam and Kroeber. Waterman's line was based on his conviction that the eastern bank must have been in powerful Wintun hands and that the Yana were essentially a foothill people. Hence for purposes of demarcation he traced the boundary on the thousand-foot contour line some miles east of the river. This may very well have been the western limit of Yana concentration, leaving a relatively unoccupied strip in the lower lands bordering the river. But our data indicate that the Yana laid claim to the land quite to the river, where they had fishing stations though perhaps no permanent villages. In fact three place names set down on Waterman's map west of the boundary as he charted it (at Millville, Battle Creek, and Tuscan Buttes) turn out to be Yana villages according to our in- formation and thus belie the placing of his bound- ary. While this may leave the immediate front- age on the river primarily in Wintu and Wintun hands, it demands that his western boundary be re- vised to a position much closer to the river. Kroeber's contribution adds to our perplexity by mapping the River Wintun on both sides of the Sacramento along the Yana front, whereas his textual data do not bear this out in full.'0 For the entire span the ascription of the east side to the Wintun rests on three points alone. (1) As a Wintun group is given "Ho ida, the people on the east side of the river midway between Tehama 9Du Bois, 6-8, map 1. 20Kroeber, Patwin, 266-269. 241 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS and Red Bluff"; again, "Ho'ida, east side, above Tehama, speech not specified." The last phrase may signify that Kroeber was not certain that the people of Ho'ida were Wintun. (2) A Wintun tri- blet "TehOmet..., at Tehama, east side- people known as Pui-mak [meaning "easterners";...." The statement that they were on the east side must be -a slip, for Tehama is on the west side and his map shows Teh6met there. (3) "On the east bank of the Sacramento near Vina and the mouth of Deer creek, proba6ly a little downstream from Olwenem [near the mouth of Thomas Creek], was Pelmem, seat of the Pelmem-we. The ending seems Maidu, the name of the place Wintun."t This is identified as "probably Yahi Bale-ha," a village near Vina described by the Yahi Ishi as among a group of villages in the vicinity uncertainly attributed to Wintun and Yahi. The most north- erly of these villages seems to have been Dahauyap'ahdi on Dye Creek (Rio de los Berren- dos), north of Mill Creek. Kroeber also adds that the Wintun and Yahi were on a friendly foot- ing, jointly occupying Deer Creek well upstream.12 To add to this confusion, Sapir recorded BalO&ha "on Mill Creek, at a 'mountain' a few miles east of the present town of Tehama." Mill Creek may be an error of location for Deer Creek. He adds: "It was considered by Sam [the Central Yana in- formant] as the most southern point at which Yana was spoken." Yana here may do duty for Yahi. At any rate it tends to confirm Bale-ha as a Yahi rather than a Wintun town. The important point for us to bear in mind, however, is that these data relate primarily to the river frontage of the Yahi and the most southerly segment of Southern Yana territory. Here there is some evidence for joint occupation by Wintun and Yahi of the lower country east of the Sacramento. But for the stretch from about Antelope Creek northward to Cow Creek, no evi- dence is offered that the Wintun were on the east bank. If it is permissible to recast all this in terms of general probabilities, it seems very likely that the Yana as hill people essentially, made no permanent settlements on or close to the river, and that Wintun and Yana made use of the eastern bank and its immediate hinterland as they chose. But this is far from saying that the Win- tun were in possession of both banks and that the Yana were excluded from its shore. The Yana seem to have had no other collective term for themselves than simply the ordinary word for "person, people" (ya'na). It is inter- esting to note that while Sam Bat'wi was quite familiar with this use of the word y&'na as a tribal term, other informants, notably Dick Gere, stoutly denied the appropriateness of such usage l1Kroeber was by no means certain of this in- formation: "I was unable to find an older in- formant native to this district except a decrepit woman who reeled off place names without being able to identify them" (Patwin, 264-265). E1Kroeber, Handbook, 345, fig. 32; cf. Water- man, map. and claimed that the word had never any more definite content than "person, somebody." Accord- ing to Bill! Cayton,the Yana of Montgomery Creek called themselves Mauna'i'adjus i. The remnant of the tribe still existing is now locally known as N-'zi or N-osi. The word is more properly N'o'sa, at least such is the form current among the Yana themselves. It is not a Yana word nor was it formerly used by the Indians to whom it re- fers; as far as could be learned, the term is of Wintun origin. Another Wintun term used to apply to the Yana was Yru'kte, literally "strangers"; this name is identical with the better known Yuki, a name also of Wintun origin. The Wintun, accord- ing to Betty Brown, called the Montgomery Creek Yana Ho'rmole'. The Pit River (Achomawi) name for the Yana was Tf'saitci, salt people13 (cf. Pit River ti's, salt), a considerable share of that substance used by the Pit River Indians hav- ing been obtained formerly from salt marshes in Yana territory. The Yana country bordered at the north on that of the Wintu and "Pit Rivers"; on the east it ad- joined the "Hat Creek (Atsugewi) Indians"; to the east and south were the Maidu ("Big Meadows Indi- ans" or Northeastern Maidu,and "Chico Indians" or Northwestern Maidu); while the western boundary was formed by the Wintu and Wintun. The ordinary Yana term for the Wintun-speakers is Ya"wi, a word of unknown, if any, significance; there is also a special term for Wintun woman, Aha'udjas-i, literally, "she-who-comes-from-the-west." Sub- divisions of the Wintu Indians were referred to by terms of transparent geographical significance, a type of name that is very characteristic of the Yana. Thus, the McCloud River Wintu were known as Gi'lm'djiya('wi), West-over-the-mountains people (or Wintu); the Wintu of the upper course of the Sacramento (say about Redding) as Twi'ldjiyv, West-across-the-river people; those of lower Pit River (in the neighborhood of Copper City) as Wagi'ldjam'a , Dwelling-north-beyond-the-mountains; and the westernmost Wintu (in the neighborhood of French Gulch) were termed Ttci'nlm'djiy&', Far- off-to-the-west people. The last-named group of Wintu were said to speak a dialect slightly dif- ferent from that used in common by the McCloud River and upper Sacramento Wintu. For the Pit River (Achomawi) Indians there seems to have been no general collective term. Those of Fall River, a northern tributary of Pit River, to whom alone the name Achomawi (or Adju'mawi') properly applied, were known to the Northern Yana as Twi'ldjabiya', North-across-the- Curtis also recorded this name as Ti'saich (14:208, 236) and Kniffen as Ti'saohe (320). Merriam gives the name used for the Yana by Achomawi proper, Atwamaini, and Madesi as Te'-si-che; in addition Madesi say Ah-tah'-me- kah'-me and Pas-sa'-put-ohe; and both Atsugewi groups call the "tribe at Round Mountain" Te'-mow-we (25, 28, 37, 48, 49). e 242 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YlAA.4 river people (the reference is to Pit River; when the implied reference was to Montgomery Creek, the same name, in the Central dialectic form Twi'ldjamiya', was used by the Central Yana to refer to the Northern Yana of Montgomery Creek). They were also referred to by the Central Yana as S ibumka'imaduya', Bedrock-place people, from S-ibu'mf'aimadu, Bedrock-place, the name of one of their chief villages (their own name for it was ta'"djade'). The Achomawi dwelling along Pit River itself (Itsatawi and Ilmawi subgroups) were known to the Northern Yana as Iwa'ldjabiy&', North-country people. The Atwamsini Achomawi of Hot Springs Valley or Big Valley (in southern Modoc and northern Lassen counties) were referred to as I't?a'urifuy&', Plains people. The Acho- mawi, finally, of the Big Bend of Pit River south to Hatchet Creek, known to themselves as Made'"si, were called by the Yana Wa'dj&'mi, Dwelling-north, or Dja'udjabiya', people of Dja'udjami (Big Bend, lit., "the iiorth"). The Hat Creek Indians (At- sugewi) were refularly known as Tctun8'y&, of un- known meaning,1 or Dj6'na (regularly contracted from Djuha'una), Living-east; other names for them were Djauha'uya or Dj6'ya', East-people, and Gl 'lauy&, East-overthe-mountains people. The Northeastern Maidu, now popularly known as Big Meadows Indians, were by the Yana called Batdj&'misi (also Bandja'mlsi),15 of unexplained etymology, or Wawa'lttp a's.`,168 Dwelling-in-the- country-to-the-south. The Northwestern Maidu were known as S a'iya, another term of unknown etymology; the Northern_Yana somewhat indefinite- ly referred to them as Itcti't'ttpeay&', Far-off- south people. A term apparently of uncertain applicability in the minds of the Yana themselves was S*ui6'niy&?. According to Betty Brown it re- ferred to either the Indians of Dixie Valley or to the extreme eastern Maidu of the neighborhood of Susanville; according to Sam Bat'wi, it re- ferred to the Indians of Hot Springs or to the "Snakes.""7 It seems safe to assume that the name S uk8'niy&' was rather indeterminately used for any people far to the east, whether Maidu or Shoshonean. Other tribal names obtained are T1 'mtdjiy"a, Up-in-the-mountains-to-the-west people, given as the name for the Shasta, and rts* itsha'uy&, Far-off-east people, referring presumably to the Shoshonean Indians of north- eastern California. It is very doubtful, how- ever, whether these two self-explanatory tribal 14Merriam (48) gives Chun-nai' yah'-nah as the Yana name for the Pit River Indians collectively. 15This is Dixon's Patcami sa, doubtless a mis- print for Patcaml8'si (Northern Maidu, 123). I6Dixon's WawR'ltup&a (loc. cit.). 17 The name Siu6O'niTa may be identical with Curtin's Sukopia (353), translated by him as "a name of pine martin, whose ordinary name is Demauna." If so, Curtin's translation must be considered as entirely erroneous. names of local significance were definitely asso- ciated with particular tribes. The whites, fi- nally, are termed S-a'ldu by the Yana; this name is evidently corrupted from the Spanish soldado (cf. Northeastern Pomo saltaka)."8 The whites when first seen by the Yana are said to have been called Mas-a"du, a word that has not yielded to analysis. As regards subdivisions of the Yana, it is im- portant to note that they themselves make a con- scious and clear-cut distinction between the gatta"i (our Cential and Southern) and the ga'ri'i (our Northern) dialects.19 The gatt&"i dialect was spoken in by far the greater part of the Yana territory, embracing all of the country south of Battle Creek and all north of it except the region of Montgomery and Cedar creeks and the country up from Oak Run; this latter part of the territory was the home of the ga'ri'i dialect. Clover Creek was said to have belonged to the gatta"i terri- tory but to have contained also ga'ri'i elements. This is the Central and perhaps Northern usage of the terms ga'ri'i and gat'^"i. Presumably Southern usage followed Central, since the.inform- ant Sam Bat'wi, a Southernar by birth but a life- long speaker of the Central dialect, did not sug- gest otherwise. But the division was made differ- ently by the Yahi. Kroeber writes: It must be noted that Ishi [the last Yahi] ap- plied the term "Gari'si" not to the northern Yana proper, whom he did not recognize as a separate group, but to the central Yana (the Gata'i), and to the southern Yana of Battle Creek. Actually, so far as can be judged, the southern Yana dialect is more similar to Yahi than to central Yana. Tuliyani on Mill Creek, and Yisch'inna on Deer Creek, may be names of chiefs that once lived at these villages rather than true place names. Ishi employed {he term Ga'me'si in connection with the region of these settlements. It is perhaps a designation of his dialect contrasting with Gari'si for the three Yana dialects to the north.29 Apparently, for all that the terms by their ety- mology turn on distinctions of speech, it seems clear that their application was relative. The distinction was made between persons of one's own speech and all the others, regardless of true dialectic divisions. [L.S.] This native classification of Yana dialects gives the Northern dialect, with its small range, a distinctly isolated position, and indeed the ga'ri'i form of speech is characterized by a 18Barrett, 57. 19These terms are the Central Yana dialectic forms; the Northern Yana has gatt&'"a and gari" i,respectively. The forms as given are the infinitives of the verbs gattEa-, gari-; the verb stem ga- means "to talk, utter sound" (cf. gay&-, to talk), the suffix -tta- is of unknown significance, the suffix -ri- is perhaps identi- cal with -ri-, down. 2 0Kroeber, Handbook, 345. 243 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS number of phonetic peculiarities that are evi- dently secondary developments from the corre- sponding gat&a"i forms. On the other hand, the gatC&'Ii dialectic group is a unit only by pho- netic contrast to the ga'ri'i dialect. The Central dialect shares some of its pho- netic peculiarities with the Southern, others with the Northern dialect. The boundary between the Central and Southern dialects was formed by Battle Creek and North Fork of Battle Creek. The PARALLEL FORMS IN THREE DIALECTS Northern Central a'una, fire a 'una tte'nna, grizzly bear tte 'n'na birl" maha, where is it? bi'ri'maha barl'gapsi, he runs downhill from north ba'rigamsi marl" mi, woman ma'ri'mi djurl'si, tree stands dju'risi dja'risi, it snows djui'risi djl'waisi, it tastes like deermeat djl'waisi dju'n&'ru', go for water dun'a'ru' dju wa'wi, your house dju wa'wi uedl'wapLcit't', he killed two deer u'dI'wamtcitf8' 'e" gat'i, to break 'e "gan'i nis&" a, to go away nisa"i nis&" a', go away! nis&" i' dja'udjamna, north dja'udjanna dja'uhauna, east dja'uhauna dja'urpla, south dja'uXpIa dja'um'dji, west dja'uni'dji Though only words and phrases were obtained of the now extinct Sotithern Yana dialect, enough was secured to show clearly that the Central dia- lect differed quite considerably from it in both phonetics and vocabulary, to some slight extent also in morphology. It is probable that if more extensive Southern Yana material were available, it could be shown'that the Central and Northern dialects differed less than the Central and Southern. Thus the native ga'ri'i-gat'&" i classifica- tion would have to yield to one consisting of a Southerly and a Northerly group, wherein Southern Yana and Yahi comprise the former, Central and Northern dialects the latter. Phonetically it seems very probable that the Southern dialects, particularly Yahi, were the most archaic, that is, nearest to the original form of Yana speech, while the Northern (ga'ri'i) dialect is evidently the most specialized. Yet Yahi is very close in all essential respects to the two northern forms of Yana. There are enough differences in pho- netics, vocabulary, and morphology, however, to put it in a class by itself as contrasted with the other two. It is doubtful if a Northern or Central speaker could understand Yahi perfectly, but it is certain that he could make out practi- cally all of it after a brief contact.2' 2 These paragraphs on the classification of the dialects have been revised from Sapir's original statement in the light of his Text Analysis, p. 263.--L.S. Southern a'uhi be' rimaha ba'riga'msi dju' risi djo risi dji 's-waisi djusn& 'rul djum wa "wi usdl'wam'Ltcit'8' tee'ndjamhi t ''nauhi tle'nttpa t'e'ndji short list of corresponding forms above will serve to give some idea of the character of the dialectic differences. It will be observed that the Southern dialect shows some striking differ- ences in morphology, for example, the noun suffix -hi instead of the -na of the other dialects. There are, of course, also dialectic lexical dif- ferences, but these must be considered of sub- sidiary importance as a criterion of dialect grouping. It should be carefully noted that the terms gat'a"i and ga'ri'i were of purely linguistic significance for the Yana and had no reference per se to tribal or geographical subdivisions. Speakers of the Northern dialect as a geographi- cal unit were referred to simply as Dja'udjabiya- (Dja'udjamiy&'in gat'&"i), North people; speake of the gatt'"i dialects as Dja'u1!p'ay&', South people. Terms of more definite geographical ap- plication could be easily formed by compounding a place name with the word ya(na), people (e.g., Imari'Auya', Oak Run people, from Imarl'ku, Oak Run), or by qualifying terms involving the car- dinal points by means of local elements like "across the river" or "in the mountains" similar to some of the Yana names of neighboring tribes already given. Some of the names of the latter type seem to have had pretty definite usage. .the Yana of Montgomery Creek were known either a Iwil'lauy&, East-across-the-creek people, or, as we have already seen, Fwi'ldjamiya, North-acros8, the-creek people (the latter term, however, i8 A I I "I .1 244 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA doubtedly formed from the name of Montgomery Creek itself, Iwi'ldjamna or Iwi'ldjami, lit., "north across the creek"). The Indians of Old Cow Creek (North Fork of Cow Creek), according to Sam Bat'wi, were called Iwa'lauya', East-on-this-side-of-the- river people; those of Saldu Cow Creek (South Fork of Cow Creek), according to Betty Brown, were known as Irl't'p'ayk, Down-to-the-south people. The Indians formerly living south of Battle Creek in the mountainous country about Antelope Creek were known as Waw&'lau'a, Dwelling-in-the- country-to-the-east.22 They were said to have been a wild, mean set, and are possibly identi- cal in part with Powers' Kombo (Yahi). Owing to the fact that the Yana originally living south of Battle Creek are now entirely ex- tinct, it was not possible to obtain many village names belonging to this area. Those that follow do not claim to make up an exhaustive list even for the country north of Battle Creek. The loca- tion of several of the villages, as shown on map 1, cannot be considered as more than approxi- mate. The following village names were obtained: Iwi'ldj&mi' (or Iwi'ldjamna), North-across- the creek, at Montgomery Creek. ? Ttda'lmadu, 23 Bone-place, between Montgomery Creek and Round Mountain, at what is now known as Traver's Stage-station. There is a small creek at this place running through a boulder- filled bed. The rocks and pebbles are supposed at one time to have been bones, hence the name. ? Yu'mimadu, Dark-salmon-meat-place, near Traver's Stage-station. 24 Dj8wittca'uriIh (Central Yana: Dj8wint'a'uriku), not far north of present hamlet of Buzzard's Roost (Round Mountain). Djldji'nha, at confluence of Cedar Creek and Bullskin Creek (South Fork of Little Cow Creek). Djit'p ama'uwitc'u, Salt-flowing-south, on southern side of Cedar Creek, near Bullskin Creek. ka-'sipu'i, south of Buzzard's Roost on a small mountain. S V'fa, Where-people-drink (?), on a flat hill about half a mile above the head of Oak Run. Formerly there was a lake there, a favorite stop- ping place of geese, ducks, and other migratory birds on their way north in the spring. Indians often camped there to hunt the game. K'idi'lmalla,25 on upper Oak Run. U'ntc'unaha, about fifteen miles south of Round Mountain between upper courses of Old Cow Creek (North Fork of Cow Creek) and Clover Creek. It was situated on a plain where there was said to be an abundance of flint. 22Of Sacramento River? 23Those names queried are only doubtfully given as village names. "4From yi'mi, dark part of salmon meat between skin and reddish portion. 5Cf. kfidil11, camass. K'8'wamadu, Cave-place, on southern side of Old Cow Creek, about two miles east of the fol- lowing. Luwa'iha, on southern side of Old Cow Creek, about twenty-five (?) miles east of Millville. ? Ha'ufpukaina,26 at head of Saldu Cow Creek (South Fork of Cow Creek), where there were many high rocks with water trickling underneath. Ptu'ls.u'aina (or P'u'ls.u'aimadu), Red clay, near the following. Ba'n'xa, on hill between Old Cow Creek and Saldu Cow Creek near present Tamarack Road. Ba'djiyu, on Old Cow Creek above P'a'wi. Ba'ri'mauha, Rushing-down-water, at head of Clover Creek near a waterfall, about two miles up from P'a'wi. There was said to be a sweat house there. I'gunmadu, Sweat-house-place, on Old Cow Creek. P'a'wi, on Clover Creek, about eight miles from Millville. Ha'udulilmauna, at a hill said to be called Black Mountain, about two miles east of the fol- lowing. Wl'tc'uman'na,27 on Saldu Cow Creek, about five miles above Millville. This place was well known even to tribes neighboring the Yana for its salt mud; it was a chief's "rancheria." HamR'damfci, Water-coming-together, an old vil- lage near Millville. The name probably refers to the confluence of Cow and Clover creeks. 'O'djinimauna, at the head of Bear Creek. Djitclitt"p '"mauna, Water-flowing-off-south, on Bear Creek south of Cow Creek. This name seems to have been used also for Bear Creek itself. Au'wiha, Medicine-man's water, on Battle Creek. The name is explained by the fact that there was a lake or swamp near the village at which medi- cine-men gained power. Wama'rawi, not far from tf'wiha at the cone or "lone mountain" about two miles north of Battle Creek. Baga'nmatci'i,l 28 where North and South forks of Battle Creek come together. Wawi'ldjuwaha, Otter-water, at the confluence of Battle Creek and Sacramento River. Utanu'wi,29 at Tuscan Buttes, between Paine's and Antelope creeks. ? Djitc'i'n'mauna, Flowing-off, on Antelope Creek. This name seems to refer properly to Antelope Creek itself. Djitcri'n$mauya, Antelope Creek people, was employed by Sam Bat'wl to refer to all Yana south of Battle Creek, that is, those who spoke Southern Yana (and Yahi). BW'wa, at a small creek north of Mill Creek. Perhaps Little Antelope Creek or Rio de los Ber- rendos is meant. 26Contains 1a'ina, rock. 27Cf. wI tc'u, salt. 28 Perhaps misheard for Baga'nmitoi'i. 29Etymology uncertain, but verb stem ut'-, two, and dual -Uwi are clear. 245 ANTBROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Ba18'ha,30 on Mill Creek, at a "mountain" a few miles east of the present town of Tehama. It was considered by Sam as the most southern point at which Yana was spoken. [This may have been the Yahi or Wintun village of this name to the south near Vina and the mouth of Deer Creek; see p. 242.] P'alu'wi, at Inskip Hill or Buttes, between Paine's and South Fork of Battle creeks. Besides these regular villages or "rancherias" (yW'ri'mauna, dwelling place, or y&'wawi, dwell- ing house), which were inhabited most of the year and each of which probably possessed its sweat house, the Yana had also regular fishing places (da's'iri'mauna, salmon fishing place), which were occupied during the summer fishing season. Fishing places on Pit River claimed by the North- ern Yana were Bagi'lmauha, Rushing-over-hill- water; tsiwa''ipa;31 and Djltc'ula'lwalt'p'a.32 The Central and Southern Yana, as we have seen, claimed fishing rights on the Sacramento, the farthest fishing point up the river being situ- ated at the present Ball's Ferry, another one a short distance south at the mouth of Battle Creek. There was a third type Qf place at which it was customary to camp. These "resting places" were spots favorable for staying overnight or for a few hours' rest as parties traveled on to some village to which they had been invited for a dance or to a hunting or pine-nut-gathering ground. Such places were termed wap'a'umauna, whereat-it-is-stayed, or waha'iri'mauna, resting- place. It was considered good luck to stop at one of these. A good example of a "resting place" is Ganu'mya, Arms-of-people,33 the present Basin Hollow, between Clover Creek and North Fork of Cow Creek. It was a favorite spot for the gathering of clover, edible roots, and seeds, and for the burning out of grasshoppers. According to a myth, Coyote is supposed to have once sat down and rested at this place when tired out, thus setting the precedent for Indians of later times .34 Other geographical names obtained are: Djl'galmadu', Mountain-place, Round Mountain. Wa'gani1'ba, Little-Mount Shasta,35 Lassen Butte. 30Evidently contains stem ha-, water. 31The element -pa is diminutive. 32Contains element -t'p'a, south. 33Morphologically ganu- is diminutive to galu-, arm. 34See Sapir, Yana Texts, 101, line 8. 3 Morphologically diminutive of we'galU . Itsgi'lla, In-the-water, Pit River. I'mariku'(Imari'lu in Northern Yana), Down-in- a-hollow, Oak Run. Iwa'lt'p a', On-the-ground-to-the-south, Cedar Creek. DjIdji'lfni, Water-moving-in-a-circle, (another name for) Cedar Creek. Tcta'fulxa (-xa, water), lake in eastern part of Yana country; probably Silver Lake. Ha'gats imadu, Flints-lying-around-place (ha'gats'i, small pieces of flint lying around), place about four miles from Buzzard's Roost and at head of Little Cow Creek.36 ki'nl'mdu', Poison-place, exact locality not determined.37 kuru'lmsumanna (lurul-, crane), exact locality not determined.38 'A'mcumanna, exact locality not determined. Ma'firi'mauna, Roosting-place, place on top of a mountain.39 WI'wauna, exact locality not determined.'0 P'C'Saiwaw, Snk-house, big rock north of Buzzard's Roost. BA'1'spuitia, point at foot of Round Mountain. 'U'ipalmauna ('ui-, to whistle).'1 Djanui'nakaina, Stone-notched-by-chewing, two rocks, on wagon road near Montgomery Creek, with a notched circle said to have been eaten around by a bear in pursuit of a deer who sought safety on top.42 Y8'yotsgi (-tsgi, diminutive plural), two mountains in sight from Montgomery Creek. It was customary for a man to sleep there for a day or two before his wife became delivered of a child. WI'm'p aupugama, mountain said by Betty Brown to be somewhere south of Battle Creek; exact lo- cality not determined. tc1'yu, spot near mouth of Bear Creek back of Ball's Ferry. Bagat'didja'myaIaina, Rocks-rolling-downhill- to-the-north, hill near Basin Hollow with big sandstone boulders on its summit. Twi 'ldjami, Twi'ldjamna, North-across-the-cree' (or Iwa'ldjapdjifcau'i, North-country-creek), Montgomery Creek. Gi'ldjamna, Northward-beyond-the-hill, Clover Creek. Wi"amauna, South Fork of Cow Creek. 36Curtin's Hakachimatu, Blue and white flint place, Polecat Spring (531). 37Curtin's K8tmatu. 38Curtin's Kurulsa Mauna. I am not clear whether this name applies to a definite locality or is a general term for a type of place. It is Curtin's Motiri Mauna. 40This is probably Curtin's Wewauna, Round place. 41Curtin's Hwitalmauna, Whistling-place, Little Flat. '2Sapir, Yana Texts, note 328-. 246 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA Dagunha'upa, confluence of North and South forks of Cow Creek. Djiga'mi, Flowing-from-the-north, Little Cow Creek. Da'ha, Stream, Sacramento River. In addition, the following Yana place names referring to features 1ying outside Yana terri- tory were obtained: I't'a'uriku, Plains, Hot Springs Valley or Big Valley, in Achomawi country. S-ibu'm1aimadu, Bedrock-place, Achomawi village at Fall River. Dja'udj-ami, North, or more specifically Djuga'mip'di, Flowing-from-the-north-place, Big Bend of Pit River, in Achomawi country. Dlrl`'oha (-ha, water), Big Bend Hot Springs, in Achomawi country. Wact'p'di, Digging-stick-place, on Kosk Creek, northern tributary of Pit River; in Achomawi country. '1A]'limadu (cf. 'a]&'lisi, loon, or 'ak&'lili, lake; -madu, place), Hat Creek, in Atsugewi country. Iri-djami, lower course of Pit River, in Wintu country. This name seems to mean "Down-to-the- north( but its appropriateness is not obvious. Hapa'nnaina, Much-water, or Gi'lm'dji, West- across-the-mountains, McCloud River, in Wintu country. Bfla'wi, mountain near Copper City (called Bear Mountain by Sam, but probably Bully Hill is meant), in Wintu country. Wa'mtci, Stillwater Creek, in Wintu country. Wa'galui', Mount Shasta. Though lying far out- side (northwest) of Yana territory, it is visible from several points in it. Further Yana geographical names, taken from Dixon's notes, 43 are: Nono'ni, Bloody Island, in Sacramento River near Ball's Ferry. Name seems to be Wintu rather than Yana; island is in Wintu territory. hp8 'ha or Ap6'ha, Burney Butte, mountain in Atsugewi country. Gilt'p ta, Southward-beyond-the-hill, Cow Creek (cf. Gi'ldjamna above). Iri'djami, Down-to-the-north, Hatchet Creek (cf. TrI'dj&mi above as name of lower Pit River). 4t'li, Paine's Creek. This name is perhaps Wintun. 43Some of Dixon's place names, owing to uncer- tainties of analysis, I could not safely normal- ize in accordance with my orthography. These have been left unchanged and marked with aster- isks. ')junn1', Big Cow Creek. Dl'yiurimadu or *I'yuriktilla (read -k'dilla ?), Cedar Valley. *l'tsiriha, three miles up from P'a'wi. Djumcmu'na Clough Creek. Wg'yuldiyaukaimadu (-kaimadu, rock place), per- haps near Clough Creek. I't'a'um'dji (-m'dji, west), at Mi]lville. Some of these Yana place names (e.g., Ba'wa, CI'ja, P'a'wi) are mere names, suggesting no obvi- ous analysis. The great majority, however, are clearly descriptive terms referring either to some local feature or orienting the locality with ref- erence to the cardinal points and such geographi- cal features as streams and mountains. The latter type of place name is particularly characteristic of the Yana (see such names as Twa'lt'p'a,- Djitctit't'p'&'mauna, Djug&'mip'di above). In this connection it is significant to note that the Yana in ordinary conversation are very particular about orienting activities with reference to the cardinal points, streams, hills, valleys, and other natural features. 44 Thus, one does not merely "run away" (basa-), but, for example, he "runs to the north across the creek" (bawildjam-) or he "runs to the east over a hill" (bagilau-); in reporting that one is coming, one is apt to specify, for example that "he comes downhill from the north" (nirigam-). It is very remarkable that some of the most important geographical features and ethnic groups are referred to by terms that would seem to be altogether too colorless to be of service. Such are Iwi'ldjami, Across-the- creek-to-the-north, for Montgomery Creek (stream and village); Dja'udjami, North, for Big Bend of Pit River; 45 Djig&'mi, Flowing-from-the-north, for Little Cow Creek; Gi'ldjamna, Northward-be- yond-the-hill, for Clover Creek; Gi'lt'p'a, Southward-beyond-the-hill, for Cow Creek;'46 Aha'- udjus i, She-who-comes-from-the-west, for Wintun woman; Djo'na, Dwelling-in-the-east, for Atsugewi Indian. Names of this type indicate clearly how thoroughly at home the Yana were in the country that they occupied, for, colorless as they are, they are quite specific in their application. 44This is also characteristic of the adjacent Central Wintun and Wintu. It is curious that for all this scrupulous reference by cardinal points, the Yana never developed a systematic order of reference. Thus of ten instances in the texts, taken as a test, the reference is sometimes by circuit (but both clockwise and counterclockwise), sometimes by opposing pairs of points. East is the starting point five times, south three, north twice.--L.S. 45Dja'udjamna, north, as ordinary term. 46These two terms evidently refer to the rise between Clover Creek and Cow Creek in the neigh- borhood of Bagat'didja"myakaina (see Sapir, Yana Texts, note 159). If you move north from it, you strike Clover Creek; if south, Cow Creek. 247 ANTBROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The Yana lived partly in the Sacramento Valley (not regularly, as we have seen, on the river it- self); partly, and, it would seem, more charac- teristically, in the western foothills of the Sierras. Most of the country is rather broken, intersected by numerous creeks, some of which run dry in the summer, and full of dry gravel beds, gorges, hills, and mountains. In the south are several volcanic cones. The Sacramento at the western front of Yana country flows at an eleva- tion of about 500 to 250 feet above sea level. The foothill country, in which were the greater number of Yana villages, lies between elevations 1000 and 2000, with a narrower strip of country to the east averaging generally 1000 or more feet higher. Most of the foothill country is so low that it shares in the extreme heat of the valley summers and is so deficient in summer rainfall that the upper benches are quite dry. Precipita- tion increases rapidly with the higher elevations to the east, so that these upper slopes are well covered with a dense and varied vegetation. The highest region, the Sierra on the eastern flank, has heavy snows throughout the winter. The territory is well provided with animal life. Some of the more important mammals-are: deer, ba'na- elk, tsor8'wa; wolf, ma'liwalla' coyote, me'is i; fox, wil'rulla,; 'ah&'limilla4@ silver-gray fox, bo"k'uina; panther, d8'bunna, '6'ts*ulla; wildcat, 'itci'nna; grizzly bear, tte'nna; black bear, bu'na, dltti'ldimauna; skunk, p'e'iaina; pine marten, d6'mauna; gray squirrel, daridjuwa; ground squirrel, ka'its 'iki;2 chipmunk, wi' llaina; gopher, mantsa'utcu; porcu- pine, mui'ha; beaver, maltta'uwilla. Among the more striking forms of bird life are: eagle, lmasrttdjadUwa is-org'djuwa; chicken hawk, u'ldjius i; horned owl, djii"gului; screech owl, '8'wi's il'aina; buzzard, ma'isktili'lla; loon, 'aka'lisi; sandhill crane, muru'lla; wild duck, p'ubi'lla; wild goose, la'lagi; whistling swan, wi'b&'djuis'i; quail, s-ig&'ga; bluejay, fsawi'lla;I crow, ga'gi; meadowlark, ma'lwilla; hummingbird, pu'ts i; woodpecker, ya'k'ga; yellowhammer, t's ura'du. The flora of the Yana country is quite diver- sified and naturally differs considerably in the Sacramento Valley and the foothills. Easily the most conspicuous tree found in this part of Cali- fornia is the yellow pine (s lfwin'i); other conifers are the sugar pine (tc'a'u'i or tc'a'una), digger pine (ta'la'i, lit., pitch tree), spruce (isi'mtsimi'i), and fir (da'xwi'i). There are found also the white oak (ba'djul'i), various species of oak bearing edible acorns (see below) the alder ('a'pada'i), willow (ma'tdjit'iS, and among the bushes, the man- zanita (bW'djai'iS, black manzanita (m&'tc'i), wild raspberry (tcl'ptunna), thimbleberry (sI'p iunna), wild grape (ka'isi), and chokecherry- (wanikiba'yau'i). The manzanita grows only in the, valley; the black manzanita in the higher country;4 while characteristic of the foothills is also the white oak, which thrives in rocky soil. HISTORY The Yana could hardly have become known to the whites much before the early decades of the nine- teenth century. Always a small tribe, they were practically annihilated in 1864 in a massacre carried out against them by two parties of white men in revenge for the murder of two white-women by the outlawed band of Mill Creek Indians re- ferred to above.48 Before the massacre the Yana are said by Curtin to have numbered as many as three thousand, an estimate based "on the sound authority of reliable white men." Curtin adds: "Taking the names and population of villages given me by surviving Indians, I should say that this estimate is not too large." Sam Bat'wl did not believe that the total of Yana, when number- ing their full quota, amounted to more than one 47 Curtin (467) translates ahalamila, gray wolf, but compare his malewula, wolf. 48 A graphic account of this wholesale massacre, which for unredeeming barbarism it would be dif- ficult to parallel, may be found in Curtin (517-520). See also Waterman, Yana Indians. thousand. In 1884, twenty years after the mas- sacre, Curtin found the tribe to consist of a mere remnant of thirty-five individuals.' They have since then steadily dwindled in numbers un- til, when visited by the writer in 1907, there were 'scarcely a dozen Indians left who could speak Yana. Of this number a few lived on the north bank of the Sacramento across the river from Redding, in originally Wintu territory, while a somewhat larger number were scattered about near Montgomery Creek, intermarried with Achomawi and Atsugewi Indians.50 The last Yahi, Ishi, died in San Francisco in 1916. According to Powers, the Yana have a legend (related to Powers by Major Reading) that their ancestors came from a country far to the east. After a long journey, they came to a "delightful land and to a timid and feeble folk, where they conquered for themselves a dwelling-place."5' Whatever may be thought of Major Reading's migra- ' Powell, 135. 50 See Sapir, Yana Texts, notes 3a and 202. 51rPowers, pp. 276-277. I 248 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF TBE YANA tion legend, no confirmation is to be found in Curtin's, Dixonis, or my own Yana myths. The general lack of migration legends in California, moreover, casts grave doubt on the authenticity of the legend quoted by Powers. As Yana is a mem- ber of the Hokan linguistic stock,52 it becomes even clearer that no immediate extra-Californian affinities for Yana need be looked for. Powers describes the physical appearance of the Yana as follows:53 Though living at a little higher altitude than the Wintun they are not quite so tall as they, but are several shades lighter-colored. They are rather undersized, even for California Indians, and are quite a delicate, small-limbed, handsome race. With their hazel complexions; smooth, polished skins; smallish, ovoid faces; and lithe, well-knit frames, they present a race-type dif- ferent from any other to be seen in California.... As the stature of the Nozi is short at best, so the children are slow in attaining it. They often remain mere dwarfs until they are ten or fifteen years old, when they start and shoot up suddenly eighteen inches or so. The short stature of the Yana was noted also by the writer. The contrast in stature between the Yana and their neighbors emphasized by Powers was evidently known to the Yana themselves, for in a creation myth obtained by the writer this differ- ence in physical character is explained as due-to the fact that the creators, Lizard and Cottontail Rabbit, having run out of good full-sized sticks, wherewith the peoples to the north, east, south, and west were made, had nothing suitable left for the creation of the people of the center (the Yana), hence were compelled to make use of bad undersized sticks.54 Though Powers' description of the Yana as a "fierce and restless little tribe forever on" the "flank" of the Wintun, and- "always ready to pounce upon them," is doubtless exaggerated, I am inclined to think that they were a notably self-reliant and haughty set of people. The few survivors seen in 1907 are by no means a cowed and spiritless lot, but impress one as possessed of a remarkable sense of independence, being decidedly inclined to reticence and not easy to bend to one's own purpose. Cayton Bill, a Yana Indian living at Montgomery Creek, stated that the creator, whom-he identi- fied with the white man's Christ, put the N8 sa (i.e., Yana) Indians in the center and surrounded them with the Hat Creek, Pit River, Wintun, and Big Meadows (i.e., Maidu) Indians. Hence they are the most important tribe of all. MATERIAL CULTURE Food The Yana depended for their means of subsist- ence on hunting, fishing, and, most important of all, gathering of wild roots, seeds, berries, nuts, and other vegetable products. Agriculture was, of course, unknown. As among many other Californian tribes, the chief vegetable food was the acorn, which may be considered the staple. Yu'na is a general term for acorn, each of the half dozen or more edible varieties bearing its specific name. Among these are the "black acorn" (ba's-imala), the fruit of the "black oak tree" (ba soi'i); the sa'uyam&la, the acorn of the "white oak" (yu'a'i'i); the "long acorn" (ba&- djulla), the fruit of another species of white oak (baWdjul'i); the literally styled "bitter acorn" (2a iyu), a big, round, potato-like acorn of the ka 'iyu'i oak; the "brush acorn" (ma'uwayu), picked by women from the blue oak (mauwa'yu'i; Quercus douglasii);55 the ba'lliw&yu, a species of brush acorn growing in the neighborhood of Hatchet Creek; and the bariwiriwa'yu, a very 52 Including also Shasta-Achomawi, Chimariko, Karok, Pomo, Esselen, Yuman, Chumash, Salinan, Washo, Seri, Chontal, and possibly others. 53Pp. 275-276. small acorn belonging to another species of brush oak. Still another variety of acorn, the djuiwa'yu, is rendered by Curtin "acorn of the Eastern black oak." 56 Before the acorns ripen in the early fall (gen- erally some time in September), nobody is allowed to touch them. As soon as they are ripe, the chief invites everybody to come together and talk about picking them and tells the men to climb the trees and chop down [break off ?] the acorn-laden limbs. (The brush acorns noted above can be picked di- rectly by the women.) Then the women pick up the acorns on the ground, while the men go off to catch salmon and dry them at the river (Sacramento River and Mill Creek). The acorns are collected into big 54Sapir, Yana Texts, 76-77. [The few Yana-Yahi who have been measured show no departure from the stature of their neighbors. But equally sig- nificant is the fact that their neighbors, with whom they intermarried, do not show statures lower than the majority of north and central Californians. See Gifford, Californian Anthro- pometry.--L.S.] 55For plant identifications I am indebted to the late Dr. H. M. Hall, of the Agricultural Ex- periment Station, University of California, also to Professor W. A. Setchell, of the Department of Botany, University of California. 56Curtin, 425. 249 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS burden baskets, 3 or 4 feet in height, which are carried on the back. (A baby would often be put on top of the acorns and tied to the basket.) The acorns are next shelled all night long. Acorns shelled with a rock ;hammerstone ?J are termed 'ata'lla, whereas i po'a- refers to the shelling of fresh acorns with the teeth; as op- posed to these terms, 'ama'la indicates specifi- cally the raw unshelled acorn. The next morning the ground is cleared and the shelled acorns are laid out on tule mats, where they are allowed to dry for two or three days. When thoroughly dried, they are put into a big round openwork storage basket for winter use. To preserve the acorns, leaves of the broad-leaved maple are packed around inside the basket before putting in the acorns. During the winter, or at any other time that they are needed, the acorns are taken out of the storage basket and ground by pounding with a stone pestle against a rock [slab mortar ?] set in the flodr; a basket hopper, shaped like a truncated funnel open at both ends, is held be- tween the knees, the narrower opening resting on the rock so as to prevent the acorns from being scattered by the blows of the pestle. The coarsely pounded acorn flour is then sifted by throwing it up and down on a plain quadrangular piece of yellow-pine bark. The rougher pieces (yu'p'ts'gi) are allowed to fall into some re- ceptacle or onto a blanket, and then are put back into the hopper for further pounding. An- other and stronger sifting board was a rounded implement of black-oak wood, provided at one end with a hole for suspension from a peg. The finer flour remaining on the sifting board after the coarser bits have been eliminated is swept off with a buckskin-wrapped soaproot brush (do'kal- yauna) into a shallow sifting basket. (Another soaproot brush, p'u'lmiauna, may also have been used for this purpose.)57 The finer acorn flour is thrown up and down with this basket and fur- ther sifted; whatever coarse pieces are still found are picked out and handed back to the pounding woman. The pounding and sifting,it should be noted, are carried on simultaneously by several women. The flour ('ami 'kimauna), when ground fine enough, is ready for leaching. A round pit is dug close to the nearest creek and filled with sand to a depth of about one inch. Water is just sprinkled over the sand to prevent the acorn flour from sticking to it. Then the flour is heaped on the sand. Water is heated in a basket bucket by means of hot stones placed in it; the water, which is not heated enough to boil, but is merely warmed, is poured over the flour to leach 57In this connection attention may be called to two mistranslations in Curtin (281, 339): his pul miauna, colored bow, rainbow, is properly latkEa; his kedila, soaproot plant, is correctly k'idi'lla, camass; soaproot is tuSi 'ii. it (dj?'ri'i). After the water has soaked through the mass, another bucketful of warm water is poured over it. This is kept up until the acorn flour, which is tested from time to time, is found to have completely lost its bitter taste. The moist mess of acorn flour is now taken up with the hand palm down and the sand adhering to the bottom rubbed off with the other hand. The leached but as yet uncooked acorn flour is termed us u'imauna. It is put into a deep round basket used for the storage of acorn mush. Into this, water and hot stones are placed to cook the mush, which is stirred continuously with a stirring paddle, an implement of oak wood made by the men. The water- heating stones are taken out with some of the mush sticking to them. This (kg'yutcraina) the children are told to scratch off and eat. The cooked mush (yi'tctaina) is then packed into several baskets and distributed. Acorn mush was the main acorn food of the Yana. It could be eaten either alone or with other foods. Thus salmon was sometimes dipped into acorn mush to give it a relish (bil'nyau-, to eat salmon dipped into acorn mush). Sometimes earthworms were roasted between two rocks, the lower of which had been well heated (b6mu'a-, to put rock on worms held by heated rock), and then were eaten with acorn mush. Acorn bread (Northern Yana ma'yauna, Central Yana s a'una) was made as follows. A round pit is dug and filled with wood; this is then fired and rocks are placed over it to be heated. On the hot rocks are put leaves, over which the soaked but uncooked acorn flour (us-u'imauna) is set. This is thickly covered with a second layer of leaves, the whole being then covered with earth, on which a fire is built. The flour, protected by the pad- ding of leaves top and bottom, bakes slowly and thoroughly. The next morning the acorn bread, yellowish in color, is taken out. (The Yana words for the articles and procedures mentioned in this section are: burden basket pA'ik'waisi; tule mats, s-utdi"mi or iaru"wara; openwork storage basket, kWe'waisi; broad-leaf maple [Acer macrophyllum], bW'tctul'i; stone pestle, ha'djunna; pounding slab or mortar, wa'iwauna [wa-, to pound]; basket hopper, k'8"- mauna; quadrangular sifter, djo'p'uauna [sifting instrument; djo'p'i, sifted]; round sifter, tc'uni'nna; shallow sifting basket, Iiwa'la; bas- ket bucket, djaga'ltc'i; to take up with the hand palm down, 'u'i'bal'i; "she cleans off the sand with her palm," 'o'ikaldisas aigi k'u'i'yauna; basket for storage of acorn mush, mi'mauna; stir- ring paddle, tat'pla'lmauna.) Next to acorns certain edible roots or tubers are the most important as vegetable food. Roots were principally roasted (baked; termed pt'wawai- or mo'la'a-) or steamed. The women would go out digging roots with the root-digger all day, while the men attended to the preparations for firing. The latter dug the roasting pits, collected fire- 250 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA wood and pine needles, and placed rocks in the pits over the wood, one big rock being put in the center of the pit. One man took charge of the actual roasting, placing the various sets of roots belonging to different women each in its own part of the pit around the central rock and covering them all with the--pine needles. Before daybreak he would light the fire and cover the pit with dirt, then allow the roots to cook all day. Roots so prepared were termed ma'l&'mauna. Among the roots that were roasted for food are: fritillary (ta'ka [Fritillaria]); wils-u'nna (root of a plant said to have a stem like an onion plant and blossoms like cat's ears); s i'wawils unna; ma'ls-unna; s u'nna; da'yauna (root of a plant with blue flowers); dju'pp a (Eulophus pringlei); annis roots (ku's iki [Carum gairdneri]), said to taste like potatoes; camass (k'idi'lla); mal'gu'mallas-unna (root of a plant with many little seeds); da'mna (root of a plant with very white flowers). For some roots the method of roasting was slightly different from that described above: instead of covering the leaves on top of the roots with earth, they poured water on them, thus sterming the roots. Roots so prepared for food are: tiger lily, (da'i'waii [Lilium pardalinum]), which were well cleaned and their seedlike portions steamed for about an hour; fuli'lsunna (Brodiaea minor), also steamed for about an hour. Still other va- rieties of roots were prepared by roasting in hot ashes: ts-'i'lumals-unna (Brodiaea grandi- flora); Xsal'&'suiinna (white root, resembling a big button, from a plant with white flowers; one of the Umbelliferae). Other roots, finally, were eaten raw, such as: dju'a'naina (little round roots like pills, with a fragrance of musk, from a plant with leaves like carrot leaves); annis roots and s u'nna, which were also roasted. - The Yana would often gather edible roots by a somewhat parasitic method. Gophers store their food, consisting mostly of various roots, in holes or burrows distinct from their nests. To obtain these roots for their own use, the Indians would feel around, by tapping on the ground with a digging stick, for a gopher hole; when they had located one, they would poke the stick into the burrow and force the animals out, helping themselves to the stored roots. This type of food quest (known as djti'dut'i) seems to have been carried on by the men.58 The stem of latdjadji'tpa (Angelica tomentosa), when fresh, was broken off and, after the outer rind had been peeled off, eaten without cooking. The leaves of annis were eaten raw when first coming out. Clover (ga'pcu) was also eaten raw; it was gathered particularly at Basin Hollow.59 Of ts-iga'naaua'i (Helianthella californica), the yellow flowers were cooked and eaten. The seeds 58See Sapir, Yana Texts, 129:1; 144:12. 59Ibid., notes 159, 161. of a number of plants were used for food. Such are: sunflower seeds (ga'ma), which were beaten out with a stick and cooked; ga"'na' (seeds of- Clarkia rhomboidea), which were either eaten raw or parched and pounded up fine. Several varieties of nuts were important as food. Hazelnuts were eaten raw. Buckeyes (Aesculus californicus), when about as big as potatoes, were ground up fine with the feet. The buckeye meal was then placed in a circular basketry pan filled with fine sand; when enough hot water had been poured over the meal to take away its bitter taste, it was ready to be eaten and, unlike acorn flour, did not need to be cooked. Both sugar pine and digger pine yield edible nuts. To gather these a family or village would camp out. The men would climb the trees, break off the pine cones, and throw them on the ground. They were then gathered by the women, who pounded the nuts out of them.60 Digger-pine nuts were mashed and eaten raw. Of probably less consequence as food staples than acorns, pine nuts, and roots, yet by no means negligible, are various sorts of berries and other fruits. Chief among these is the manzanita berry, the fruit of the manzanita bush of the valley. Manzanita berries were eaten either raw or roasted and dried. They were also pounded up and a mild intoxicant (manzanita cider) made from them by soaking in water and allowing them to ferment. This manzanita cider was consumed by dipping a brush called e''la'8'yauna (a deer's tail wound about with ba'ni fiber) into the liquid and suck- ing at it.6' Black manzanita berries, which grow in the foothills, were pounded up and eaten raw, sometimes flavored with the dried and mashed leaves of Sidalcea malvaeflora which were inter- mixed with the pounded berries. Barberries (Ber- beris) were pounded with a pestle into a fine flour, which was made into a mush with a little water and eaten raw. Other berries and fruits which were eaten raw comprise thimbleberry, wild raspberry,62 huckleberry, chokecherry, two varie- ties of "wild plum " wild grape, nu'kgugu'i' (a blue-colored berry5, elderberry, ka'pdjinna (a very red berry). (The words for these nuts, berries, etc., fol- low: hazelnut, 'u'&tna; buckeye, ba's i; digger- pine nuts, wu'na [cf. wi'-, to gather digger-pine nuts]; pine cone, tc'a'ka'lla; to pound out pine nuts, tctotial-; manzanita berry, ba'djaina; manzanita cider, 'i'lap&; to suck manzanita cider from a brush, '1'la-; black manzanita berries, m&'tcti; Sidalcea malvaeflora, lak'a't'i; bar- berry, 'ala'la'i; huckleberry, man'ni'i; wild plums of two varieties, ba't'gu and yu's'yu; elder- berry ket'tc'a'i'i.) 60Sapir, Yana Texts, 123-124, 140. 61Cf. the corresponding use of a squirrel tail by the Takelma (Sapir, Takelma Indians, 259). 62According to Betty Brown; Sam gat'wI trans- lated this word "wild strawberry." 251 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS An important source of the food supply, though doubtless of less consequence than vegetable foods, was fish. They were obtained from Sacra- mento and Pit rivers either by spearing, by fish- ing with hook and line, or by means of seine nets. The chief fish used was, of course, the salmon, which was cut open along the backbone, cooked, roasted over a fire or baked on heated rocks, and sometimes eaten with acorn mush.63 Other fish used as food were the sucker and the trout (the name of the latter also being used to refer to fish in general). The fine red flesh of the salmon, after being baked on rocks, was also pounded up fine and dried. A method of putting away cooked salmon for winter use was to take some leaves of the broad-leaved maple (ba'ts 'ul'i) and lay them together making a com- pact bedding known as bo'ts'tul'a'i, with the stems of the leaves toward the outside. Warm water was sprinkled over this and on it was then placed the dried cooked salmon, the whole being stored in an openwork storage basket (k'e'watsi). Strips of malma'la, the bark of the broad-leaved maple, were tied on to the top of the basket mak- ing a network which served as a covering. Ac- cording to Dixon, it seems that the bones of spring salmon were eaten and never left about; this, however, may be a taboo. (Words connected with fishing: to spear, dju-; to fish with hook and line, duhui-; seine net, s*u'wiyauna; to fish with seine net, sluwi-, also djihui-; salmon, da's-i [lit., "jumper"]; to bake on hot rocks, m8re'a-; sucker, djamu'lwalla; trout or fish in general, gala'; red salmon flesh, na'yi; to dry salmon flesh, n6yi-.) The most important land animal whose flesh was used for food was, of course, the deer, which was hunted with bow and arrow (bai-, to hunt deer). Deer were either hunted by individuals; or the entire village might repair to the woods and camp out for deer hunting (yaram-, to camp out; baiya-, to camp out to hunt deer; baidja-, to go off to hunt deer before camping). Then women and chil- dren were left in the temporary bark and grass shelters built by the women, while the men fol- lowed the game all day and returned to camp at nightfall packing their quarry on their backs. Powers gives an account of a method of stalking deer in use among the Kombo, that is, Yahi:64 A disguise is used made up of the antlers carried on the head (their cores having been removed to make them light) and a deerskin draped over the body. The hunter exposes only his head through the bushes, imitating a grazing buck, until the inquisitive deer come within bowshot. The use of a deer-head disguise, presumably similar, has been credited to the Yana also.85 Deermeat was 63Sapir, Yana Texts, 155. 64pp. 279-280. &6Gifford and Klimek, 80, element 137. sometimes eaten with soup or mush (i'i'alyau-, to eat soup with meat). Rabbits were driven into nets made of milkweed-fiber string (and perhaps deer sinew).88 Ducks and geese were also prized as food. They were caught, among other places, at S1I'ba, at the head of Oak Run, which in earlier days they used to visit in myriads while migrating north. Besides fish and deer and other land verte- brates the Yana also ate various invertebrates. Earthworms were dug up (waunu-, to dig up earth- worms) and used as food, as already described. Grasshoppers (dja'una) were gathered and eaten from a field which had been burnt over for that purpose. A favorite spot for the burning of grasshoppers was Basin Hollow in Clover Creek Val- ley. A species of small crustacean popularly known as "salmon fly" (tcTl"na) is washed in great numbers from the river onto the willows along the bank (tllau-, salmon flies are washed to shore), on which they remain stuck. When so found, they are gathered, cooked, and used as food. No Yana would eat snake and they were scared at the sight of even a harmless snake. Salt (wf'tc,u)6e was highly prized as a flavor- ing. It was obtained in the form of white rocky slabs at a place near Cow Creek eight miles from Redding; this was in Wintu country. At Wl'tc'- uman'na a Yana village on Saldu Cow Creek, salt was taken out of a swamp in the form of a black mud; it was termed p'a'lwitctu, black salt. This locality was a favorite salt-gathering place also for such neighboring tribes as the Wintu and Hat Creek Indians; it gained for the Yana, indeed, their Achomawi name of Ti"saitci, Salt people. The black salt mud was baked in the sun, which turned it a yellowish, white-streaked color. When wanted for use, it was dipped in water and sprinkle over such foods as raw clover (ga'pcu; ha'gapcu, good, i.e., flavored, clover). A native classification of foods is reflected in the two verbs for "to eat": m8- is used of cooked staple foods, particularly acorn mush, deermeat, and salmon; tct6-, of "raw food," that is roots and other vegetable foods. Another classification of foods is implied in certain food taboos (see p. 285) Medicine Many medicinal plants, chiefly roots, were used by the Yana. They were either eaten or chewed, drunk as teas, or applied externally as poultices. The black seeds of Hemizonia multiglandulosa - (m&'l'ila) were taken out and cooked, then dried 88Sapir, Yana Texts, 212-213. 67This word is closely related to witc'ui-, to be sweet. "Salt" and "sweet" are related con- cepts also elsewhere; cf. Lithuanian saldiis, sweet, with Indo-European stem *sald-, salt. 252 -SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON and pounded up; this was eaten as a cure for ohills. Flag (Iris) roots (p'a'lmat'i) were -chewed raw as a cure for a cough. Among medicinal beverages is one made from bar- v-berry roots, which were boiled and drunk as a gen- -eral remedy for sickness (barberry decoction was particularly used as a remedy for gonorrhea, the affected parts being washed with it); another from the roots of Angelica tomentosa ('atdjadji'- ta), which were pounded and cooked, then drunk as a cure for colds, diarrhea, headaches, and other ailments. The following are poultices. The,roots of a plant called ki'n'na (lit., "poison") were cooked and applied as a poultice to the back to cure local pains. The roots of bracken (da'nunu'i [Pteris aquilina]) were pounded fine and heated in a basketry bucket; the poultice was applied over a burn. The roots of False Solomon's Seal (tc'a'uha )a [plural, tc'a'uhatsgi] [Smilacina]) were pounded fine and applied as a cure for a swelling or a boil. The roots of Angelica tomen- tosa, besides their use for a decoction, were made into a poultice: the outer covering or "bark" having been removed, they were pounded and laid on the head as a cure for headache. For swellings was also used a poultice made of pounded tc'i'l'awauna roots; it was applied to the cheeks as a cure for toothache.68 Ground-squirrel grease was rubbed on chapped hands to soften them. Sweating (yammaptci-) in the sweat house was of course a general curative or preventive regi- men for the men. Sometimes when sitting in the sweat house to sweat and feeling weak they would cut open (ya'iallau'a-) veins in different parts of the body with a bit of flint in order to let the "bad" blood out. Clothing and Ornament In winter the men wore leggings of buckskin reaching from the hips to the ankles. Two hides were required in the making of these. They were sewn together and may have been somewhat trousers- like. The leggings were held by means of a belt made of buckskin and tied into a knot in front. Only the wealthy men wore leggings, the poor not being provided with any clothing for the legs. No regular shirt seems to have been in use. In- stead a robe of three or four deer hides sewn to- gether was thrown about the shoulders and tied over the breast with a little buckskin string. Sometimes a belt of elkskin about 6 inches wide and tied in front or on a side was worn over the blanket robe. This robe, which had the hair left on and which was worn with the hair side next the body, was also used as a sleeping blanket. An 68 Sapir, Yana Texts, 156. T1'E CULTURE OF THE YANA 253 apron or kilt, apparently of deer hide, could also be worn under the blanket about the hips. Besides the ordinary skin robe, the Yana possessed also a blanket woven of narrow strips of jack-rabbit skin. This also could be used either as a robe or for bedding. The men seem not to have worn a hat (ltanmauna, now used for "hat," may originally have applied only to the elkskin cap used for de- fensive purposes in war). Moccasins were made of deer hide and tied around with thongs; they were never beaded. A simpler style of footwear was a rawhide sole or sandal, kept in place by three or four strings. Snowshoes were used as needed. Ac- cording to Betty Brown, poor men went absolutely naked except for the apron, which was kept in place by a belt of ba'ni fiber. She also claimed that buckskin-was not prepared before the advent of the whites. (Men's garments: leggings, maus u'gk'idiyauna; buckskin, pladata'igi; belt, pla'l'liki or 6'wi'ni; robe, ga'ninna; tie string for robe at breast, e'tnaie'C'yauna; apron, laba'maripamauna; jack- rabbit skin blanket, ma'lgaianna; moccasins, 'ikl 'wauna; sandals, bana'riyauna; snowshoe, t's uwa'yuyauna.) The woman's chief garment was a front apron or skirt of shredded bark (ba ni) of the broad-leaved maple. (After being allowed to dry for two or three days on the ground around the house, the bark was mashed and separated into threads.) The bark strands hung down in front from a strip of buckskin, the whole front apron extending back to the hips. Back of this was worn a piece of buck- skin as a back apron to cover the buttocks. The poorer women were content with these. An apron or skirt of tule strands was also in use. 69 Most women, according to Betty Brown, or only the weal- thy ones, according to Sam Bat'wl, wore over this also a belt of braided human hair, which had been cut off in times of mourning and preserved. The' belt was tied together in front and at the tie was often wrapped around with a white "grass" known as ma'ha (Xerophyllum tenax). For more ornamental purposes a tasseled girdle was worn over (or instead of) the bark apron. The tassels or fringing, which hung in front, consisted often of braided strands of mf'ha grass attached to a strip of deer hide or buckskin. This style of fringing, known as m&'hamiyauna, was worn only by the more wealthy women. Besides this several in- ferior types of fringing were in use. One of the most common of these was the mi'yauna or 'imiyauna, a row of tassels strung with shells of the digger- pine nut. The nuts were soaked, cut off at each end, bored through and cleaned inside, and parched until blackened by the fire, then strung through for tassels. In another style the pine nuts were perforated not at the ends but from one side in 69Figured in Dixon, Northern Maidu, 305. [Such references seem to mean that the inform- ants recognized Maidu specimens, as illustrated by Dixon, as similar to those of the Yana.--L.S.] ANTBROPOLOGICAL RECORDS the middle of the nut. Another type of fringing, the tcucucumli'yauna, consisted of buckskin tas- sels strung with the bones of rodents. At Big Bend in Achomawi country, according to Betty Brown, goose bones were cut to the same length and strung three or four on a string: this style of fringed a pron was known as Irda'l1bamal1mi- yauna, deer [sic] bone apron. The most ornamental woman's garment was the gi'lm'djidjuwayauna, a buckskin dress or full skirt rather than an apron. It fitted over the buckskin rear apron and was provided in front with fringing of ma'ha tassels. The term seems to mean "djuwa'yauna [buckskin back apron] from over the mountains to the west" and-may refer to a style of garment borrowed from a tribe west of the Sacramento. As head covering the women wore a basketry cap of tule, which had a black and white orna- mental overlay. Another variety of basketry cap was made of willow strands. (Women's garments: bark front apron, mala'mi- yauna; buckskin strip from which apron strands hung, dj6wa't'djamauina; buckskin back apron, djuwa'yauna; apron or skirt of tule, malmala; human-hair belt, wlk'unna; tasseled girdle, tc'a'hai; tule basketry cap, p'ilO'lu; willow basketry cap, i'ls ui.) The men allowed the hair to hang down and tied it in back of the head or on top of the head with a little buckskin thong or strip of deer hide. Preparatory to fighting, or when setting out to meet danger, they would wrap their hair around on the top of the head (wtdjil-, to wind in a circle) and tie it up into a round topknot (widubal-, to have it wound back on itself on top).70 The topknot was a peculiarly masculine style of wearing the hair. The women parted their hair in the middle and gathered it into two braids [probably rolls]71 which hung down in front, sometimes as low as the hips (wri-, to have it wound down). Around the braids were tied ('e'djildjil-) strips of otter, mink, or buckskin; sometimes univalve shell beads were strung on these. Dixon notes that the women also banged the hair; presumably this re- fers to that part of the hair which was not gath- ered into braids and does not imply an alternative method of wearing the hair. Powers states that the Yana, or rather the Yahi, method of wearing the hair was distinctly un-Californian and points to the eastern origin of the tribe. He says: "Their aboriginal habit of singeing or cropping off their hair within an inch of their heads contrasts strongly with the long locks of the Californians."72 This statement 70See, e.g., Sapir, Yana Texts, 70. 7'Rolls, rather than braids, were recorded by Gifford and Klimek (79, element 32). 72 Powers, 280, is difficult to reconcile with the explicit and independent testimony of Betty Brown, Sam Bat'wi, and Dixon's informant. Perhaps it is based on cases of cropping due to general mourning during the period of Yahi extermination. Body ornaments in the forms of necklaces, belts, ear- and nose-pendants, and the like, seem to have been fairly common. A variety of shells, seeds, nuts, and stone were used; each had its peculiar designation. A collective term, plad1' sgi, mean- ing literally "small places, things," was used to refer to beads and other trinkets and objects that made up wealth.74 A necklace made of shell disk beads (mats8'-w) was considered best. These shells ("just like a white button with one hole") were reputed to come from the ocean and were gotten in trade from the Chico people (Maidu). Such trade strings come in two lengths: those measured by the cubit (elbow to finger tip) and those by the full length of the arm to the top of the shoulder. Two strings of cubit length (the term mats'8'w may apply here also) were valued at $25. This type of bead was in all probability the familiar clamshell disk used for ornament and as money throughout central California. But inasmuch as tribes of our area counted currency by the bead, although keeping them in strings, it is probable that the cubit and arm's length were not actually units of value for the Yana. Other beads, called pale'es.i, may have been similar to these, since they were described as "round button-like beads of shell." Perhaps we are dealing here with disk beads made from two distinct molluscan species obtained at quite dif- ferent points on the ocean shore.75 Perhaps a generic term for all such necklaces was p'8"wi- mauna, necklaces of shell beads like white but- tons.76 Another necklace (pl. l,b) was formed of beads of univalve shells (Olivella biplicata): these were called wa'k'u or ala'uwak'u, big shell beads7 from ocean. Our specimen falls in with north Cal fornian practice: the shells were strung whole.77 The same shells were used in the ornamentation of a belt consisting of four buckskin strin-gs, on which they were threaded. Mussel-shell beads (dja'tsima'wi, dja't'ind'mu were made locally. Rough edges of the rudely shaped disk were ground down with a stone (or be- tween two stones?) and holes drilled with an awl of sharpened deer bone. Strings of these served' not only as necklaces but as ear pendants. 73From this point on, the text was written by Spier. 7 4Sapir, Yana Texts, 175. 75Cf. Kroeber, Handbook, 825. 76Sapir, Yana Texts, 39. 77 Kroeber, Handbook, 826. 8 Cf. Curtin, 353: "Jahtaneno, a kind of shell' creature ." 254 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TEE CULTURE OF THE YANA Dentalium beads (ba'nl'nu) were also strung for-necklaces, but not used for belts, for ex- ample. In view of the known northerly source for dentalia, we infer that these came to the Yana by trade with their northern neighbors. In a speci- men collected (pl. l,a) groups of dentalia are interspersed with blue glass beads (li'ptlMbi). (Colored trade beads obtained from whites are generically isi'tLubi'.) Other necklaces were made up of bone beads (Js-us u's-umiyau)--goose and coyote bones, as well as others, all cut to the same length; still others, of the "berries" of two unidenti- fied plants, mixed on the same string. Of one plant (kara'ts,s*ugi) the "green blossoms (ber- ries)" were picked; of the other (pea'lis ugi) the beanlike seeds were shelled from pods. Neck- laces of bear claws (bii'k'iis-au; bu'na, black bear) and of acorns (yu'zi'wak'al'a; yu'na, acorn) were in use; the latter by children. (Dixon's in- formant denied that bear-claw necklaces were wQrn.) What were surely magnesite beads were called gu'idji and described as "hard red bonelike beads of one-third of a finger's length." One big bead was worth $10. This fits in both respects with what is known of magnesite beads: polished stone cylinders, of a "tawny or reddish hue," from "two to five centimeters in length," and perforated longitudinally. They had their origin in the lands of the Southeastern Pomo and were obtained by the Maidu,-e.g., from the Wintun, whom we may presume served also as transmitters to the Yana. It appears that in our area they were held in the greatest esteem and were much too rare ordinarily to form necklaces by themselves, single pieces being rather set as jewels in strings of other beads. Headdresses of a rather simple sort were worn by men when dancing or on other dress occasions. A headdress of wildcat or other white skin was wrapped around the head. This may sometimes have been the whole skin rather than a band, for the informant who described it as an ornament worn on an important errand declared in the same breath that its use was to prevent catching cold when going to a dance.80 No feathers were put into it, he added. But Dixon's informant stated that sa mink hide might be put around the head, feather ,ornaments being stuck into it (eagle, owl, goose-, ,hawk, or other feathers). Feather headbands were ,tied around the head by dancers. These were 'lack, brown, or variegated bands, about 1 1/2-2 inches broad, and tied together at the back. (Skin headdress, po'o"k'ulmi; feather headband, 'i' yulmi.) Net caps (2'a"di) were the prerogative of men I Kroeber, Handbook, 825; Dixon, Northern -Maidu, 139, 164. 80 Sapir, Yana Texts, 36, 39. and used solely in dancing.81 These, made of milkweed string, covered all the hair, falling down in back of the head for a short distance. On the net-strands were strung bits of haliotis (da'limils-ugi), which made a peculiar rattling when they danced.82 A sort of white war bonnet (y8'l1aiyauna) con- sisted of a net lined with the downy white breast and leg feathers of the eagle. Such a net, called ica'iwanu, was larger than the ordinary net cap. The net itself was not visible, as it was entirely covered by the protruding white feathers. While this was explicitly stated to be part of ornamental dress for war, and so figures in a tale, in another narrative it was the headdress of a shaman, though with no implication that it was part of his pro- fessional garb.83 The shaman's ceremonial net cap with feathers, called ba' sk'i, seems to have been of another sort.8' Ear ornaments seem to have been worn by both sexes. These were.pendent strings of beads of any variety (Iri'kl) or more ambitiously, orna- ments (djo 'ma'amauna) fashioned of lengths of wood or bone with feathers and shells attached to the end, like those of the Maidu.85 To pierce the ear lobe, a short bit of wood was thrust through it from front to back and left there for a week. These awls, called bop'8 yauna (cf. bo'p'asi, he makes holes in ear), were 1/2-1 inch in length, sharpened at both ends, and of any sort of wood. After the week period they were replaced by strings of beads. The nasal septum of women was pierced to carry an ornament. There is some question whether this was the practice of men. A few men were credited with it by an informant, 86 but the description of death rites implies that it must have been general among them too. It was said that if a man or woman had his nose pierced, he would go to "the good place" after death,-otherwise not. Those who lacked this had the septum perforated immediately after death, so as to allow of their going to the land apove. There lived a woman named A'ihaudji- miya who held people while deciding their lot ac- cording as they had nose holes. She disliked those who had none. Through the nose hole of the 81Gifford and Klimek (79, 88, 96; element 17) state that Northern Yana wore the net cap daily, not for dancing; the Central Yana wore the cap (called pane) at all times, especially when hunt- ing and dancing. The Yana credit the Hat Creek Indians (At- sugewi) with net caps. 82A cryptic note of Sapir's reads: "'alit'payau, netted cap illustrated in Dixon, Northern Maidu, p. 61. Name 'woman coming from the south in pursuit of one' (?)." 83Sapir, Yana Texts, 107, 196. 84Ibid., 177. 85 Dixon, Northern Maidu, 166. 86 Note that the Yahi Ishi had his septum pierced (Waterman, 72). 255 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS dead a plain stick was inserted, not beads, and, in fact, beads were taken out if they were pres- ent. In general the nose ornament was of wood although dentalium shells might be worn. With respect to tattooing we know only that it was an occasional practice, hence doubt that it was elaborate. Round Mountain Jack, a North- ern Yana, had on his right forearm a circle from which numerous short lines extended radially. Painting the face and body may have been quite common. Both men and women painted their faces red and white when dancing. One feminine style was three horizontal stripes of red across each cheek. In a tale the Yana were described as at- tending a dance with their faces all blackened with black pitch, and a man, by way of embellish- ment, smeared his with sucker-fish fat.87 Several paint materials were recorded. A soft red stone, when wetted, and a white earth ob- tained in the mountains were used as face paints. The latter was also applied over black pitch by mourners. Another red paint was furnished by the inner part of a fungus growing on fir trees, which was chewed or cooked. It was used by women to smear the face to prevent sunburn when working in the open. Similarly, black paint was often put on the face to make it feel cool. (Red stone paint, pru'nna; white earth, bots.ti- fungus paint, kiga'lp'unna.) Ideals of handsome costuming and of personal beauty are indicated in several of the tales. A woman, dressed for the dance in an apron of ro- dent bones on buckskin tassels and a round tule basket-cap, is accorded the epithet "very pretty." Another provides herself, as dance costume, with a buckskin skirt adorned with braided tassels of white ma'ha grass and with twined tule and willow basket-caps. To render herself attractive, Coyote Woman puts on a white-grass tasseled buck- skin skirt, a tule basket-cap, and paints herself red. And as indicative of Yana notions of femi- nine beauty, the narrator added at this point: "Ah! That woman was pretty.... Of goodly size was the woman, fat and very pretty." The mascu- line counterpart is portrayed in Coyote's wish that he were tall, with an otter-skin quiver filled with arrows, and, when his wish is ful- filled, he puts sucker-fish fat on his face. "Coyote was very handsome," is the comment. Again he is described as having an otter-skin quiver with good flints to his arrows, and on his head, a net-cap (y8'laiyauna) filled with white eagle down. In a third description, casting off mourning, he dons "buckskin trousers"; puts den- talium shells on his shirt and moccasins. By way of contrast, the antithesis was in de- liberately chosen shabby dress and neglect during mourning. Thus, in a tale, Coyote (to disguise himself as an old mourning woman) acquires an old ugly shredded bark apron and a dilapidated pack- 87 Sapir, Yana Texts, 104-105. basket, and smears his head and face thickly with pitch.88 On habits of personal cleanliness we have no data. There is, however, frequent mention in thi tales of washing to make oneself more attractive.3 In preparation for a dance, people are exhorted: "Put your feather head-dresses outside to give them an airing! Hang your head-bands around! Wash your necklaces of shell beads'"89 In wash- ing, use was made of the roots of the soap plant (pu's i'i'[Chlorogalum pomeridianum]). Combs or' more properly brushes were of at least two sorts:. one, a bundle of annis roots (ku's'iki [Carum gairdneri]) and hence called lu'sit' ml't'yau; t other, the familiar porcupine-tail brush (mfl'ha mI'ttyau; mu'ha, porcupine). A cane (dju1'naipayauna) was used by old peoplel as an aid in walking. Houses Our notes on Yana houses are the merest frag-- ments and are only intelligible if read in conneo. tion with Dixon's description of Maidu houses and Du Bois' of the Wintu.90 It seems very likely that the common dwelling was a small conical bark-covered hut, while some larger earth lodges were built to house several families. The large lodge of the Sacramento Val- ley seems to be lacking. The dwelling (wa'wi) is described as built Qver a circular depression 2 feet deep, the house top rising from 4 to 6 feet above the ground (perhaps an underestimate). It was almost certainly simi- lar to the conical bark-covered huts of the foot-- hill Northwestern and Northeastern Maidu and of. the Wintu. If this was so, a series of poles resting on the edges of the excavation met and were tied at the apex to form a cone with a low slope. (No mention is made of a center pole, butV this is not precluded.) The frame was covered with pine and cedar-bark slab *eleaving a smoke hole near the apex, and probably had earth banked on its lower slopes. The entrance for such a house was never through the smoke hole, as it was for the earth lodge, but by means of a small door- at ground level, always on the south side. The entrance was protected by a little covered-way, extending outward 3 feet from the house wall, and decked over by a gable roof of very low pitch. A ramp extended from the floor of the house through this antechamber to the ground level outside: there were no steps. The characteristics of a dwelling referred to in a tale91 are in harmony with this reconstruc- 88Ibid., 48, 105-107, 127, 133, 155. 89 Ibid., 47. 90Dixon, Northern Maidu, 168-174, see especi- ally 172-174 and pl. 45; Du Bois, 122-123. 91Sapir, Yana Texts, 94-95. a 256 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TEE CULTURE OF THE YANA tion. Coyote and his sister are described as living together- the door is on the south side; Coyote lies at {he door; his sister must step over him as she enters carrying water. (The notes above were obtained as a gloss to this tale.) What is probably the earth lodge is implied in three recorded words: muk'u'llu wawi was a .long (i.e., large ?) communal house with several fires and several families, tc'watsi, main post of sweat house, and dju'wa'tsi, a ladder, a notched log, from the smoke hole down to the fireplace. We also know that in such houses entrance was normally through the smoke hole, although a small door, facing south, was pro- vided at ground level. Inasmuch as the latter is described as a "round door inside" it seems probable that earth lodges also were provided with covered entries. Such houses were excavated to a depth of 4 feet and were covered with pine and cedar bark on the exterior. Descriptions of Northern Maidu and Wintu earth lodges seem to ap- ply: one, two, or three center posts with a series of rafters radiating to the edge of the pit, per- haps with intermediate support of shorter posts on each side. Their form ranged from true coni- cal with a single center post to wedge-shaped cones when two or more posts were used. These houses were provided with smoke holes near the apex from which ladders descended inside, small doors at ground level with ramp and roofed entry- way, and a covering of earth. The recorded name for a main post in a Yana house suggests that more than one center post was used, the main post being that behind, that is, north of, the fire- place.92 Both Sapir and Dixon make use of the term "sweat house" in their notes. It seems fairly certain that, for the most part, this is merely the colloquial term of north Californian settlers for any earth lodge and it is assumed here that they intended no reference at least to the large sweat house-dance lodge of the Sacramento Valley tribes. It is quite possible that the Yana earth lodge--normally a dwelling--may also have func- tioned as a sweat house and even as dance lodge, as among the Northern Maidu. Sapir interpreted his information, however, to mean that probably each larger settlement had its separate sweat house, which was an earth lodge in construction. Two terms were recorded for "sweat house" (mA'tadjuwa, lit., "winter house,"93 and tiguIna Central dialect, war + 'gurnwa, Northern dialect5, described in a tale as provided with fire and smoke hole but with dancing taking place outside.94 92This is Maidu usage (Dixon, Northern Maidu): the Yana term is recorded in Dixon's Yana notes. 93Sapir, Position of Yana, 16. 94Sapir, Yana Texts, 35-50. The literal meaning of the first of these terms, "winter house," argues for a dwelling. Yet it may well be that some among the earth lodges were built as sweat houses, that is, primarily as men's gathering places and dormitories. But it seems fairly clear that they were not dance houses of Sacramento Valley type?95 It does not seem probable that the picture Powers draws applies too literally to the Yana: "They have no assembly chamber and consequently no indoor dances, but only circular dances in the open air. The assembly chamber is the one capital shibboleth of the California Indian. Second, they did not erect the warm and heavily earthed lodges which the Indians of this State are so fond of but were brushwood shelters, and often they haA no refuge but caves and dens."96 This passage ap- pears in his subsection on the Kombo, that is, the Yahi, and may refer only to conditions during the period of their extermination when fixed settle- ment was hazardous. But it is just possible that he intended it to apply to the Nozi, the Yana proper, as well. A temporary 'camping-out house" (yamauwawi') was built when hunting some distance from home. There women stayed to cook while their husbands hunted. This is described in a tale as covered "with ma'du grass [wild hay], with dead bark of pine trees, and with bark of bottom oak; they laid ma'du grass on thick on their houses."97 Menstrual lodges and others for confinement in childbirth (q.v.) were built. Various Manufactures and Devices For cords and ropes we know only that the Yana used a grass, milkweed fiber, and the bark peeled from trees or shrubs, 98 which presumably they pounded) shredded, and twisted. A rope called oro'kki was made of a long-leaved grass (tctilha'imadu; ma'du is a grass used for thatch- ing houses) growing along the shores of Pit River. A stronger rope (s-i'lgiya'u) was made of the fibers of the bark of the ba'nu plant (a brown bush). Such ropes were used, for example, as the 95Gifford and Klimek's data (82, 91, 98, ele- ments 268-290) do not indicate earth lodges as dwelling places but include an earth-covered assembly house for both Northern and Central -Yana. This had a center post, was used as a winter dwelling, was a sweat house for the North- ern and a dance house for the Central groups. An earth-covered sweat house, a separate structure, is credited to Northern Yana. This was too small for a fire inside, was used as clubhouse and for singing, and was owned by the chief. (There is contradiction in these notes.) 96Powers, 279. 97Sapir, Yana Texts, 109-113. 98 Sapir, Yana Texts, 38. 257 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS tie cords for carrying loads of firewood.99 The bark of the broad-leaved maple was dried, pounded, and separated into filaments; this, called ba'ni, was used for the pendent strands of women's skirts. A rough cordage was made of wild-grape vine, the fibers of which were twisted apart after having been warmed at a fire.100 The unidentified fiber ba'nu was also used for' sewing deerskins. Cordage was used, among other things, for net caps and rabbit nets, and a burial net was made of coarse rope.'10 A net of any sort was called a'ihauyauna. Pack straps were used, but whether these were broad buckskin straps or woven of cords, and whether their use was confined to carrying burden baskets,102 we do not know. (Pack st,ra: 'aickWl'yauna, Central dialect, pla'tliki, Northern dialect. )103 Dressed skins supplied robes and blankets. These were dehaired if desired, fleshed, and tanned with brains soaked in water. Specific names were obtained for several types, although their application is not clear. A dehaired buck- skin blanket or robe, comprising only a single skin, was batti'lmi; a, grizzly-bear blanket was t'e'n'mi'; another, used indifferently as robe or blanket, but made up of three or four deer hides sewn together and with the,hair left on was g&'ninna; a fourth term, sWt'mauna, is given variously in the notes as a "deer-hide blanket sewn together" and as made from a single hide.104 It is barely possible that the"last is properly the term for a bed covering; the third for the same article, perhaps, used as a robe; and that the first two refer only to prepared hides which might be used in either fashion. (An undressed deer hide was djura'ki; to dress a buckskin, agaldi'.) Narrow strips of jack-rabbit skins were woven into similar robes and blankets: these were presuimably not tanned. Various utensils and devices are known to us through brief allusions. The digging stick, used for gathering camass and other roots, was de- scribed as a "long sharpened pole," but we may assume it to be the usual stick of 3 or 4 feet in length, pointed at one or both ends, which were fire-hardened. Wedges and mauls were used to split wood. Some wedges, at least, were fashioned of green wood and dried. The maul was presumably unhafted: a stone held in the fist. Stone pestles for pounding acorns were preferably certain nicely smoothed affairs, about 18 inches 99Ibid., 149. 00Cf. Du Bois, 127. 10lSapir, Yana Texts, 189. 102Cf. Dixon, Northern Maidu, 199. 103 0nly a buckskin pack strap (patliki, Cen- tral dialect) was recorded by Gifford and Klimek (79, 96, element 62). 104 Sapir, Yana Texts, 189-190. long. Some said that these stones were found along the Sacramento but others that they were generally obtained by trade "from the ocean," by which tribes to the west of the river were pre- sumably meant. These stones were differentiated in speech from the common stones used as pestles. Sharpened deer bones served as awls for such uses as sewing deerskins and piercing mussel-shell beads. Knives were made of flint normally, but a mussel-shell knife was also used for trimming bas- ketry strands. (Digging stick, ptula' or wa'cu; wedge, dja'wits-'i; maul, bfbadja'8'yauna; long smooth pestle, da'hadjunna; any indifferent pestle, ha'djunna; awl, ba'waxa and 8'kuiyauna [lit., "sewing tool"]; knife, dowaiyauna.) Seine nets of milkweed string were used, for example, for catching salmon. in the Sacramento River. These were said to be about 200 feet long and were perhaps 6 feet wide, with meshes of 6 or 7 inches.105 The lower edge of the seine was weighted by big stones suspended from it and at each end was a 6-foot pole by which the net was dragged ashore. Apparently the fishermen swam or waded out to place the net. 106 A trap for small fish (suckers, trout, etc.) was constructed of willow branches, joined by openwork twining. This was 2-2 1/2 feet long, 4-6 feet wide, and could evidently be easily car- ried from place to place.107 It was set with its open end (or lip) under a riffle in the stream; brush was placed under its downstream end so that the fish which flopped there would be stranded out of water. All this suggests the Wintu usage and hence the Wintu form--a shallow basket with only the two sides and rear end raised--rather than the Maidu form with its inner funnel.108 (Seine, sta'wiyauna; seine poles, dW'mayauna; seine sink- ers, 'waldi'8'yauna; fishtrap, ki'wat'ci, open- twined basket.) The fire drill was probably a simple drill, twirled between the palms on a hearth of different material. Inasmuch as it was recorded that buck- eye sticks for fire drills were traded to Achomawi and Atsugewi, it seems likely this was the Yana's own choice of wood, which is borne out by the statement for the neighboring Maidu: "Buckeye was used when it could be obtained."109 The rate of exchange was ten arrows for a single stick 2 feet long. (Fire drill, miriya'una; hearth, mi'tdjairi'- 'yauna; drilling hole, miriwul'v'yauna.) The note reads "60 feet wide, meshes of about 6 or 7 feet." This seems to be an error of recording. 106 Sapir, Yana Texts, 72. 107 Ibid., 100. The dimensions given may be reversed because it would seem that such a trap should have been longer than broad. Du Bois, 128; Dixon, Northern Maidu, 197. Dixon, Northern Maidu, 180-181. 258 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA Smoking is frequently mentioned in the texts. The form of the pipe (liga'lm'ssi, Central dia- lect; ican'&'mamauna, Northern is not described. The tobacco used was Nicotiana bigelovii:110 the plant was called m8'hu in the Central dialect, m8'yu, in the Northern dialect; when prepared, dried, and rubbed between the palms, m6'na. A bridge (bar') was made of two logs laid across a stream, to which was added something of a footway formed of cross sticks lashed on with wild-grape vine.-"' The musical instruments of the Yana were three: flute, cocoon rattle, and deer-hoof rattle. Drums were wholly lacking, including the foot drum. The flute was described as made of elder- wood, with six finger holes, "three on each side." This is presumably the open reedless flute of California which was played by blowing a stream of air partly across one end, partly into it. We may also presume that it was not played as an accompaniment to dancing, which would lead us to expect the presence here of whistles, such as are used to accompany dancers among adjacent Maidu, Wintu, and others. Whistles, however, were not mentioned. Cocoon rattles were apparently like those of the Maidu: several pebble- or seed-filled cocoons mounted on a single staff.112 These were made by putting small stones (gravel and pieces of flint) or seeds into the cocoon of the "wild silkworm" after the pupa had been removed and the cocoon dried. The aperture thus made in the little sack was then tied to the stick. This may have been used in the dance since our notes state "used also to lull a baby to sleep." The deer-hoof rattle was made by suspending a bunch of about five dried deer hoofs from the end of a stick some 4 feet long. It was sounded by jerk- ing the stick up and down in the direction of its long axis. We may suspect that as elsewhere in this area this rattle was used solely or chiefly for girls' puberty dances. (Flute, ya'yauna; to play a flute, y&'sindja-; cocoon [or pupa ?], dju'kga.) In this connection we may note that at a dance only one man, the leader, sang; all others simply danced. It is an inference, then, that he was provided with a rattle to accompany his song. One of the recorded tales113 suggests that it may have been the regular practice of the chief, or perhaps his privilege, to lead the line of dancers. Basketry It is a safe assumption that basketry products played the same large part for the Yana as they 110Identified by W. A. Setchell. 111Cf. Du Bois, 126. 112Dixon, Northern Maidu, 222, fig. 58 ,b. 113Sapir, Yana Texts, 40, 47. did for most Californian tribes. This inference rests in part on the circumstances that baskets form the bulk of the two Yana collections known to us. The following remarks on basketry are de- rived primarily from Sapir's notes on uses, ma- terials, and designs in a collection he made for the Museum of Anthropology, University of Cali- fornia, and on an analysis of a collection in the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. There were many named types of baskets (see tabulation on following page). In part these -names indicate classification by construction, rather than referring to specific uses: com- pare numbers 5 and 22; 10 11, and 12. On the other hand the cradle (191 and sifter (7) are identical in construction but-are distinguished in terminology. Baskets were made by both twined and coiled techniques (wa'gamauna, twined basket; wf'k'ui- mauna, coiled basket). To judge by the collec- tions, which are probably fair samplings, twined baskets outnumber coiled in a ratio of perhaps five to one. This is precisely what one would expect from the geographical position of the Yana, well northward of the predominantly coiling area of the southern Sacramento Valley yet not wholly within the twining area of the north. Yana weavers could evidently claim no great profi- ciency, for in general the baskets in the collec- tions are quite poorly made. This appears in the lack of symmetry of outline, in irregularity of stitch, and in the rudimentary edge finish given twined ware.114 Materials The commonest warp for twined ware was hazel switches (i'dV'lu; the identification is not certain). Willow was also used and a particular species of willow having very slender twigs was used for small baskets (respectively ma'tts-ii and isiw&'"i). Maple was not used. Most of the weft elements were split pine roots (m&'yau'i) which gave a surface color of light to dark brown. It was customary, however, to overlay these wefts with white, red, or black strands for the designs , so that these colored areas appear against a brownish background of pine root. Inasmuch as this overlay was applied over both weft elements, the designs were duplicated inside and out. In at least one example, the background is completely 2114"The Y na employed both processes [coiling and twining], their twined ware being of the northern [Californian] type, their coiling re- sembling that of the Maidu, but with greater coarseness and crudeness. The majority of Yana baskets that have been collected, and the best made, are twined, so that this is likely to be the typical and best acculturated Yana tech- nique" (Kroeber, California Basketry, 236). Sapir noted that these remarks were based on his collection, the subject of the present descrip- tion. 259 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Description Native name Illustrated on: 1. Large conical burden basket . . 'mats s ugi la. Miniature form, cut into three parts for burial with body ..... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . mats s*ugipa P1. 2,a,b 115 2. Large burden basket for gathering acorns (3-4 ft. deep) pa'ik'watsi 3. Conical burden basket in open twine for collecting manzanita berries ..djuk'a'ia' P1. 2,d 4. Hopper to rest on mortar-slab when pounding acorns k',emauna P1. 2,f 5. Open twine basket for storing acorns, etc. . . . . . . krv'waasi P1. 2,e 6. Small coiled basket (for storage ?). . .k . 'watsipa' P1. 2,c 7. Open twine sifter for manzanita flour . . . . . . . . . cutu nna P1. 2,g 8. Bowl for sifting sunflower seeds and manzanita berriesll6fiwa'la P1. 3,a 117 9. Basket, roughly globular, for acorn mush . . . . . . . ma'mauna P1. 3,b,c,d 10. Coiled tray for sifting manzanita flour . . . . . . . . cu%a't' P1. 3,g 11. Small coiled bowl for storing manzanita berries . . cu u'tpa P1. 3,f 12. Coiled bowl ....... . ... cuku't, iaru't1ci lP. 3,e 13. Coiled food serving tray .. .sit''iLwla P1. 3,h (Atsug.) 14. Gambling tray (made of tules) . . . . . . . . . . . . peitpta'lla 15. Open twine sack (made of tules) . 16. Bucket ..djaga'ltc'i 17. Cap (made of tules) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pfil6'V,u 18. Cap (made of hazel twigs)18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . i'ls u1 19. Cradle ..................... djidjildiya'una P1. 6 20. Amulet storage basket . . .t. . . . . . . lsimtsi'm'i'i tini'gumau k'vwatsi'a, little spruce storage basket P1. l,c 21. Miniature basket for navel cord . . . . . . . . . . . . dju'kja 22. Fishtrap in open twine . . . . . . . . . . li'watci 23. Mats (made of tules) (possibly of several techniques) s utdl"mi, karu'"wara, . sU'tfilla covered by white overlay, leaving a negative de- sign of uncovered pine root. In a few baskets the white and red-brown strands are applied as wefts directly on the warps, not as overlay. The white overlay was a tall "grass" or straw (Xerophyllum tenax ?; see below) called ma'ha. The red was the bark of the redbud (wa't'wa'l [Cercis occidental- is]), which ranges from bright red almost to a black. A red was also manufactured from the in- side of shield fern stems (tc'lad&'nunu'i [Aspidium]) by passing it through the mouth in which dogwood bark was chewed. Pine roots were also dyed red with a red earth called ptu'nna and the powdery filling of a spruce-tree fungus (kigilptunna). Black overlay was provided by the stems of maidenhair fern (lupu'pui Adiantum ) and by willow twigs and pine roots soaked in black mud. Tule (s,i'lmalla) stems were used for making certain varieties of twined sacks, hats, trays, and mats; the bark of the broad-leaved maple (ba'ts-'ul'i [Acer macrophyllum]) provided the material for weft elements in such mats, and spruce twigs wefts for the amulet containers. Coiled ware was made on a foundation of hazel rods, sometimes willow (p'u'n'du). The sewing elements were an unspecified material for back- ground, with redbud (m&'ha) and ma'l'tcti (any kind of brush) for the red and white designs. An unidentified bush called ka'pdjiti (with strong I odor, red berries5, was also used for coiled ware" Botanical identifications of the materials used in the Yana basket collection of the Uni- versity of California have been made by Merrill.1 This included the specimens collected by Sapir, used in the present paper: whether additional Yana baskets were available, we do not know. Merrill notes that the principal materials used in coiled and close-twined vessels were hazel for; foundation and warp, redbud for rim wrappings, and pine root for weft. Further specific identi-; fications were recorded as follows: Hazel (Corylus rostrata californica): stem used for warp, weft, and foundation. 115 There is no satisfactory information on the uses of the Peabody Museum specimens. 116Sapir's note on the reparation of food read "a shallow sifting tray, tiwa'la," but his speciml is a moderately deep bowl. I17A basket of this type, and a bowl, both twined ware,are illustrated in Dixon, Basketry Designs, plate 25, figs. 1, 2. Sapir, Yana Texts, 145, line 8: "willow basket-cap" is a mistranslation. M19Nerrill, 222, 230, 235-239. I i I I i 260 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA Redbud (Cercis occidentalis): bark used for rim binding and red designs; sapwood for wrap- ping. Squaw grass (Xerophyllum tenax), presumably the m&'ha mentioned above: leaf used for white designs. Pine (Pinus sp.): root used for weft. Willow (Salix sp.): stem used for warp, weft, and rim hoop. This list agrees with Sapir's notes on the speci- mens he collected, save that his unidentified bush ka'pdjiti (used in specimen 1-13452) is not mentioned. The absence of reference to tule, maple, maidenhair and shield fern is not remark- able if the collection examined included only Sapir's specimens. Pine roots were prepared by boiling in water, then roughly split and trimmed to usable lengths. They were then boiled a second time, or rather shaken about in warm water. When ready to be used as wefts in twining, they were split into finer strands and trimmed by scraping the edges with a sharp stone or mussel-shell knife. The inner bark of the redbud was split into suitable pieces and coiled up to store away. It was soaked in warm water before use and trimmed thin and straight. The white overlay material, the grass or straw ma'ha, was obtained on Bally Mountain in Wintun territory west of the Sacra- mento. This also was split into strands and shaken (soaked) in warm water to make it flexible. When the edge of a design in white was reached, the strand could be easily snapped off with the fingers. Twined Ware The twined ware was in general half flexible, the warp rods being but very slender twigs, the weft elements thin split roots or bark. In only two of the twenty-five baskets studied is the twined fabric rigid: here round rods as wefts as well as round warps give a specious appearance of wickerwork (pl. 5,f). Other twined baskets, such as the hopper, sifter, and cradle, were made rigid by a wooden hoop fastened to the rim. The twined bowls and trays were all made ac- cording to a single plan. Without exception the direction of weft twining-was clockwise (as viewed on the bottom of the inverted basket). The body of the vessel was in simple twine, with the central half of its base in diagonal twine and with one or more rows of diagonal twine near the periphery of the base and again as an edge finish at the rim. The diagonal twine stitch (twilling) was invariable: for this operation three strands were twined, in place of the usual pair; the outside elements passing over two warps, the inside elements over one, a ridge being produced on the exterior.120 To begin the basket two bundles of slender warps, half a dozen each, were crossed at right angles at-their mid- points and bound together by a wrapping which passed around one bundle but between the warps of the second. The free ends of all the warps were then spread radially. Wefting, with split pine root strands, began in diagonal twine for half the area of the base, and in these twill stitches were caught the butt ends of additional warps inserted between those of the fundamental bundles as they were needed for the expanding sides of the vessel. The basal portion was then continued in simple twine stitch until its periphery was reached, when one or two rows of twill stitches were inserted to form a more rigid ring on which the vessel could stand. Simple twining was then resumed until the rim was reached; here one to three rows of twill- ing were again added. It should be noted as an- other sign of the poor quality of this art that the change from one type of stitch to another may occur anywhere on the basket. This stands in con- trast to the regularity with which Klamath baskets, for example, make the changes at one particular warp, that is, where they are directly one above another on the side of a basket.121 The decoration was placed on the sides of the bowl or tray, not on its base. It was usual to cover the entire side with white and red-brown strands, normally red-brown designs on a white background. This was achieved by twining with a double overlay: a strand of very thin white ma- terial, for example, was laid along the outer face of each of the two pine root strands and each of these double strands then twined as though a single element.122 The result was that the out- side and inside surfaces bore identical decoration, the red design and white background being dupli- cated on the interior. It is clear, however, that the exterior was intended to be the finished sur- face since the broken-off ends of the weft elements are found only on the interior. (This is true of shallow trays as well as deeper bowls.) Half the decorated twined baskets in the Pea- body Museum collection show variations of this technique, but not of the total decorative effect. Two--a bowl and a tray (pl. 4,a)--were made with- out the usual foundation wefts; the red-brown strands for the design, the white strands for background, being placed directly on the warps in single twine. A third (pl. 4,b) has merely the design in white (as overlay) on a neutral brown background of uncovered pine root weft. A fourth (pl. 4,d) has negative decoration: the design ap- pears as neutral-colored uncovered weft against a background of white overlay. 120For illustration see Mason, Aboriginal American Basketry, figs. 2$, 29. 121Spier, Klamath Ethnography, 182. 122 Illustrated for Maidu in Dixon, Northern Maidu, fig. 17,b. 261 262 ANTHROPOLOGI The usual rim finish was quite rudimentary. In seven of ten baskets in the Peabody Museum collection the wefts were merely twined as far as desired and then the warps were clipped off close to the last weft row. In three instances this brought simple twining to the very edge; in two, the last row was in diagonal three-strand twine, and in one each, the last two and three rows were in diagonal twine. There is nothing to prevent the wefts from slipping off the stub ends of the warps except their own tension. Two baskets in this collection have a more adequate rim finish. In one (pl. 4,a) each warp on the near edge of the tray was carried forward to the right--in the direction of twining--where it was twisted with the next warp and also caught under the next succeeding twine stitch of the edge row. The ends which protruded on the in- terior face were then clipped short. The second basket, a deep open-twine vessel (pl. 5,b), is in a measure a compromise between this rim finish and the usual cutting short of the warps. Here the last twine row was inserted in the usual way and the warps were left long. The end of each warp was then twisted around its neighbors to the right (on the forward edge of the basket) to form a bundle of warp ends lying along the rim. Then a binding strand was sewed around this bundle, passing under the last row of weft and giving a close wrapping around the entire rim. One tray (pl. 5,f) deserves special comment, for while fundamentally like the foregoing half- rigid baskets in technique, it differs in several particulars. Because whole twigs were used for the twined weft elements, instead of the usual split strands, the tray is rigid and has a spe- cious appearance of being wickerwork. The warps were grouped in pairs; that is, two adjacent warps were handled as though a single warp. The center of the tray was wefted in three-strand diagonal twine, the twill stitch passing over four warps (two pairs of two each). The next section was in two-strand diagonal twine--over two warps, under two. The third section, where the warps stand farther apart, was in two-strand simple twine-- over one warp at a time. For the outermost sec- tion the warps were again handled in pairs, wefted in two-strand diagonal twine like the second section. It is this outer quarter of the tray in particular that gives the appearance of wickerwork. The rim finish is analogous to the first type described in the preceding paragraph: each pair of warps was usually twisted forward to the right over the next succeeding pair and al- lowed to terminate under the second pair to the right. In many examples, however, before the edge was reached one of the pair was carried to the right as a substitute for one of the weft elements, the other being finished off at the rim in the manner just described. The basket hopper, used when pounding acorns, was simply an ordinary half-rigid bowl with the center of its bottom cut out (pls. 2,f, 4,c). In CAL RECORDS the Peabody Museum specimen this hole is 8 inches in diameter, two-thirds of the whole-base. No ef- fort was made to bind the raw edge, which, how- ever, is not frayed despite the service the hopper has evidently seen. Two reinforcing hoops were sewn on the basket: one (a rod 1/8-inch in diame- ter) on the lower side of the base at a little distance from the edge of the hole; the other (3/8-inch in diameter), on the inside of the rim, was bound in place by a wrapping of red-brown strand passing under the second weft row from the edge. The globular open-twine vessels for storing acorns and the like (pls. 2,e, 5,b) do not differ in any fundamentals of construction from the half- flexible twined baskets. The prime difference is that the wefting rows were set at wide intervals instead of compactly close to one another. The rim finish of the Peabody Museum specimen has been described above. In beginning this vessel the weaver crossed four warps (grouped as pairs) at right angles to four others but did not bind them together. They were linked instead by the weft strands which began at the very center. The pe- riphery of the base has the usual three-strand di- agonal twine row, passing over two warps outside, over one inside. For the sides of the vessel, pairs of warps were treated as though single warps, but this was done somewhat irregularly. The Uni- versity of California specimen (pl. 2,e) seems to have an identical rim finish: on the sides, how- ever, the warps were taken singly until the narrow- ing at the top began, when they were grouped in pairs. An open-twine sack, provided with a handle and made of tules or some similar material, was pre- sumiably used for carrying and storage (pl. 5,e); This was made on a somewhat different principle. A series of tules were laid parallel to one an- other for warps, the length of these being twice the height of the sack. Tule wefts were twined across these at the midpoints, beginning at one side; the warps were then folded in half on this row of weft and the wefting continued spirally up the sides. The sack is somewhat wedge-shaped at the bottom, rounded at its mouth. For this the original set of warps served to form the broad faces; additional warps to form the narrow sides were doubled, their midpoints being caught in the second row of twining. The weft rows of the up- per half pass around the basket twice at the same point. To finish the edge, a single weft row was placed at the proper point and the end of each warp turned down on the outside of the sack, pass- ing inside of and under the next warp to the right, these ends being caught in a second, terminal row of wefting. ^ Cradle and sifter were made in identical fashion and differ remarkably little in shape. The cradle, which is of the sitting type, consists of a hoop having parallel sides within which a series of rod warps are placed, linked by open twine to form a shallow trough. As a norm the larger cradle in SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA the Peabody Museum collection will be described (pl. 6,a). The ovate hoop is 20 1/2 inches long by 14 1/2 inches broad, formed of a quarter-inch stick lapped and bound at the top. The interior filling is a series of parallel slender scraped twigs (willow or hazel) set close together. The ten such warps nearest the frame are bent in U- shape to parallel its sides and bottom. They are set successively to the rear of the plane of the frame so as to form a sloping seat at the bottom on which the infant's buttocks rested. Each such warp is comprised of a bundle of three twigs. The back of the cradle is formed of a series of shorter secondary warps (two twigs each) reaching from the tenth primary warp nearly to the top of the frame. Their lower ends have been given a turn about the tenth primary (farthest from the hoop) and are there caught in the transverse row of twine stitches at this point. All warps stop short of the top of the frame by an inch to leave a space for a hand-hold. Twining (with two split -strands) began at the midpoint of the first pri- mary warp at the bottom of the cradle. The pri- mary warps were added successively until the 'tenth was reached, when the wefts were twined "back across them until the first warp was reached again. The weft elements were then laid along I''the hoop frame, to which they were lashed by a Fwrapping strip of red-brown bark, and again twined across the primary warps. The butt ends !i-of the secondary warps were now caught in this [first row of twining which reached from one side of the frame to the other (fig. 1). In effect we 'have here a continuous weft passing to and fro 'across the warps, starting at the midpoint at the Cbottom of the cradle and ending at its top. At | \ secondary each crossing the weft was brought back across the warps to the side from which it started, laid along the frame for a short distance (where it was bound to the frame by the bark wrapping) to the next point at which it was carried across. The upper ends of the warps--all cut off some distance from the top of the frame--were linked by five rows of twining set close together. The bark wrapping of the frame was a continuous strand covering it solidly. It is clear from the direction of weft stitches at the bottom of the cradle that it must have been turned face for face while the first twine rows were being in- serted. The smaller cradle (pl. 6,b-d), 15 inches long, 10 inches wide, is of the same construction but differs in some particulars and is of finer crafts- manship. The primary warps, fourteen in number, were not only set successively behind one another but dip to form a pocket, offering a more secure seat for the infant. The upper ends of the outer- most primaries on each side were carried along the hoop to its top, where they were lashed. The re- maining primaries and the shorter secondary warps were cut off evenly an inch below the top of the frame. All warps consist of pairs of peeled twigs. The procedure in twining was fundamentally the same as in the larger specimen. However, here the weft was not applied as a continuous strand; each set of transverse wefts was given a turn around the hoop at each side (but not carried along it). The rows of weft stitches were three in number at the base of the cradle, two immedi- ately above, while the upper two-thirds of the cradle had four rows to a set. The hoop here was made up of two light scraped rods wound with a split strand. I warps l I I I I I I I l l _ _ ... starting point Fig. 1. Diagram showing the placement of wefts at base of cradle. 263 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The awning or shade for the cradle is trape- zoidal in outline, stands out at an angle of about seventy-five degrees from the plane of the frame, is slightly curved from front to back and more markedly curved transversely. It was made in open twine of a series of slender parallel peeled twigs as warps, across which a pair of thin split elements pass as wefts. The manufac- ture of the awnings of the two specimens differed. The twining of that of the larger cradle (pl. 6,a) proceeded exactly as in the cradle: the weft passed three times across the forward edge, be- ginning at one corner, then along the outside warp to the next point of crossing, then across the warps and back, and so on. It terminated in three rows of twining at the rear edge, that is, the short edge nearest the frame. This mat of twined rods was fastened on a frame of light sup- porting rods by a lashing around its periphery. The supporting rod across the rear has long pro- truding ends which were thrust into the fabric of the cradle at each side to hold the awning to the cradle. Additional fastening was provided by a taut loop of buckskin passing through awning and cradle fabric and over the top of the cradle frame. The awning of the smaller cradle (pl. 6,d) is a set of fine rods linked at their forward ends by seven rows of twining, at the rear by two rows. It is supported by an arch formed of 2 bundles of twigs united by wrapping at each end. The mat of twined rods of the shade was fastened on top of this arch by two rows of twining so inserted as to form a decorative zigzag pattern. The lower ends of the arch and the rear of the shade were fas- tened to the frame by wrappings of buckskin. The sifter was made of an oval stick frame within which were parallel rod warps linked in open twine. It was shallow at the forward end, increasing in depth toward the rear or handle end. Since in construction the Peabody Museum specimen (pl. 5,d) is identical with the larger cradle, it will be sufficient here to indicate only depar- tures. There are ten fundamental warps and a large number of secondaries with their butt ends caught around the ninth or tenth primaries or merely inserted in a weft row. Two-strand di- agonal twine stitch was used throughout,, passing over two warps at a time, in such a fashion that one warp of each pair was linked with the adja- cent warp of the next pair in the succeeding row of twining.123 The weft is again a continuous strand, but here beginning at the midpoint of the tenth primary warp, and again is wrapped to the frame for the short distances that the weft touches it. (The frame lacks the continuous wrap- ping of the cradle.) As-weaving neared the handle end, the warps were grouped into bundles of in- 123Illustrated in Dixon, Northern Maidu, fig. 43. creasingly greater numbers because of the narrow- ing of the basket. At the handle end there are 2 rows of weft to finish off; the ends of the warps. being allowed to protrude beyond the frame. The University of California specimen (pl. 2,g) dif- fers in that there are fewer primary warps and th warps do not protrude beyond the handle end. The; weft was not fastened to the hoop in any way: in- stead, the whole set of warps was twined with a continuous weft and the hoop finally added by bind ing it to the outermost primary warp. A fishtrap made in open twine may not have dif- fered materially in construction from these sift- ers, save that the frame may have been lacking. It was described as a shallow basket with only 2 sides and with the rear end raised, the open end or lip being placed under a riffle of water (see p. 258). Two varieties of women's basketry cap were in use, both of which seem to have been made in twine techniques. With respect to shape we have only a comparative statement by Dixon: "These [Maidu] caps were in character like those of the Achoma'wi Yana, Lutuami, and Sahaptin, being flat-topped, and not rounded as were those of the Shasta, Yurok" Karok, and other stocks of the Lower Klamath River and adjacent coast."124 The type of cap called p'il6'lu was made of tules. Tule stems were dried for four days and split into filaments, which were twisted into strands to serve as warp and weft. The twining elements were given an ornamental overi lay of white ma'ha straw and black maidenhair-fern stems. The second type of cap, called i'ls ui, was made of hazel twigs, which presumably formed the warps for a twined fabric. Mats made of tules are known to us under three names (see number 23 in list above): it is unknown whether these refer to three different uses or as many techniques of manufacture. Those called s utdl'mi or karu"wara had tule warps through which was twined as weft the bark of the broad- leaved maple. Such maple bark was dried, twisted until the fibers were freed, and used in this for as weft elements. It is only a surmise that the miniature basket (dju'kga), used to hold the stump of the navel cord and attached to the cradle, was made in twine techniques. The small cylindrical baskets which served as containers for charmstones or amulets were made in open-twine technique of spruce twigs with the needles left on. (See p. 282.) Coiled Ware This ware resembles the twined baskets in its relative crudity; irregularities of outline and - of sewing stitches are common. Its forms were mostly trays and wide-mouthed bowls. To judge from the photographs of the University of Cali- fornia specimens (pls. 2,c, 3,e-g) and from the 124Ibid., 162. U I I I i I I , 264 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA single Peabody Museum basket, all the bowls were much smaller than twined wares, and this may have been true of the trays as well. Again to judge by the photographs, all coiled baskets were made on a two-rod foundation with the sewing stitches separated. The direction of coil varied: in two specimens, a deep vessel and a tray (pls. 3,g, 5,c), it was clockwise (as seen looking into the basket from its mouth); in one, a bowl (pl. 3,e), counterclockwise. In the coiled basket in the Peabody Museum collection (pl. 5,c) two foundation rods were used, placed directly above one another. The sewing strand enclosed three rods in a vertical series, passing over the two rods being added and under the upper rod of the pair below. This brought it about that every alternate rod was caught in the stitches of two successive coiling rounds.125 The sewing material was a split strand. The mouth of this basket was reinforced by laying three rods together as a bundle on top of the rim and binding them in place by a closely set wrapping which passed through the fabric be- low the rim. A handle or bail was provided. This was formed of 2 rods laid side by side, closely wrapped for most their length by a split strand placed around them in figure-8 fashion. For the 125 See Mason, Aboriginal American Basketry, figs. 41,d, 47. loops at the ends of the handle only one of the foundation rods was used: this was close wrapped, turned back on the handle, and lashed to it by a wrapping. Buckskin loops hold handle to vessel. This was formed of two rods laid side by side, closely wrapped for most of their length by a split strand placed around them in figure-8 fashion. For the loops at the ends of the handle only one of the foundation rods was used: this was close wrapped, turned back on the handle, and lashed to it by a wrapping. Buckskin loops hold the handle to the vessel. Basket Designs Designs were ordinarily placed on the sides of both twined and coiled vessels of all types, rarely on the bottom. They were duplicated out- side and inside the basket, but it is clear that in every case the exterior was the finished sur- face. It is noteworthy that this applied even to trays and shallow bowls, where the more carefully finished design of the exterior was actually on the under side. The designs were usually dark red-brown or black areas on a background of white overlay or neutral (light brown) pine root. As a rule they were bold, disposed in diagonals or zig- zags across the whole side, less commonly in hori- zontal bands. Isolated decorative elements were rare, and even these were, in general, not small. I 2 ?r'w'qrq?orq 5 7 10 6 8 II 12 Fig. 2. Yana and Atsugewi design elements. - - - - - i 265 Il ANTEROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Recognized design units were given names. intention was either representative or symbolic. While some more or less fancied resemblance may Names were obtained for the design elements have been seen to the object whose name was borne (shown in fig. 2, p. 265) on baskets in the Uni- by the design, there is nothing to suggest that the versity of California collection.. These names are: Design elements 1. Flint (ha'ga) or marked sharp (witda'Xgaimauna) . 2. Flint (ha'ga); small triangle below: arrowhead ('e'rwi' yauna) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Mountains (1itdadj1ga'lmauna) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Bat (butterfly ?) (ptatka'nna) . . . . . . 5. Mussels (da'rip&na) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Guts (pta'is.dju"a) . 7. Straight lines (w8'hi'jalamauna) or dog's ear (dja'Cdumalgu). 8. Trout tail (gala'k'p1c) or salmon tail (dibi'lyaurac). Scales of pine cone (tctafka'lla). 9. Skunk's ear (ptf'tainakma'l'gu) . . . . . . . . . . . . LO. Lark's (?) neck (ma'lwilla; in Achomawi, hami'icu'n'tta) LI. Crane's leg (Luru'llakrg&'du) . . . . . . . . . . . . . L2. Wolf's eye (mA'liwallak?tcfu'na) . . . . . . . . . . . Marked around (wAhaudji'l'amau) . . . . . . . . . . . . Illustrated on:- P1. 3,d, last two rows; pl. 3,a P1. 3,h (Atsugewi basket) P1. 2,a, top row P1. 3,d, fourth row P1. 3,d, first three rows P1. 3,b; pl. 2,a, bottom (doubtfully in center) P1. 2,b, P1. 3,e, P1. 2,b, 21. 2,f P1. 3,c P1. 3,a, center bottom rim (Atsugewi basket) (Ataugewi basket) center of base Yana names for designs recognized as their own lished illustrations of Maidu, Yana, Yurok, Karok, ; (see figs. 3, 4) were obtained by Sapir using pub- and Wintun specimens.186 The names are: Design names Sitting-up-in-series (?) (wa'Iu'balmau) . . . Braided (det'gabilmau) ......... Same . . . . . . . . . Zigzagging (dets {s ira'tamauna) (referring to pointed triangles ?). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zigzagging and turning back (dets, siratduli'1'amAu) Zigzagging asunder (ditis8siratta'lis9imauna). ------------ (wa'udjam'samamau ?) . . . . . . . Intestines (pta'tsedjuwA). Same. Same . ... . . . . . . Root-digger (wacu). . .... . Root-digger hand (wacuda'lla) .. Same . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black (?) geese (da-ina'nagi) . . . . . . Same . . . . . .... Wolf ('s eye) (ma'liwalla). . . . . . . . Same Brush (ma'lts'i), i.e., bushes. Pine cone (tc ta'a'l1a). Grizzly bear his foot (t'e'nna k' la'lla) Made-with-flints-up ('itda3ga'ibalmau) Long worms in rotten wood (Ca5simuiu) . . Not recognized as "house" by informant . l Source Dixon, pl. 1, fig. 1 (Maidu: Dixon, pl. 2, fig. 2 (Maidu: Dixon, pl. 8, fig. 1 (Maidu: quail-tip) earthworm) vine) Kroeber, pl. 15, fig. 3 (Yurok: flint) Kroeber, pl. 17, fig. 6 (Yurok: sitting) Dixon, pl. 17, fig. 8 (Maidu name-of un- known significance) Kroeber, no. 140 (Karok) Dixon, pl. 2, fig. 1 (Maidu: earthworm) Dixon, pl. 2, fig. 3 (Maidu: earthworm) Dixon, pl. 2, fig. 4 (Maidu: big-tongues) Dixon, pl. 1, fig. 2 (Maidu: quail-tip) Dixon, pl. 5, fig. 4 (Maidu: mountain) Dixon, pl. 9, fig. 2 (Maidu: mountain) Dixon, pl. 19, fig. 4 (Pit River: mountain or bear's foot) Dixon, pl. 3, fig. 3 (Maidu: rattlesnake) Dixon, pl. 7, fig. 2 (Maidu: vine) Dixon, pl. 14, fig. 2 (Maidu: diamond) Dixon, pl. 25, fig. 1 (Yana: wolf's eye) Dixon, pl. 17, fig. 1 (Maidu: watersnake ?) Dixon, pl. 20, fig. 1 (Pit River: flying geese (?) and pine cone) Kroeber, no. 53 EKroeber, no. 115 Kroeber, no. 216 (Wintun: sucker tail) Dixon, pl. 25, fig. 2 (Yana: house) 188Dixon, Basketry Designs; Kroeber, Basket Designs. ] ] 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. I - --- I 266 . 0 . 0 . . 0 . 0 0 0 . . 0 0 0 41 a 2 5 7 Fig. 3. Yana design elements. mm nrniiinnl 1 14 18 Fig. 4. Yana design elements. 3 4 6 8 9M[= 9 12 13 I I E 15 2 20 16 17 21 19 23 22 24 'VA ANTHROPOIOGICAL RECORDS Weapons and Warfare Yana armament is known to us as including the bow, with arrows and quiver,127 a "javelin," knife, and elkhide armor. We should also have expected here club, dagger, and perhaps some use of the sling, but no shield. Both self- and sinew-backed bows were in use. The latter is described in a tale as shorter in length than the self bow and more robust in its manufacture ([selfl bow, ma'n'ni; coarse sinew- backed bow, ga'ibutcp'ama'n'ni). In another tale we have the exhortation: "Flake your flints! Warm up your bows over the fire! Let us look for deer," implying that a cold stiff bow was inef- fective.128 Bows are mentioned in one context as being coated with salmon-hide (glue?) mixed with some green substance. The bow was held vertically when shooting. The hand grasping the arrow was held back up, with the nock end of the arrow gripped between the thumb and the unbent first joints of first and second fingers. This is seemingly the primary release and therefore at odds with the Mongolian release used by Ishi, the last Yahi. So great a discrepancy between northern and southern members of what must have been a single culture group again raises the question whether release methods were not more variable in many compunities than our monotypical ethnographies would have us be- lieve. Wooden arrows (s a'wa) may be presumed to have been commonly made, since an informant mentioned those of cane (lo'kui s a'wa) when being specific. The artisan fabricating stone arrowheads or larger blades had at least four pieces of equip- ment: a bone rod (bo'pdiyauna), 1 1/2 inches long, used as a flaker; a slim flat stone (bo'badjayau- kaina) with which to strike the flaker against the flint; a deerhorn or bone chipper or notcher (dW's,ityauna), about 2 inches long; and, to pro- tect the palm, a small piece of buckskin (6"ni- yauna; buckskin, p'adata'igi). The notes have a certain contradiction: we are told at one point that the bone flaking rod was "put under piece of flint and struck like lever at its other end, being used to chip off frag- ments of flint in rough stage of preparation of arrow-head."129' But the supplementary notes with this statement describe two separate stages of manufacture: (1) the flint was chipped around roughly with the flaking rod and hammerstone; and (2) was then put on the buckskin pad in the palm while rough protuberances were pressed down upon and broken off with the horn chipper. It would 127Doubtless much of Pope's and Nelson's ex- cellent descriptions of bow and arrow manufac- ture and use among the Yahi apply equally to the Yana (see under Bibliography,Pope; Nelson). 128 Sapir, Yana Texts, 7-10, 66. : Ibid., 43, note 62. appear that the bone flaker was used as a punch; flint and punch both being held in the left hand, while the right delivered blows on the upper end of the punch with the hammerstone. 130 (The note is evidently in error. While it would not be im- possible to use the flaker as a lever--placing one end under the flint, and, using the heel of the palm as a fulcrum, pressing or striking down on the other end--there are two objections: the lever is too short, and this is quite contrary to the procedure used by the adjacent Yahi and Wintu who pressed the flaking tool downward.) Names for three varieties of "flint" (ha'ga) were obtained, which suggests that'various stones (obsidian, etc.) were used. The three varieties were called literally "white flint," "black flint,' and "blue-green flint" (respectively waula'pdjamau4 haga, waup a'ldjamauhaga, wautcga'idjamauhaga). In a myth obtained by Curtin131 a character places flints in various localities so that there will be deposits for the use of the Yana in the future:. white flint at Hakamatu (Flint-place: Buzzard's Roost), blue at the eastern edge of Yana country, yellow at Iwiljami (Montgomery Creek), flint with fine black, blue, and white stripes at Hakachimatu (Flints.lying-around-place, at the head of Little Cow Creek), and green at Jigulmatu (Mountain- place: Round Mountain). Arrows used in warfare, but not for hunting, were said to have been poisoned. Betty Brown (Northern Yana) described a sort of grease (p'u'llaiyau.Aa) which oozed out when a whole rat- tlesnake was burned, the arrowhead being dipped into this. Dixon's informant, possibly also North. ern Yana, spoke of an arrow poison of deer liver and wild parsnip. The recipe of Sam Bat'wl (Cen- tral Yana) was different: spiders were mashed up with powdered flint; a piece of deer liver of fin-0 ger's length was added; the whole was then wrapped in buckskin or bark and hung up to dry in the smoke of a fire. When this was wanted for use, a palette was prepared by rubbing the mixture on a flat stone that had been moistened. A small stick dipped into this was employed to smear the poison on the arrowheads. Flint and spider were both con1 sidered poisons (kin'na or kiu'na) but the liver was merely tQ make the mixture stick together. Sometimes rattlesnake "gall" (dj&ha; cf. dja'hamba,' deer gall) was used, but not the poison sacs or blood of the'snake. Quivers (dlit'Vlu) were in use. There is some- reason to think that the most preferred was the otter-skin quiver (wawildjuw" 'mi).132 The quiver was worn on the right shoulder, in a fashion prob- ably similar to that described for the Maidu whose i30This has been described for the adjacent McCloud Wintun (Wintu) (Redding, quoted in Holmes, 296, 314-316). 31Curtin, 469-470. 132Sapir, Yana Texts, 7, 9, 55, 120; Du Bois, 38. I I 11 268 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TIE CULTURE OF THE YANA quiver was "suspended by a strap over the right shoulder, the arrows being taken from the quiver by the right hand, reaching over the left shoulder."133 In one tale the bow is described as stored in the quiver hung on the wall of the house.134 Inasmuch as the bows of this area were hardly much over 3 feet in length and the arrows nearly as-long, a bow could be safely set in a quiver without protruding. too much.135 The Yahi Ishi carried his bow in his quiver with the arrows, but also made use of a special bow case of mountain lion tail, perhaps only for storage236 The Yana are credited with a "javelin" (lu'mi), a wooden shaft about 4 feet long, used in warfare and thrown from the hand (i.e., without the in- termediacy of a spear-thrower). This was pro- vided with a flint head lashed to the shaft with buckskin thongs (hagaia'ilumi, flint spearhead; lumik'l'wiyauna, spear shaft). A 4-foot shaft seems much too short for a javelin: one would suspect rather that a thrusting spear was in- tended, like the even shorter weapon of the Wintu (2 1/2 - 3 1/2 ft. long).137 There are, however, three separate references to it in Sapir's notes and in each instance the hurling of the objeQt is mentioned (one translation is "harpoon" but it is clear that the fish spear was not meant). It is quite noteworthy that javelins were almost en- tirely lacking in North America (aside from Arctic examples and those from the early Southwest). In the whole of the ethnographic literature in the cultures of the West, I (L.S.) have found only two records: one from the Coeur d'Al1ne of Idaho, the other from the Patwin.138 The Coeur d'Al1ne shaft was 1 1/2 meters long (and feathered like a'l-an arrow), quite sufficient for a javelin: the P-Patwin was only 4 feet long like the Yana. Both were hurled, without question. The Patwin is >9sufficiently close to lend credence to the Yana [instance. In a tale the javelin is represented as stuck into the ground inside a house near the spot its owner was accustomed to sit, and ready to his W d139 Elkhide armor was employed for defense. This .ached to the hips, leaving the arms unprotected. so elkskin caps were used as helmets. These y have been no more than wide headbands, like ,hose of the Shasta.140 133Dixon, Northern Maidu, 203-204. 134Sapir, Yana Texts, 9. 35Cf. a Wintun (Copehan)specimen figured by Mason, North American Bows, pl. 91. P136Pope, 109, 119, pl. 23. 137Du Bois, 125. 138Teit, 115; Kroeber, Patwin, 298. 139Sapir, Yana Texts, 69. * 140Dixon, Shasta, 438. We have few explicit statements on war customs; it is doubtful that those mentioned in the tales can be safely taken as descriptive of the Yana because of their mythologic flavor. A Yana in- formant stated that they scalped their enemies, as did the Wintun and Pit River peoples. Some war customs are credited to the Yana in a war nar- rative of the Wintu: a Yana leader, Hawalsa, is described as constantly raiding the Wintu; cutting off their arms, legs, and scalps; seizing their chiefs' sons and daughters to take home to kill. "He said he stretched them on a pole and shot them to death. He had a sacred place where he prayed before going on a raid." He enters the Wintu camp alone at daybreak to catch the Wintu asleep, instructing his men not to follow too closely. He is equipped with elkhide armor and otter-skin quiver.," A brave warrior, a bold fear-inspiring fellow, was designated a y8llaina.142 It was customary to hold a dance over the scalp taken from an enemy. There is no direct information from Yana sources on their wars with neighboring peoples, but we have been able to glean some data from other ethnographic accounts. Intermittent war- fare seems to have been carried on with all the surrounding peoples but to have been directed es- pecially against those immediately adjacent on the north and northwest, the Madesi Achomawi and the Stillwater and McCloud Wintu. Relations with the Atsugewi were not particularly hostile, chiefly because the high Sierra Nevada, snow-clad through the winter, interposed a barrier to any consider- able intercourse, hostile or friendly.143 With the Madesi and Wintu, the Yana seem to have taken the initiative, according to testimony from these tribal sources. The Madesi "seem never to have left their own valley, but rather to have been the object of attack by others." The Yana were reckoned a powerful enemy, against whom they were no match.144 Yet for all this, Stonewall Jackson (Central Yana) said that the "Pit Rivers" were very strict about the Yana shooting deer in their territory and were certain to retaliate upon any infringement of their rights. The two eastern Wintu divisions (Stillwater and McCloud peoples) 141Du Bois, 38. The Maidu of the foothills, immediate neighbors of the Yana-Yahi, are also credited with torturing male captives tied to a pole: lesser men were burned or hacked; men of note were dispatched by volleys of arrows (Dixon, Northern Maidu, 206-207). 1 42 Sapir, Yana Texts, 193, n. 300. 143 Kniffen, 316. 144Ibid., 314. Curtis remarks that the Acho- mawi were intermittently at war with the Yana (13:235). In the present paper we have noted trade in buckeye sticks for fire drills with Achomawi and Atsugewi and the gathering of salt in certain salt marshes in Yana territory by these northern peoples. 269 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS heartily disliked and feared the Yana, who fre- quently raided them across the open plateau lands. It is said that the Wintu never recipro- cated these raids.145 So far as most Yana were concerned, contacts with the Atsugewi may have been relatively few because of the mountain barrier between them, but at the northern end of Yana territory access was easier. In general the two people seem to have been intermittently hostile. For instance, it is said that at one time the Atsugewi and Yana were so friendly that the former were accorded the privilege of gathering acorns and berries in Yana territory. The friendship was disrupted about the middle of the last century, when re- taliation resulted from a Yana shaman's announce- ment that he had "poisoned" several Atsugewi men who had recently died. In the last encounter (about 1855-60), three Yana women were made cap- tive, were treated roughly, but soon escaped."6 The Yana proper may not have been in conflict with the Maidu to the south. Information from Maidu sources is somewhat ambiguous, since refer- ence is made to the Yana-speaking peoples of Mill Creek. These were primarily Yahi, but it may be that some of the Southern Yana, at least, were also involved. Thus Curtis recorded that a deadly enemy of the Northwestern Maidu were of Yana stock, living "on the upper part of Kill creek, east of Tehama.""7 Dixon's note reads: "The Northeastern Maidu were particularly em- broiled with the Washo, the Achomawi, and the Yana (Kombo). The valley people seem to have had; the Yana on the north, and at times the Wintun as their chief enemies."148 Since the Kombo of older writers are our Yahi, this may sum up to conflict only of southern border people, Yahi anda Southern Yana, with the Maidu. In this connec- tion, it is perhaps significant that while Dixon describes trade of Northeastern Maidu with Acho- mawi and of Northwestern Maidu with Wintun, he makes no mention of peaceful relations with the Yana.1 49 Relations with the Central Wintun (Nomlaki) may have been intermittently friendly, since bothc peoples had fishing stations on the east side of the Sacramento. It may be significant that Kroeber's Wintun and Patwin war tales do not in- clude conflict with the Yana, although the Maidu, Nisenan, and Yuki are mentioned as occasional enemies.150 The Wintun were reputed by the Yana to be cowards, and, it was added--presumably to show how they were despised--that-"their flints were much ruder, thicker than those of the Yana." MENTAL CULTURE Birth As soon as a woman sickened in pregnancy neither she nor her husband might eat salmon or deermeat any longer. This food taboo applied particularly to the six or eight days before the birth (however that was reckoned) and to a like (?) period afterward, or rather until the navel cord dropped away. In preparation for the birth the couple moved into a little house constructed especially for the occasion at some distance from their home. There the expectant woman was waited on by an old woman. The husband, who also slept in this temporary bark house, but by him- self, was chiefly occupied in fetching firewood. So long as he was here he could not go hunting or fishing in the company of others, and as soon as the baby was born, he stopped altogether un- til the infant's navel was healed. Yet it was quite proper for him to be present with others so engaged. His food-gathering activities were limited to such occupations- as collecting pine- nuts. These taboos are exemplified in two tales.'5L It may have been customary for the 145Du Bois, 37-38; some implications of more peaceful relations appear in the descriptions of chiefs, p. 34. 146 Curtis, 13:131. husband to seek supernatural aid at this time, since it was said of Y6'yoisgi (two mountains visible from Montgomery Creek) that it was custo- mary for a man to sleep there for a day or two before his wife was delivered of a child. (Food taboo, m&'tViyauna [lit., "poison"?]; confinement house, mumarl" dimauna.) The confined woman always gave birth in a sit-. ting position, never while lying at full length. On each side of her was set up a smoothed stick as a support and, by gripping the pair, to enable her to withstand the pains of labor. Sometimes bark of the yellow pine was cut in lengths of 1- 1 1/2 ft., smoothed, and attached to these upright sticks to serve as a seat. Another woman sat be- side her, gently pressing on the'mother's belly to force out the child. Sometimes as many as three women would attend her, especially when labor was prolonged, but only one at a time would assist expulsion. Twins and illegitimate infants were never killed at birth. (Upright supporting stick, pa'ra; sitting contrivance, tsa'l'yalla; 47Ibid., 14:110, 194. 148 Dixon, Northern Maidu, 206. 149 Ibid., 201. 150Kroeber, Patwin, 300-303. 151Sapir, Yana Texts, 66-67, 123. I I I 4 A 270 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA midwife, ~'djuya; V'si, she works with her hands over belly of woman in labor; twins, u'Ilma"'a.) An illuminating and peculiarly poignant narra- tive of death in childbirth has already been pub- lished,'52 but its essentials should be repeated here. The anxious husband stays close to his ex- pectant wife, who demands her mother's presence. The mother, scolding, admonishes her not to eat too much, else the embryo will grow too quickly, and not to look back when going out of the house, else the infant will be reluctant to leave the womb. After four days of difficult labor, a shaman is called. His efforts are fruitless, though he has several women press her belly, seats her on supporting sticks, and forces her to run around the house. Her husband, in despair, seeks supernatural aid, building a fire of spruce twigs and pine needles on Round Mountain--all to, no avail. After the birth had taken place, the mother was placed on a warming-pit to make her sweat. This pit was dug inside the confinement hut: very shallow, about 1/2-inch (? foot) deep. In this, small pieces of wood were burned and then covered over very neatly with pine needles to protect the woman from direct contact. A flat stone, presumably heated, was placed on her abdo- men: for some days afterward, she also slept with it. Often a rope made of flat ma'du straw was wound three times or so around her waist as a belt or corset. (Warming-pit, mukul'a'; warming-stone, bitsip ja'v'yauna.) When the stump of the navel cord dropped off "after four days," it was supposed the woman had recovered. Then the new parents sweated themselves in "their temporary stick sweat house"153 and were washed with warm water by some old woman. She also prepared fresh acorn soup for them and cut a piece of dried meat in two. Man and wife each took one of the pieces and, simultaneously dipping it into the soup, ate. Thereafter they were free from food restric- tions and could prepare meals for themselves. The husband could hunt in company of others once more. (Stick sweat house, ya'wi'rimauna; old woman at- tendant, kunama'rimi.) The birth of a first child called for special procedure, at least among the Northern Yana. Some old and lucky man took the string off his bow and whipped the father with it from foot up- ward to head. All the while he said, "I was a lucky hunter: I give you my luck. I was a good archer: I give you my skill." Then the young father ran off to the east, a half-mile or so, to fetch a red manzanita branch. If it broke off at the first pull, he would have good luck, otherwise bad. He gave it to the old man, run- Ibid., 187-188. 153 While the terms recorded differ, this was presu3mably the confinement hut. ning five or six times more for branches to give to as many other men. He then went to a spring at the base of Round Mountain, where he washed his hands; then running to the top where there was a place (sapsirimAuna) like a bed of stone. Here he must sleep for only a short time. He went back every night to repeat this performance until the umbilical cord dropped off. If the baby was stillborn, he went only once to fetch a manzanita branch. The stump of the navel cord was preserved. It was first rolled up and placed in the baby's bed of tules to dry. (Possibly this refers to the bedding placed in the carrying cradle, but a tem- porary bed in a basket 154 may have been meant.) The cord was later put into a miniature basket made for the purpose, which was tied tightly in the cradle behind the baby's head. This was done so that the cord would always be with the infant. How long it was kept is not clear: on the one hand we learn that it was never thrown away, for that would mean that the baby would cry itself to death; but again, after two months it was not pre- served any longer and might be lost without arous- ing concern. (Navel cord, la' ii; basket for navel cord, dju'kga.) The features of a newborn infant might be molded so that it might grow-beautiful. This was dictated in part by the fact that the only names given little children were nicknames which were derived from some peculiarity of appearance or action; for example, "Sharp Face," one that is not smoothed well, for it was customary to smooth the child's face outward to the cheekbones to make it look pretty. Again the derogatory nick- name "Cry-baby" could be forestalled by perforat- ing the ear lobe of a.crying child with a little stick (beads were not inserted). Babies were rubbed over with pounded roots of tc"i'l'awauna (used generally for swellings) and other medicines. Yana cradles (djidjildiya'una) appear to have been of two types: a flat board of splints fixed transversely on a Y-shaped frame and a shallow basket of the sitting-cradle type. Which of the two was more common; whether one form was peculiar to certain localities; whether there were seasonal differences; or whether they were successive cradles for the same child, we do not know. The first type is known only by a reference among some paradigmatic notes: dj8djatcal'awa'ldi- sintc, "I put baby in ground with cradle having sharpened point to it." To this is appended a note that it resembled the Maidu cradle figured by Dixon, 155 which Sapir apparently showed to the informant. This is a flat-board type made on a Y-shaped frame; to this transverse rods are tied at close intervals and an awning or shade resem- bling those of the second type of cradle described 4As recorded for Northern Yana by Gifford and Klimek, 89, element 52. 155Dixon, Northern Maidu, 200, fig. 52. 271 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS below. The frame is a forked stick, the arms of which are bent over to lap at the top, thus forming a loop. The stem of the Y is cut short and sharpened for thrusting into the ground. Dixon described this as the summer type of Maidu cradle, its winter counterpart being similar but lacking the protruding sharpened stem at the bottom and also the sunshade. Cradles of the shallow sitting type, from the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard Uni- versity, are shown in pl. 6. These are ovate in outline, as seen from the front; are barely deep enough at the bottom to take the buttocks of the infant and without depth at the top; and are provided with sunshades of trapezoidal shape. In these the child sat with its legs dangling over the lower rim. Both specimens were made in open-twine technique. The warps filling the frame stop short of the top to provide a hand hold at this point. While fundamentally alike in construction, the two specimens differ some- what in shape and detail. The larger, more poorly made cradle (pl. 6,a) is little more than a shallow tray, the basal part slanting upward from frame to rear so that the child must have been insecurely supported as its legs hung over the edge. The smaller cradle (pl. 6,b) is some- what deeper and its basal part slopes downward from frame to rear so that a pocket is formed in which the buttocks rest securely. It does not seem that these were intended as two types. They resemble the sitting cradles of neighboring tribes: the first is somewhat more like that of the Wintu, the second like the Shasta.156 The manner of bedding and lacing the infant is uncertain. Our notes contain a reference to "the baby's bed of tules" (s.i'lmerayauna) to which the stump of the navel cord was tied, as men- tioned above. This may have reference only to the bedding placed on the flat or sitting-type cradles, but a temporary cradle for a newborn in- fant has been recorded for the Northern Yana: "At birth, baby laid in willow basket lined with finely shredded soft grass. Carrying cradle used later."157 The second specimen referred to above has an arrangement of tie straps to lace the seated baby in place which is not clear. It seems that the intent was to have several loops on each side of the lower part of the cradle, which could be laced together with another strap. A carrying strap of buckskin is fastened to the upper end of the frame on each side by a double half-hitch.158 Personal Names "Real" names were not given to children until 1 56Du Bois, 134, fig. 8,j; Dixon, Shasta, 434, fig. 103. 157 Gifford and Klimek, loc. cit. 158 For a description of the technology of these cradles, see Baskets. they were about six years of age or so, or in some instances until they had reached puberty. Until that time they were given nicknames based on some peculiarity of appearance or action. In the following examples the form used for a boy is followed in parentheses by that applied to a girl: Ga'lldjfic' (Ga'ladjuya), Cry-Baby; Djurtkru'llantc' (Djurtkru'llantctuya), Sharp Face, i.e., not with the preferred flat smooth face; Tcrilma'llktu (Tc'ilma'l'guia), Big Ears; Ba)ta'rtptal)u'yulla (Ba'ta'rtptalku'yulya), Flat Head; Nu'nnaipa (Nu'nnaiya), Small Eye; Djaru'lwidipa or Djaduru'- witpa (Djaru'lwidiya), Big Belly; Yu'dalla, Burn Hand, this boy having been named for an accident in childhood. The parents were the proper persons to bestow adult names on children at the appropriate time. As some of the following examples suggest, addi- tional names and nicknames may have been acquired later in life.159 Men's names: Sau'lala or K'i'l'muli (probably an Achomawi nickname mean- ing: Big water), Stonewall Jackson (Central Yana); BuI'yas-i or Dusa'tttuwi or Bala'uwalla (Bewhisk- ered, a nickname obviously applied in later life), Round Mountain Jack (Northern Yana); Da'- sala, Bill Cayton (Northern Yana); Wattandi'si, Hank Haley; Wa'it'awasi, a certain brave war- rior;160 P'u'np'unna, a Northern Yana (from its termination this seems to be a man's name); Wa'imayasi. Women's names: T'sl'daimiya, Betty Brown (Northern Yana); N8"miya; Yade"ya; K'u tl8timatlya.l6 Puberty When the first courses came a girl might not remain at home but had to camp by herself in a menstrual lodge at a distance. There she stayed six days, eating alone: meat and fish were taboo to her but she subsisted on such things as acorns and sunflower seeds. Nor was she permitted to scratch herself with her fingers, using instead a wooden or deer-bone head scratcher painted red. At the end of this period she threw away all the utensils she had used. Women followed this pro- cedure exactly at all subsequent menstruations, staying away for six days each time. ("She has first courses," hima'ipasi; menstrual lodge, nima'rupdimauna; head scratcher, ba'lt'si or ital'pa or tcLutci.) A dance was held for a girl when she reached puberty, but of this we know only the duration and the girl's head ornament. The dance lasted for six days, the period of her isolation. Dur- ing these ceremonies the girl wore around her brow a special type of band, called haga's-iyauna, It is noteworthy that, with one exception and that a nickname, no meanings are attached to these names in the notes. 160 Sapir, Yana Texts, 193, n. 300. 161Ibid., 197. I i I I 272 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TBE CULTURE OF THE YANA tied together at the back, its long ends hanging down behind almost to the ground. This was formed of eight buckskin strings, twined with white ba'ha grass (Xerophyllum tenax), used also .for ornamenting tassels of skirts and girdles. We may suspect that the deer-hoof rattle, known to have been in use among the Yana, was the ac- companiment for this dance. Marriage So far as the formalities went, marriages were supposed to be arranged by the parents. But several sprightly narratives recorded indicate quite convincingly that the young people might and did take the initiative, and the parents' consent was obtained later. In the more staid formal procedure, however, the parents of the young man offered gifts to those of the girl. As they were accepted or rejected, so went the suit. There was nothing automatic or obligatory -in the matter. A girl whose interest was directed toward some particular man might voice her desire in a some- what formulaic phrase or spell. In this she not only voices her own sentiments, but utters the perhaps compulsive phrases: "S'uwa'! May you think about me to yourself! May you turn back to look!" (The unanalyzable term s 'uwa' intro- duces all such formulaic expressions.)162 Several interesting points are indicated in a recorded colloquy of an older man persuading a young girl, half willing, half reluctant, to marry him. He comes in response to just such an apostrophy and asks her to marry, noting that his mother approves. She pleads her youth and her uncertainty of his philandering proclivities. Whereon he turns angry, upbraiding her for her lack of confidence, yet boasting of his conquests and his ability to make payments for a bride .wherever he chooses. It is significant of family solidarity that he remarks that it is his brothers and sisters and his sister's children who would help him.163 Another narrative gives the flavor of the interplay of attitudes and sentiments between the suitor, girl, and parent. The suitor has been bringing food. The girl's mother,presses her to marry, despite the girl's distaste, stating bluntly that she is tired of trying to provide food for her daughter. The girl, agreeing, re- fers her suitor to her mother. The mother's re- joicing takes an interesting form: she is expect- ant of the deer and salmon she will receive when she visits her son-in-law's establishment and promises recompense in acorns. The girl bids the man invite his people to stay the night for the 162 Sapir, Yana Texts, 198. 163 Ibid., 185. marriage. There is some exchange of good inten- tions and plans: he, for his part, will always provide.game and will never whip her, she will never scold; when they have a child they will go to live at his home.164 As this colloquy implies, a man stayed with his wife's parents or in a house near by until the first child was two or three years old. Then he returned with his young family to his former home. Marriage imposed obligations of avoidance be- tween certain relatives of the linked families. To judge by the more fully explained Yahi data, a Yana man might neither look at nor speak to his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, a woman to her father-in-law and son-in-law. (Dixon's note states that a man might not look at nor speak to his mother- and father-in-law. While it is pos- sible that Yana differed from Yahi in this par- ticular, it is more probable that this taboo held only between persons of unlike sex.) These sev- eral tabooed relationships found expression in the kinship terminology: the-general verb wimat'- (compounded in wiman'mau-na, woman's son-in-law) means "to avoid certain ones of opposite sex to whom one is related by affinity." By analogy with Yahi usage--the kin terms-are directly comparable-- we may also suspect-that the Yana extended this taboo on intercourse to a man's son-in-law's and daughter-in-law's sister and his brother's mother- in-law, and similarly to a woman's son-in-law's and daughter-in-law's brother and her sister's father-in-law. 165 The levirate was general. This would explain the extension of avoidance by a man to his broth- er's mother-in-law and by a woman to her son-in- law's brother--if this was true of Yana--since by the operation of the levirate thlese persons were potentially mother-in-law and son-in-law.'66 164 Ibid., 182-183. 1 S&p1r, Yana Terms of Relationship, 160, 165- 166, 172. 166 Sapir has discussed-at some length the man- ner in which kinship terminology and levirate coordinate among the Yahi, with clear implica- tion throughout that this held substantially for the Yana (Terms of Relationship and the Levi- rate). It is to be noted that here and else- where (Yana Terms of Relationship, 173) Sapir subsumeo both levirate and sororate under the term "levirate." We could infer the sororate as a general practice from avoidances parallel to those cited in the text, but concerning its existence we have no data. This would explain a man's avoid- ance of his daughter-in-law's sister and a woman of her sister's father-in-law. But it leaves without explanation the cases of a man's son-in- law's sister and a woman's daughter-in-law's brothers. If the avoidance was mutual in these two cases, we would have a man avoiding the mother-in-law of both his brother and sister, a woman the father-in-law of her siblings, which follow only in part from levirate and sororate. But this is all speculative. 273 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS In a consideration of the relation between the sexes we should note that "social intercourse be- tween brother and sister, after the playing days of childhood, was not free. To avoid the impli- cation of too great familiarity, brother and sister addressed each other in the plural instead of the normal singular."'67 The singular forms would imply that there was some incestuous in- tent. (The force of convention--or the desire to deceive ?--was so strong that in a tale in which Coyote lusts for his sister he addresses her in the plural and in the masculine form.)168 And it may very well have been that recognition of sex differences was heightened by the use of the so-called men's and women's languages, so far as the regularly differing forms they used rose into consciousness. "Man spoke the women's forms when conversing with them; women always spoke female. The differences are not very great," consisting for the most part of clipped or divergent terminations in feminine speech and some use of "diverse roots to denote an action respectively as it is performed by men or women."169 As elsewhere, there were women of easy virtue, whores (yaka'nya, Central dialect; yaka'riya, Northern; ya'ka'nhi, Southern). Chieftaincy and Other Social Differentials According to Sam Bat'wI, the Yana recognized quite clearly the position of chief. The con- text of various tales makes it clear that each settlement of any size had its own local leader or chief (mui'djaupa). There were, presumably, no larger units of organization and hence no chiefs of larger aggregates. A man did not be- come a chief by mere wealth but had to be born into a chiefly family. Ordinarily a son suc- ceeded on the death of a chief; at least succes- sion ran through males and could not be trans- mitted in the female line.170 Generally a chief 167Sapir, Yana Terms of Relationship, 170; Yana Texts, 95, n. 139. Sap _, Yana Texts, 95. 169Kroeber, Handbook, 337. 17?Gifford obtained from a Northern Yana in- formant (Grapevine Tom) a picture of several hereditary chiefs in a single village, each one being known by a distinctive name as his title (Notes on Central Pomo and Northern Yana Society, 681-684). This name was also borne by each of his sons, although the eldest alone succeeded to the position of chief. Thus in the case cited in illustration, in the village Istalmato (on the east side of Round Mountain) Tcidutcaina was principal chief, Tinenuma and Dontcukila lesser chiefs. Tcidutcaina's name was also borne by his two sons, one of whom was Round Mountain Jack (Dixon's and Curtin's informant); Tinenuma's and Dontoukila's by their only sons. These three chiefs were distantly related. Chiefs were I, was rich but not necessarily so. If he was poor his position was not questioned on that account but an attempt was made by his people to help him. In general it was customary, if a man shot a deer, to let the chief have half: it was though proper for everybody to.give something to him. We may assume that this was in no sense tribute but contribution to keep up the prestige of the chief, a prestige in which his followers shared by re- flection, and in order that he might help the needy. Nevertheless, it meant that a chief was exempted to some extent from more arduous tasks. His principal duty was to call people together for meetings of any kind (war dance, council) and to make speeches (g&tcat-5 to them. The lat- ter function was so characteristic that Betty Brown referred to lawyers as white men's chiefs. One notable feature of such addresses was that the chief spoke to his people collectively in the singular as if they were one individual. Several such speeches are scattered through the tales thatj have been collected. In most of these tales it seems as though the chief were giving orders, but it is more likely that he was merely outlining a course of action already in his people's minds. A characteristic speech, showing the chief as di- rector and spokesman for his people, begins "Do all you come together! I intend to move north the day after tomorrow; I want to camp out for a dance in the north," as though this were a private intention, but goes on with such phrases as "Dance. Try it now! ... Get ready your feathers, get ready your aprons... We shall stay over night at CI'pa; you will have a dance there, you will practice there... You will dig for annis roots at that place." Even the more explicit directions of the host chief, "Go for some kindling wood... Do you people cut wood" for the guests at the dance, seems, in the context, more exhortative than com- 1 71 manding. It seems quite unlikely that a chief had power to control others, impose his views, or command also known by the generic term mudjaupa; their wives and daughters were called mudjaupana. A chief always had two wives. . There is no hint of any of this in Dixon's or Sapir's notes. Istalmatu is not given as a village in Sapir's list (possibly !'dalmadu near Round Mountain is meant). Tcidutcaina is not among the three personal names of Round Mountain Jack obtained by Curtin, Dixon, and Sapir. There is the possibility that three chiefs in a single village may have reference to conditions during the consolidation of the Northern Yana remnant after the disruption of their old mode of life by the whites. But as Gifford notes the inheritance of distinctive chiefly titles has no counterpart anywhere in this general area. 171Sapir, Yana Texts, 142, 153-154. Note that in the text of which this is a translation -the chief addresses all his people using singular grammatical forms as though they were one man. 274 c 'i"i I i. o41 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA obedience. Nevertheless it appears from at least one account that his assent lent assurance when something important was afoot. A sick man is described as dying despite the ministrations of a shaman; his father vows to kill the unsuccess- ful shaman whom he suspects of magically "poison- ing" his son. To this the chief assents: "Pray do it now!... Lie in wait for him on his trail... Though he is my medicine-man, pray shoot him!" But it is extremely interesting to note that the chief feels the need of rationalizing his assent to what the people have in mind. He says: "They say he has been talking about me, that is what he has been saying," adding that the shaman will soon learn to his grief who is the better man.172 One of the chiefly functions was that of dance leader, who alone sang, the others simply dancing. This prerogative is neatly exemplified in a tale wherein Coyote claims the privilege of leading the dance; for is he not, or rather does he not claim to be, a chief?173 Chiefs are credited with having kept vultures (? ima 'isdjadjuwa)174 as pets. This may not mean that this was a prerogative of chiefs alone but that captive birds of this sort were so rare that common men did not own them. In contradistinction to such headmen, all others were maV{insoi, common people or 1ra-wiya, people outside (not chief). Here there were, of course, differentials. It was said that poor people were accustomed to have more children than the rich, who generally had only one or two. Some differences in the behavior of well-to-do and poor are suggested in a passage in Sapir's notes which remain cryptic: It was mainly "high-toned" people who had their children (generally female) sometimes se- cluded as w' anmauna [hidden ones?]. Such were kept apart even up to the age of thirty and either did not marry at all or else did so very late. Sam could give no reason for this seclu- sion and seemed, like Betty, either reticent or else comparatively ignorant of it. Possibly this has some relation to seclusions of Kuksu cult type, but a note immediately fol- lowing states that the Yana knew the Hesi dances -of the Maidu and Wintun but had none of them. 175 There were midjade'bilmauy&, hobos, people who had no home and stole food. A bastard was called wa't'a'urisi, literally "(he) sits at the foot of the ladder," the very name of the place indicating his social inferiority, for to sleep 172 Ibid., 195. Ibid., 47-48; see also 105. I4Described as "wild turkeys": all white in front, black behind, red moustache, as big as domestic turkeys, can fly; found on Round Moun- tain. 175 See p. 286. near the fire at the foot of the ladder descend- ing into the earth lodge was, in general, a sign of low social station.176 Berdaches (16'ya) were known. These, according to the notes, were "men with male genitals w>ho dressed like women and did all kinds of women's work." They were not ridiculed nor, on the other hand, were they shamans. It was customary to address relatives--perhaps only certain relatives--in the plural as a sign of respect coupled with friendliness. It was the conventional mode of speech between brother and sister where, perhaps, the emphasis was more on respect and reserve. It seems that one might ex- tend the usage to others: thus in a tale Coyote uses plural address to Flint, who is not a rela- tive and whose belongings he admires, hoping to cajole him into exchanging them for his own. 177 An attitude antithetical to this might be ex- pressed by extending one's hand with outspread fingers toward another person as a gesture of con- tempt or disbelief (u'ta'l'aisindja, I stretch out my hand with outspread fingers). 178 (Although not pertinent to the subject of relations between individuals, another gesture may be recorded here: "She put her hand over her mouth [as a sign of frightened amazement].") 179 Kinship terms of Northern and Central Yana have been published in full elsewhere, with some dis- cussion of their nature. 180 Death and Burial When a Yana had died he was dressed for burial, his relatives and friends sent for, and the grave dug. Generally they waited for three or four days before burying the body in order to give people who had to come from some distance a chance to see it and to mourn with the immediate survivors. The body was washed and dressed in its best to lie in the house awaiting wrapping for burial. The hair was combed. Nevertheless beads or other ornaments worn in the nasal septum were removed to be replaced by a plain stick. It was imperative that the nasal septum be pierced so that the dead could pass the test of the feminine being A'ihandjimiya in the land of the dead who did not like those who had no nose holes. Accordingly this was remedied by piercing the septum immedi- ately after death. The knees of the corpse were doubled against its belly, the arms folded over the breast, and it was shrouded in a deerskin blanket (batti'lmi, 176 Sapir, Yana Texts, 70, n. 108. 177Ibid., 101, 108. 178Ibid., 176, 179, n. 277. 179Ibid., 116, line 14. Sapir, Yana Terms of Relationship; Terms of Relationship and the Levirate. 275 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS a single dehaired buckskin) which was then sewed closed. Should the deerskin on which it lay not prove large enough, another was laid over the body. A burial net (cu'wiyauna) of coarse rope was made in which the corpse was then tied. All sorts of belongings were bundled with it: bows, arrows, baskets, beads and trinkets, ornamented fringed aprons, and other valuables. Some of these were possessions of the dead, others con- tributions from mourners. Everything was first broken or destroyed. It is quite noteworthy that even for a man baskets and women's fringed aprons were placed in the grave. Apparently it was not the thought to provide him only with accouterments peculiar to his sex but with valuables of all descriptions. Small (?) burden baskets (,'mats sougi) were included. These were cut into three parts: the apex was first cut off, and the remaining two-thirds was then cut from top to bottom into two parts, one of which was placed on each side of the body. The grave was dug so deep that a tall man standing in it would be able barely to see over the edge. The corpse was placed in this so as to face east and at his head was often placed a basket of water. On each side of the body was placed a stick projecting a foot aboveground, 181 and on their tips were placed the apical ends of the burden baskets. Sometimes a hedge of arrows was set up around the grave. The mourners also either spilled or set down baskets of water on the ground to the east. Twice in the detailed account of burial below the assembled mourners are described as "dancing and crying" (di'lwap- tsiyau, dancing and crying among themselves; di'lwas-, I dance crying). Since there is no further explanatory note, we are unable to say whether such "dancing" was only violent bodily movement in the excess of grieving or, like the Wintu, stamping down the earth of the grave with the feet "as in a dance," or, as is most probable, like the Shasta: The relatives and friends form a procession, and dance weeping, in a ring about the body, speaking to the dead... This is kept up as long as the body remains unburied, one party changing off with another in the dance... In the evening some of the younger people go off and collect fir-branches, which hey attach to their heads and about their waists, neck, arms, and legs, and then return, singing, to dance about the body. 182 After the burial the family abandoned the 18 It is not clear whether these were long sticks set in the grave before it was filled or thrust in later. 182Du Bois, 65; Dixon, Shasta, 465-466. So far as our notes on Yana burial practices go, they conform in general most closely to Shasta among surrounding tribes. I house, which was promptly burned, together with all its contents. Apparently not only were the remaining possessions of the deceased so destro but those of other inmates, including food. kept only the barest necessities, such as beddi Belated friends, unable to be present at the, funeral, later brought beads and dentalia to be pounded up at the grave. Mourners neglected their persons, wore old shabby garments, made use of dilapidated uten- sils, and in the depths of their grief, refused food. Their hair was cut short, and over their heads and faces pitch was thickly smeared or di as a substitute. White clay (bats-'i) was put on over the pitch, so that, in the words of one informant, "they were marked like skunks."183 The pitch used by a mourner was the color of honey, not black. (Pitch in general was tca'l'a, this pitch was ah8 tcal', soft pitch, in distince tion to old red pitch, bams-iwi' cal'.) True mourning and the depths of grief were verbally recognized: apla'-utamauna, mourning;- durtpfa'-ufamauna, deep excessive mourning. It was also said that women used to put spittle on their eyelids to feign tears in order to show sympathy. A vivid account of a death and burial, with its antecedents of illness and a futile attempt to cure, the burial procedure, mourning and vows of vengeance, was obtained in text form.18' "He is sick; he is very sick. It looks as if he is going to die. Perhaps he will not recover. If four days have elapsed and he has not yet re- covered, you will run to get the medicine-man, and he will suck the sickness out of him. You will offer him as pay perforated white beads. Wear them around your neck. Surely he will get up and start hither for medicine-men always like perforated whiie beads." He who had been sent arrived at the medicine-man's house and put the beads down on the ground. The medicine-man smelled them. "I shall not be able to make him recover. I shall indeed go to see him anyway. The perforated white beads already have an odor of burial earth of death." The messenger ran back and arrive4 home. He hung up the beads and cried, sitting down on the ground. "Do you put water down on the ground for the medicine-man. The medicine-man has already come," they-said. The medicine-man sat down. "Well, I shall try to do what I can." He doctored him. "He will not recover. I do not understand what to do; I am beaten." After he had finished doctoring, he said "He will die." The sick man's father started to cry, and they all wept with him. "Do you run to bring our relatives and friends hither," he said. "They shall all come here. I do not wish them to be ignorant of this." 183This is pictured in two tales: see Sapir, Yana Texts, 68, 127. 184 Sapir, Yana Texts, 192-195; slight changes have been made from the original for the sake of clarity. 276 I 7 w'l I SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA, On the following day, at daybreak, the young man died. They all started in to cry together. "Go and dig the grave Do you put together the perforated white beads, the dressed buckskin blanket, dentalia, olivella beads, aprons fringed with pine nut tassels, various pack-baskets, and valuables. Make a burial net of coarse rope, and wrap him in it." Then they washed him and combed his hair. The people all came together, dancing and weeping, women, men, and their children, while his mother cried. He was lifted down and put away in the house, while the people and his father and mother wept over him. They did not eat anything. Now-they sewed together the deer- hide b3anket for a shroud. The father spoke angrily to himself against the medicine-man, whom he suspected of having poisoned his son. "Now!" said the father, "Amm! Don't think that you (the medicine-man) will con- tinue to eat. There is no sickness going about and yet I am the only one that has sickness fal on my family. Since the people were not sick, I thought I had a good medicine-man. Perchance you think you will not go to get wood!" (He means that he will murder the medicine-man when the lat- ter unsuspectingly goes into the brush for fire- wood.) The father thought of a brave man (y6"laina) from the south who took vengeance on an evil medicine-man, saying "I do not intend to cry." He had flint arrowheads and inspired everyone with fear. "Whence is the poison that is always acting? I have no intention of eating my food with tears." It was the brave warrior t spoke thus. "You will go ahead and bury him tomorrow! Do you make the grave deep!" he said to the people. "You will bury him at noon. Probably nearly all have come. They say that there are many weeping for him they say the chief weeps for him; they say thai he is greatly angered. My medicine-man forgets, does he not? I shall not be the only one to cry: the medicine-man's people will have cause to weep too. Do you all start!" They took him up and carried him, all sorts of belongings being wrapped up with him--arrows, bows, and various blankets. Now they all moved down to his grave. They brought him down to the grave and put him into it. "Now! Cry!" said his father. His brother lay down in the grave, but they pulled him out again. "Do not weep; you will soon follow him," he was told in consola- tion. The women all danced and cried, weeping for him, putting down water on the ground to the east of him. "Now it is well is it not?" the father said in bitterness. "Let me see! Go ahead and fail to find the poison you medicine man! In former days that man tolA me 'Surely you shall have no cause to weep and thus it will always be with you.' That is what he said to me." The dead man's mother stayed all night near the grave. Now the people all moved off back to the house. "I shall no longer stay in the house. Set it on fire!" the father cried. They set fire to his ropes and all his belongings. "Set the food on fire!" They set everything on fire, and moved on to another place. "You will all go to get other food. I did not think I would ever be without his laughter when eating." They were all weeping at night, when suddenly the old woman came back. Now at night they started in to eat, for her coming marked the end of mourning for these outsiders. "Do you all eat after weeping! Truly we shall all die; we shall not live forever, is it not so? The time of death is near at hand. Do you all procure food for yourselves! Go to the river and catch salmon. No!" the father said, "I shall not hurry to'eat. 'Yes, we shall catch salmon for you,' my son used to say to me. I shall cry yet a while, if you please. I shall take food soon."... People brought olivella beads, dentalia, and perforated white beads. "Here! Pound these," they said. He pounded them at the grave. "We did not know about it; that is why we did not come,' said these belated mourners asking that their contributions of beads be destroyed at the grave too. Every summer they burn food at the grave. In the depths of winter, when the snow lay too deeply outside, burial took place in a shallow grave within the house, awaiting a reburial out- side when a favorable opportunity presented it- self .185 When a man died at a great distance from home, the body was burned and the bones or ashes brought home for reburial. But otherwise cremation was never practiced. There is some question whether there was a "burning ceremony" commemorative of the death, with the burning of property. Stonewall Jackson (Central Yana) stated that there was no burning ceremony. On the contrary, Betty Brown (Northern Yana) implied something of the sort: "every sum- mer they burn food at the grave." This may mean that there was only a minimum of memorial service. Suicide was denied by Sam Bat'wl (Central Yana). While this might be taken as the not un- familiar claim of informants to high moral tone according to white standards, the absence of sui- cide does place the Yana squarely among adjacent tribes who also denied the practice (Shasta, Hay- fork Wintu, Maidu, Nisenan) as against a more northerly group among whom'suicide occurred (Wintu in general, Achomawi, Atsugewi, Modoc, Klamath, but also northern foothill Nisenan).186 Games Of a probably fuller roster of Yana games, we have knowledge only of double-ball shinny, the grass game or hand game in several forms, and a child's play with a ball. Double-ball shinny has been described by Cur- tin. T4e "ball" was fashioned of two bones linked by a string some inches long. At both ends of the 185Noted in a tale of the origin of death: see Sapir, Yana Texts, 92. 188 Voegelin, 445. 277 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS field "barriers" were set up as goals. The bones were thrown up among all the players gathered at the middle of the field. "Whoever caught the bones on his stick either hurled them toward the barrier beyond which he wished to put them, or he ran toward it, bearing them on the point of his stick."187 It may be this "double- ball" of linked bones which is intended by the solitary reference in our notes: s u-'wiyauna , shinny-ball. It is doubtful that this has refer- ence to the ball propelled by crooked clubs in the more familiar shinny game, since this seems to be absent among adjacent tribes. One curious feature of Curtin's note is that it credits double-ball shinny as a man's game, whereas elsewhere it was normally a game played by women and paralleled by men's crook-stick shinny. In the tale to which this note is ap- pended, the players are men. (It is also noted that the playfield was beyond a hill at some distance from the sweat house.)188 This does not preclude the possibility that women also played the game, though probably not in mixed teams. In view of Kroeber's suimmary, double- ball as a wholly masculine game seems out of place among the Yana: Elsewhere than in the northwest [of Cali- fornia] the double-ball game is essentially or wholly one for women, as over most of the con- tinent. This is the case among the Shasta Modoc, Achomawi, Washo, Maidu, and Miwok189 [also Wintu190]. The grass game is described in two or three forms which may well have been separate games in native eyes but were grounded in similar princi- ples and practices. As recorded by Sapir from Sam Bat'w!, a Central Yana, men played in oppos- ing pairs. Each side was provided with two pairs Fig. 5. Gambling bone (10/76628, length 4 inches). of sticks (or bones?), 1 1/2 inches in length, called funa'uicgi (kula'una).. Hence four pairs were present at a game, although onlT two were in active use. Of each pair, one (djuL'payauna) was plain, the other (ula'una) notched. They guessed only for the position of the plain "bones." There were also ten counters (8 wi), sticks 18 7curtin, 525-526. 88 Ibid., 440. 189Kroeber, Handbook, 847. 190 Du Bois, 44. I inches long, placed in a neutral pile between. the opposing teams. The men of one side shifted their "bones" from hand to hand, finally conceal- ing them under bunches of grass. One man on the opposing side then guessed the position of the. two plain "bones." Clapping his hands, he an- nounced his guess by pointing to the right hands of the hiders seated side by side, to their left hands, to the two hands at the center, or to thos at the outside. He might speak as well as point: the four possible positions had special designa- tions. Thus mo'wi, center1 s e'wi, outside (in Northern dialect respectively bawu'l'a' and bat'altci'a'); if he wished to indicate both sides right or both left he described them accord- ing to the points of the compass, varying with the position of the players: dja'udjanna-dja urpra, north-south, or dja'uni'dji-dja'uhauna, west-east. If both men on the hiding side held the "bones" in the positions guessed, the guessing side now had its turn at hiding. Otherwise the guessers lost one or two counters according as he guessed wrong for one or two, the hiders drawing them from the neutral pile at the center. While the record does not say so, we may presume that when all the counters had been taken from the central pile, wrong guesses were paid out of the counteis that had come into the possession of each team, the game terminating when one side had acquired all of them. The hiding side sang as it moved the "bones" about in concealment. (It is recorded that they never accompanied this singing with a pounding of sticks, as in the Northwest. This is, as it should be, for if only two men were on a side and each occupied in hiding the "bones" there would be no hands left free for beating out a rhythm.) This seems to have been the gambling game par excellence, for the generic term for gambling is derived from the name of the game: kula'umidjisindja, I play at grass game, gamble. An almost identical game is described by Curtin,, but since the concealing bundles of grass are omitted, we would ordinarily couple this game with the simple hand game of other tribes. The ame connected here with Jupka's sweat- house, is ptayed by two persons sitting opposite each other. [Perhaps Curtin so describes their number because only two are involved in the tale to which this annotation is attached.] One of these holds a small "Jupaiauna" bone or stick in one of his closed hands, and the other guesses in which hand it is. The process of playing is as follows: Each person has ten little sticks or counters at the opening of the game. One holds the "Jupai- auna," and begins action by placing his hands be- hind his back and deciding in which hand to hold the bone for that time,; next, he closes his hands firmly and brings them out before his breast. He holds them back downward, the little finger of each hand touching that of the other. The person sitting opposite guesses where the bone is; the other opens both hands then, and shows his palms. 278 I I j I I 1.I SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA If the bone is in the hand indicated by the guesser, he wins; if not, he loses. A game is finished when one side holds the twenty counters; that is, when one side has won the ten little sticks given to the other at the opening of the game .19 1 In the tale to which this description forms a gloss we note that the guesses were given in the form of "north" hand and "south," following the customary Yana practice of making reference by the cardinal points. There is just a possibility that the grass game is actually involved here despite Curtin's description, since the tale reads: "He went to get gambling-sticks (counters) He brought grass and fixed everything for the play. They sat down, Hehku [a female character] on the west, Kaitsiki on the east."192 We are not told, however, that the grass was used for concealing the sticks. It may very well be that like the Wintu'93 grass might or might not have been used to conceal them as the players chose. Another hiding game, resembling these, was re- corded by Dixon, presumably from Round Mountain Jack, a northern Yana, who may have been Curtin's informant for the preceding game. It appears, however, under another designation than that used by Sapir: tci'ltcamtciauna, gambling sticks, straw game. Only two opponents seem to be in- volved here. They had two bundles of five slim sticks, about 2 feet long,'94 and a small stick (dju'palauna) 4 inches long. A player hid the short stick in one of the sets of five, rolling them in a bunch of straw (ma'tu, hay), as he did with the other five. He placed the bundles side by side. The guesser clapped his-hands and with one hand or the other designated the bundle con- taining the short stick. If he failed to locate it, he lost a point to his opponent; if he was successful, he had his turn at hiding the stick. Twenty sticks were provided at the center as counters (e-wi). As each man fails to guess cor- rectly, his opponent drew a counter from this pile (and presumably from his opponent's pile when the neutral pile was exhausted). When one had all the counters, the game was won. This game was recorded in the form of a tale in which it is prescribed that the game is to be played only in the fall and winter, stopping be- fore March. "When the leaves come out on the oaks, stop playing this game. If you play it all summer, there will be no acorns." What may be another form of hiding game is known from a brief note of Sapir's obtained from Stonewall Jackson, a Central Yana. This is 191Curtin, 526-527. We do not know whether this was recorded from a Northern or a Central Yana informant (see Sapir, Yana Texts,.3, for Curtin's informants). 192Ibid., 460. 193Du Bois, 43. 94Dixon. questions the length. g&'acimiciyauna, straw gambling, in which a pointed (painted ?) "ace" was intermixed with plain sticks. There were ten counters and it was "played like the grass game."195 We do not know that straw was used for concealment as the name of the game might imply. Here we have a confu- sion: Dixon's game is described under the name "straw game" like this one, but the native terms differ. There is nothing to show positively that the same game was not intended, but it is also possible that this one was really the northwest California game in which one marked stick was set in with a bundle of slender sticks, the lot rolled about in the hands and then separated into two groups, one held in each hand. A child's sport was played by throwing ripe buckeyes up a hillside so that these balls would roll down again (yo"gaidjai'asindja, I play throwing ball uphill).196 Shamanism and Religious Concepts Our data on shamanism are provokingly few but what there are picture a situation akin to that of more northerly tribes rather than Maidu and others of the Sacramento Valley. Even more ex- plicitly the details echo practice and views of Shasta and Wintu rather than the Pit River tribes. It is quite evident that the shamans shared social prominence with chiefs but there is nothing in the available data to show that precedence be- longed to one or the other by reason of the formal situation or personal qualities. Shamans seem or- dinarily to have been men, but there were some women shamans. At least some of the latter had sufficient prestige to evoke the jealousy of the male shaman in the imaginary account of a cure related below. Berdaches were not shamans. A man who wanted to become a shaman (ku'wi) went to swim in certain pools. One such was near the village kiiwiha, Medicine-man's-water, on Battle Creek; the village took its name from the lake or swamp where shamans gained power. At an- other (unidentified) pool in Northern Yana terri- tory, the individual desiring to become a shaman climbed down on a grapevine rope, dived in and swam about under water. Here there was reputed to be a hole through a rock (an under-water cave ?). If he were lucky he could swim through the hole; if not, the hole closed and he could not pass. While in the rock he must grope about for black crane feathers, which would give him luck. It was assumed that if he were successful in his search for power, he would bleed at the nose and mouth on coming out of the water. Then he went off into the woods alone for six days. During '95At this point the informant gave the term for the grass game, with its twenty counters, showing that he was not confusing the two. 196Sapir, Yana Texts, 52. 279 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS this time he slept very little and fasted, sub- sisting on berries and roots. He might not even smell meat, fish, or sumptuous cooking, for to do so would be fatal. As a result of this effort, he acquired a song. Apparently whatever power was gained at this time must be reinforced by dreaming and going off into the mountains to swim again to make contact with the supernatural when a cure was to be effected, as related in the narrative below. It may well be significant that spirits-- shaman's familiars--are nowhere mentioned in Sapir's or Dixon's notes, nor in the published texts. The references--few as they are--relate to dreams and dreaming. Even with the sole reference to "spirit" in the texts, the transla- tion of the word ga1twi' as "Call upon your dream spirit"'197 is apparently an illegitimate overexplanation, for the word seems to be no more than the injunction "Call!" (It does not even contain the element "dream," ha'da'iwau-.) The supplicant for power called on the rocks, the trees, birds, and the like for aid, but there is no implication that he addressed specific spirits. To dreams, on the other hand, a great deal of significance was attached: they gave war- rant for actions (sometimes after the fact) and served as portents. How far there may have been specialization among shamans we do not know. There is only one hint, which indeed suggests that the specializa- tion may have resulted from acquiring power from a particular bird. This bird, a'iwi'auna, was said to have been "doctor for fire"; perhaps "spirit for fire" or "having power for fire" was meant.. Some shamans, but very few, were "doctors for fire" and could heal by sucking "at bird" (sic). The bird was described as brown, somewhat bigger than a snowbird, and running along the river shore: perhaps the sandpiper. The name 'a'iwi'au- may be, either actually or by popular etymology, connected with 'ai'au-, "to carry fire."198 Shamans were concerned primarily with curing. The procedure is not described but we have some of its elements on record. An emissary was sent to seek the sh8man's aid, bearing shell beads as inducement. On the shaman's arrival further beads were offered to engage his interest in the case, these being promised as payment. At the same time a basket of water was set down for his use (preslumably in which to plunge his hands once he has caught the disease in them, in the manner of Shasta and Wintu shamans).199 When he had agreed to accept the case, he prepared himself by going off into the mountains for half the night, bathing in springs where power resided and praying to them, to the rocks, trees, and the like for 197Sapir, Yana Texts, 175, line 9. '9 Ibid., 32, n. 48. 199 Dixon, Some Shamans of Northern California, 24; Shasta, 479; Du Bois, 105. I help. Meanwhile people had been summoned to as- sist in singing and shouting. A man could count on the assistance of friends and relatives to sing over a sick member of his family since they knew he would reciprocate in the time of their need. Beyond knowing that a shaman sucked out the intrusive illness, which he sometimes kept, sometimes chewed and threw in the fire; that he might run around the outside of the house in whic' the patient lay (presumably to establish contact with his powers); that he set a prohibition agai disturbing noises, we have no further information on his procedure. A characteristic invitation to a shaman to co to cure is contained in a recorded narrative. A messenger is dispatched with white beads as prof- fered payment. He is told to wear them around hi neck, perhaps to add to their enticement. It is said: "Surely he will get up and start hither, for medicine-men always like perforated white beads." On his arrival, the messenger simply setO the beads on the ground to await the shaman's de- cision. He does not leave them, but carries them home to be hung up until the outcome of the sha- man's effort.2"0 It was also said that a shaman was not paid immediately, but five days after a cu Certainly in some cases at least the shaman protected himself against the possibility of an unfavorable outcome, for in this narrative he is described as smelling the proffered beads and an- nouncing that, although they already smell of death and he predicts failure, he will neverthe- less try his skill. A A shaman who was frequently unsuccessful might be accused of malpractice, as the sequel to this narrative relates. Here the father of the young man who died despite the efforts of the shaman suspects the latter of having magically poisoned his son and vows to murder him from ambush in ven- geance, an attitude which has the concurrence of the chief. Deliberate magical poisoning (ma't?i- yauna) was also credited to some shamans who were killed in revenge and decapitated. 201 Another narrative--actually a fictitious one-- gives much of the background of a cure and the personalities involved. 22 It begins with a woman shaman's inability to cure and the calling of a male shaman, and goes on to his truculence because affronted that few are willing to assist him in his doctoring: The woman shaman203 said, "Now for four days I 200Sapir, Yana Texts, 192-193. 201Ibid., 180, n. 282. 202Ibid., 178-181. The narrative is repro- duced here amoothed and with some changes neces- sitated by palpable slips in translating. 203 This translation, "woman shaman, is re- quired by the context, but the original text gives liwi', medicine-man; cf. kiuwiya'ayauna, being medicine-women (ibid., 174, line 1; 177, line 16). 280 ;s . - i , 1 . . l .) ,, l iU is SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA have been doctoring her, yet she is aot well. I am afraid that she will not recover." The sick woman's husband now sends for a male shaman, offers inducements of pay, and exhorts him to his task. "Do you go after him," he says to the messenger, "perhaps that shaman will cure her. He is always saying, 'I am a great doc- tor."' When the shaman arrived, the husband or- ders water put on the ground (in a basket ?) for him. Offering white shell beads and dentalia, he thought, "He will be glad because of these, when he sees them." But the shaman counters, "I do not like these trinkets; I want shell disk beads." Now the husband admonishes the shaman, who replies with boastful confidence. "And do you doctor her; doctor her during the night- perhaps she will recover!" "Oh, I am not afrai of my doctoring the one who is sick (ma'disi, sick). Why should I be afraid? I am a medicine-man. She will have no reason to cry because I fail: she will yet eat her own food." The husband con- tinues his pressure: "Go out of the house! Shout! Call on your dream spirit,204 So always does a shaman do." It is apparently at this point that the shaman goes off to make contact with his powers and to dream, for he now announces: "She will recover, I dreamt. My dream tells me, 'Pray speak to the spring of water; do not eat now, but eat tomorrow when the sun is overhead; go to the spring to bathe and pass the night on the mountain!' I will return then in the night: wake up the people to help me sing, for I am a good doctor. He continues with instructions received in his dream: "'Pray ask the rocks, the trees, the logs for help! Go about twice (around the house ?) and the owl and yellow-hammer will talk to you. Pray roll tobacco between your hands and smoke; do not eat; pick up luck stones,' thus I heard in my dream. She will recover." The husband cries: "Ho! you people wake up! He's already coming back from the mountain. Do you all go into the house together and sing. Whenever any of you are sick, I shall do likewise for you, even though I have to go without sleep. There are still others who have not come to help, though if I had much food to offer them, they would all have come, joyously. Those people do not like to assist in singing. I shall go fetch them; they shall help to sing. I suigose they raise their hands in contempt at me. 5 Or per- haps they are sound asleep or eating and there- fore do not come: I suppose they do not hear. Run over to tell them to come tomorrow! 'I am a sensible person; it is no concern of mine,' they may say. Pray do not let them say that, even if they have handsome wives,"206 he said in irony. "If they refuse, pray let at least one come along; let him come the day after tomorrow," which is better than not having him come at all. 204See the discussion above. 205see p.275. 206The free translation of this text has "wives," the interlinear "husbands," but the word in the text gives no clue as to which spouse is implied. "I should like to see my brother," said the sick woman. "Do you go after him to bring him back to me!" The shaman continues with assurances and in- structions: "I have dreamt of everything. 'Doc- tor her for three nights!' said my dream to me (xafda'iwaumau'nidja, my dreamt thing). 'She shall recover and go about; she shall go off to get roots and procure food for herself. Shout! Run around the house when you are about to enter again,' my dream told me." He cautions those present: "Pray do not make a noise; stop the children and the dogs from making noises! I might stagger and fall; I have not much heart." When the shaman returned from his vigil in the night, he said: "There is no one here to help sing; I am the first to arrive. I am tired al- ready, since I have no help. The medicine-woman is angry,207 is she not? therefore she does not help me in doctoring. Let her soak cu'nna roots in water: I shall eat them raw to see if this sick woman is to eat her own again. I, at least, will not abandon her; I shall go home only when she has recovered. I rejoice that she will re- cover. I do not like to have my brother (her husband) lose her. I always visit and eat here; that is why I am sorry for him. I am the only doctor. I go to every spring and am answered. My supernatural power will not abandon me. Blood flows from my nose, from every part of my body," as proof of obtaining power. "I shall find the disease for you. If I were to die, then all good people would drop dead, for I am possessed of su- pernatural power (map'djama'ihandja', I was very powerful)." He begins to rail at the woman shaman for her failure to help: "The women are not like this. I have never yet heard that women doctors can cure: they are impostors, merely putting on style, wear- ing their ceremonial net caps. I am not like that; that is why I remain alive. (Meaning he has never caused a death by malpractice, hence there has never been reason to kill him.) I am let alone: I am good. People take pity on me, so I am quick to pity and help them. When I am seen coming to visit, the host is quick to tell his wife, 'Hurry and cook! Feed him!' I dreamt; that is why I came to see what I could do for you." The shaman is disgusted with the shabby treatment, lack of cooperation, and swears never to come again: "I would not do this again; even though I drop dead, I shall not set foot in your trail again. I seem to be like one who looks on from the outside while people are eating, unwanted. I have never been in such a position before, for my friends are many. But here I seem to be like one who looks on saying wistfully, 'Would that I might enter that house!"' Of shaman's regalia we know only of a ceremonial net cap with feathers, called ba' skli: this is the type referred to in the foregoing narrative. In another account a shaman is described as wearing a net cap filled with white feathers, called 207The text does not mention the medicine- woman (merely "She is angry") but the sense of what follows demands this interpretation. 281 ANTEROPOLOGICAL RECORDS yo'l'aiyauna. This was, however, properly a headdress for war and there is no implication that in this instance it marked the wearer as a shaman.208 The round luck-stones, which, in the fore- going narrative, the shaman is instructed by his dream to seek, were sources of power or luck available to any Yana fortunate enough to find them. These were small stones known as 'onunuipa (etymology uncertain, but cf. 'onu-, to dig out) that were characterized by peculiarities of color, markings or shape.209 Those of round shape (pl. l,c5 and such as had light-colored bands (interpreted as rattlesnakes) were particularly sought. They were believed to bestow good luck upon the finder and possessor in whatever pursuit he required their aid: the cure of disease, hunt- ing, gambling, love, and the like. As a rule the possession of these luck-stones was kept a secret, as indicated, for instance, by the fact that they were not kept in the house, but in some secluded spot in the woods known only to the possessor. Small cylindrical baskets (pl. l,c) for their reception were made by women alone. The material of these baskets was merely the twigs of the Douglas spruce, the needles being left on; in construction they were open-work twined, the thin twigs serving as parallel perpendicular warp ele- ments, thinner peeled strips as woof, while the needles served as a sort of thatch to fill up the open-work interstices. As regards size, they were about 5 or 6 inches in height and 2 inches in diameter, in general appearance not unlike a bird's nest. Such baskets were styled isimtsi'- m'i'i tinl'aumau kC?watsi'a, little spruce basket (cf. ktv'waisi, sack for storing things). The spruce basket, with its luck-stones, was not placed on the ground, but was hidden up in a lit- tle tree or in a hollow tree, so that no one might touch it. If the owner desired to obtain some of the power resident in the luck-stones, as, for instance, when preparing for a gambling contest, the hands were wetted and carefully rubbed over them, the knowledge of the action be- ing carefully kept from all. Still more potent than the 'onunuipa were small, white prismatic stones generally of quartz. These were known as lu'lmaisi, trans- lated by Betty Brown as "diamonds," and hence probably crystals. (Curtin refers to them as kuilmachi, "a white rock."210) These were also stored in the spruce baskets and hidden in the woods, or placed in rattlesnake dens. There is nothing to show that either the round luck-stones or the crystalline variety were directly wor- shiped or even explicitly associated with spirits giving them their supernatural power. 208For a description see p. 255. 209This account of luck-stones is quoted with some amendments from Sapir, Luck-Stones among the Yana. 210Curtin, 473. A few notes are available on general religious concepts. A term m&'p'djam'aina seems to have been applied to beings--nonhuman and human--en- dowed with supernatural characteristics or power. Thus, such beings as are eternal or return to life after death, like sun and moon, are ma p'- djam'aina. Some people credited with this power of coming back to life--which was considered a bad power--were also so termed. This explanation was given by both Sam Battwi and Betty Brown. But the term was also used to describe supernatural power in humans and animal characters in tales: thus, a shaman says, map'djama'ihandja', "I was very powerful, possessed of supernatural power"; and again a certain bird and bug are called ou to exercise their talents, be'man'inuims wai'maipa' ma'p'djam'aina, "It is you that always say that you have supernatural power."'211 Curtin gives as a translation of mapchemaina, "the first people now turned into birds, beasts, and other things,"2 which is not incompatible if we assume it meant only "supernatural beings." Some Yana notions of the world and its fabu- lous creatures deserve mention here. The tales of origin account primarily for the creation of the Yana and neighboring peoples and for the ori- gin of sex, hands, and death;213 other origins and transformations appear incidentally in various tales. According to the Central Yana informant, the creation of people took place at Wama riwi, a village at the cove north of Battle Creek and sev- eral miles west of the present Shingletown, that is, roughly at the center of Yana territory. Here in the beginning were Lizard and Cottontail (in Dixon's version, Lizard, Gray Squirrel, and Coyote; in Curtin's, Silkworm) who had no predecessors. Discussing how people shall be made, Lizard lays down sticks which they carry to the four directions to become neighboring Indian tribes. Realizing that they have omitted those at the center, they put down bad (short) sticks there. Hence the Yana are shorter than any of their neighbors: a view held by the Yana and repeated by Powers as fact.21' In Dixon's version (from the same informant) Lizard carefully prepares three sticks for Atsugewi Win- tun, and Achomawi, and as an afterthought, siort sticks for the Yana. The first three are placed to the east, west, and north; the others are boiled to transform them into huimans. Coyote refuses to recognize them until they speak properly, that is, the Yana tongue. Curtin's version is quite dif- ferent, although still the Yana are created from sticks: his presumably Northern Yana informant, himself a chief, placed the locale in his own cointry, at Round Mountain. Here Silkworm puts 213 Sapir, Yana Texts, 43, 49, 177, 180. 212Curtin, 445, 467. 213Sapir, Yana Texts, 76-77, 88-93, 209-210; Curtin, 467-484. 2 1 4Powers, 275-276. 282 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE YANA down three sticks, for the Yana chief, a woman, and an orphan, and a large number around the first for common people; he instructs them how to procure food and admonishes that they obey the chief.2 1 5 The origin of sex, or rather its proper at- tribution, rests in the circumstance that in the beginning, women were men, men were women. The women were such poor hunters that people starved. To remedy this, Cottontail placed stones in a fire' when the women were seated, the stones burst, cutting their proper organs, and the women became men. Hands were then webbed like Lizard's. In order that they might handle bows and pestles, Lizard experimenting, cut his fingers apart. With this as a model, he sepa- rated those of the humans. (In Curtin's version, Water Lizard remedies the defect for himself alone.) In the beginning when people died, they rose from their graves again. Coyote, who ob- jected to these improvements of hulman affairs, not only proposes that they shall stay dead but stamps down a dead man who would rise. When his own son dies, he changes his mind, but Lizard, Cottontail and Gray Squirrel will have none of it, so that death and mourning were established forever. A series of fabulous malignant beings were conceived as dwelling in certain localities.216 In the Sacramento River were water grizzlies (ha tlen'na) which pulled fishermen down to de- vour.217 They were spotted black and white, like dogs. Somewhere (not specified) was a ser- pent ('e'k'`') which killed people. Near Terry's mill were believed to dwell malignant little be- ings (y6'yauisgi), like little children. They often enticed people and ate them up. At a marshy spot and spring on Round Mountain, called Hk'mufdi (?), dwelled a being called M8's8ugi- yauna who caused the ground to shake when he was displeased. Central Yana Once M6's-ugiyauna made a little baby of him- self and put himself in the road of two women. One of them took it up and in sport gave it one of her nipples to suck, though she was really without milk. The baby kept sucking until the girl tried to take her breast away, but without success. The baby kept sucking at her, sucked up her flesh, and at last sucked up her whole body. This being was displeased if strangers came near and talked anything but Yana. Once some Yreka Indians came and talked Chinook jargon at that place, whereupon the earth began to shake violently. At last the owner of the place cried out to M6's-ugiyauna that it was not he who had thus spoken and begged him "in the doctor way" to stop, whereupon he did. For some natural phenomena certain mythical dogs were conceived as agents. One, called 'I'lhat'aina, thunder, was by origin a child dug from the ground who accompanied Flint Boy to the west in the guise of a dog. He remained behind in the black storm clouds capping Bally Mountain, a high peak west of Redding, whence his terrific bark could be heard as thunder.218 Eclipses of the sun and moon were believed to be caused by their dogs devouring them. These dogs, called matcpirkami, eats people, are caterpillars. Moon has only one dog. In the moon could be seen Moon's wife, Frog. In a tale Pine Marten snaps his evil father-in- law, Moon, into the sky by means of a springy tree, then Frog and her two daughters.219 The Yana said that when the horns of the crescent moon pointed upward, the moon was filled with water and snow would fall, but when the crescent was vertical, there would be no rain. Orion's Belt (tcitcai'aumi'tcl) was Coyote's arrow. Inasmuch as it bears on the Yana view of the world we include their reckoning of four seasons here: Northern Yana (Dixon) Winter ... matatsuil'kiya Spring ... tsupcll Summer ... matpanwl'i Autumn ... akiwa'ltopaia'una (Sapir) ma'tadju' i maha's niyauna, it being spring (March) p'8'rapa'a, ripe acorns fall (October) (Sapir) mA'iadjniyau(na) matVbanfi'it'ts-idiyau(na) mat' bant'iyau(na) 215Of a creation from out of a primeval watery waste, referred to by Dixon (Northern Maidu, 339) as possessed in common by Maidu, Achomawi, and Yana, Sam Bat'wl, the Central Yana who fur- nished Sapir's and Dixon's versions, knew nothing. This inclusion of the Yana probably rests on an oversight, as Dixon's own version fails to corroborate his statement. 216Most of the following references to these creatures were obtained apart from their men- tion in the tales. 217Sapir, Yana Texts, 72. 218Ibid., 17-23, 221-223; Curtin, 297-310, 313-322. Curtin translates the name as "light- ning," but while the character is clearly lightning in his second myth, it is equally clearly thunder in the first. Both Dixon and Sapir recorded the translation "thunder," light- ning being paohtskaina. 219Sapir, Yana Texto, 234-235. 283 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS There was some uncertainty or conflict of opinion concerning the destination of souls of the dead. According to Betty Brown (Northern Yana) a corpse was always placed in its grave facing east because that was the direction its soul would take to Alts ila'k' pladif, ghost land, which was located there on high. There a female being A'ihandjimiya held the souls and decided their lot according as they had their nasal septa pierced or not. She did not like those without nose holes; from this followed the practice of piercing the septum quickly after death if the dead man lacked a nose hole in life. On the contrary, Dixon's information (presumably obtained from Round Mountain Jack, also a Northern Yana) specifies that the spirit of the dead (halaha'lu) went to the south where there was a being K-uinwia^udjuici. When the shade reached this being's house, Kuinwia-udjiuci asked him whether he was good. If so, he opened the ground and put the soul in it. In about five hours the soul came up like a new man (presumably a purified soul, not returned to life). Bad men, the being threw out of his house. Dixon's informant(s) also stated that the soul of the dead went off to the south for a while, then returned to stay near people. Bad smells would drive ghosts away but they would come back. Flowers attracted them, whistling also. The spirits of the dead would wander, visiting all the places where in life they used to spit.220 Because of this, according to Betty Brown, it was necessary to get fresh water for the household every morning. That which had been left standing in the house would probably have been drunk by a ghostly visitor, which would make it unlucky for a living person. Therefore water was generally left outside the house. Among magical acts recorded is a formula to make a curse rebound on people who have wished one ill. As a curse was said: "ba'tdiba1 unu, I hope you fall down dead!" If a person hears (or imagines) that he is cursed or called evil names (gabi't duwans tuigu, he finds it out him- self), then he prays that those bad wishes should befall the person who uttered the curse. S-uwa`! S'8 faliimy&a May ye speak [instead] to make me happy. May you suddenly experience that wherewith you curse me! May you suddenly drop dead without being sick! May you drop dead, you who drink my blood! May you suddenly all perish! [Go ahead,] Drink my blood! Would that I might be happy! May I not be sick in any way! 221 The expression "drink my blood" means, as Betty Brown expressed it, "You folks are always mixing up my blood with your coffee" to drink, that is, 220The last part of this statement is uncer- tain since Dixon's notebook is nearly illegible at this point. 221Sapir, Yana Texts, 198-199. gratifying their hatred by metaphorically con- suming one's lifeblood with their food, cursing and wishing the death of the object of their hate. Spells and more or less formulaic utterances in general were introduced by s uwa', of unknown, if any, significance. The sacred word above, s-8'galfimAy&, is also an untranslatable formulaic word. It would seem to have been a term of address to the supernatural powers. A spell said by a girl desirous of getting a husband is recorded above (p. 273). The Yana also shared the widespread magical act of striking a boy with the first game he killed, presumably also so that he might be lucky when hunting thereafter. A tale reads: "A mountain quail looked into the sweat house, the boy shot it. She [his grandmother] then took the quail and struck the boy with it on the small of his back, as was always done to a boy when he shot his first game" (Round Mountain Jack, Northern Yana).2 The prayer ejaculated on sneezing implied that someone was talking about the sneezer. A woman said: S-6'galiimay-! May I be happy Do you people not speak about me! Do you wish for my happiness when speaking about me! The formula used by a man was: May I be happy! May my legs feel light! [I.e., "May I be in good health and spiritst"] May you people speak for my happiness! Would that you would let me alone: I bathe, and I go back into my house, and I rejoice in my eating.223 Dreams of normal sort, that is, other than those corresponding to a vision as described above, were held to have predictive value. For instance, in a tale: Jihkulu shot at Jewina, but missed. "You can't hit me!" cried Jewina. Jihkulu shot off Jewina's coyote skin, and then he killed him. Jewina had dreamed a long time before that if he wore coyote skin in battle he would not be killed, and that was why he wore it; but when Jihkulu shot off his skin, he killed him easily.224 We may assume that here as elsewhere a dream was assigned this value after events transpired that seemed to make it apposite. Certain specific characteristics of dreams were omens. To dream of going east or north was a good sign, but of going west, bad, and of going south, very bad. So Betty Brown explained her dream in which she first, by going to the east, saw her dead mother and cousin and returned to this world by slipping down 222Ibid., 218. 223Ibid., 199. 224Curtin, 476. 284 SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TBE CULTURE OF THE YANA to the north.225 If one was sick and dreamt of going south or west, it was a sign of certain death. Most of the omens or portents recorded were signs of approaching misfortunes. To hear the cries of coyote or fox was a bad sign and por- tended death. Thus, in the description of the death of a woman in the labors of childbirth, a fox is heard to cry before daybreak (glta'p'atdis, he now gives omen).226 Flowers grew where dead people were buried, hence it was thought bad luck, bringing on death quickly, to pick or care for flowers. If a bow hung out to dry--after being coated with salmon skin mixed with some green substance (sinew-backed bow ?)-- snaps it was a sign that the owner would be killed in a fight. The mock sun and meteor were signs of approaching death (utdja'm'djisi, mock sun; wv'ris, star is thrown in night, shooting star). When one's stomach burned or rumbled it was a sign that something bad would happen. It was ill fortune to be born when the weather was bad, when it rained or snowed. Hence in a tale, Wildcat Woman's giving birth to a child during a storm lays an ominous background for the accusa- tion of infidelity which next follows.227 Curiously enough, it was a token of good for- tune to hear a ghost cry at night; this brought lasting good luck. If a spider came down on his thread in a home, it was a sign that deer hunt- ing would be successful. "Rattlesnake nests" (finding their dens ?) were considered good luck. If found, the prismatic luck-stones (ku'lmatsi) were often kept in them. When the huimmingbird came buzzing, they said: "ml 'siyau 'a'ldjamasiwadj dibi'lyauros 'a'ldjamasiwatc', Salmon 'comb' [inside head], looks like you throw it to me; I don't want it; salmon tail, ditto." This was a sign that some- one was eating salmon, and in humorous vein the speaker refuses these undesirable parts of the fish. There were certain general food taboos. It was forbidden to eat salmon at the same time as deermeat, small game, or the roots taken from gopher burrows, for to do so would stop the sal- mon run (mu'i'lamas, I transgress taboo; ma't'iyauna, taboo, poison). This is exemplified in a tale: Heron is depicted as fishing for sal- mon while her husband Coyote collects roots; she refuses to eat the roots he offers her and wishes to keep even the odor of salmon from him for fear she will catch no more.228 Perhaps the penalty fell only on the one who failed to heed the pro- hibition, for it was also said that if gray squirrel were eaten that person would not catch 225 Sapir, Yana Texts, 196-197. 226 Sapir, Yana Texts, 187, line 2. 227Sapir, Yana Texts, 66-67. 228 Ibid., 156. salmon for six or seven days. The Yana never ate cranes because they were supposed to taste like human flesh. Coyote and dog meat were never eaten A series of taboos surround childbirth. Before and after the birth husband and wife might eat neither deermeat nor salmon and must remain apart from others in a small hut. The man could not hunt or fish in the company of others before the event, and afterward he stopped altogether until the infant's navel healed. There is no direct evidence of religious dances in the notes, yet there are hints which are sug- gestive. The only dances certainly credited to the Yana are the girls' puberty dance and the scalp dance, yet the tales' mike frequent mention of what seem to have been social dances, includ- ing dances on the way to and from a celebration, primarily by way of practice. In this connection, we may record a gloss to an account of such an approach described in a tale:229 the guests danced (bu'ri'i) into the sweat house (dwelling ?) of the host, who sent a boy to let them enter, while he addressed them (g&'icati) from the roof. Three terms appear to have been applied to dancing: any dance seems to have been called 'adji'l- ('adji'- l't', they danced; adji'lyauna, their dancing; 'adji'lsi, round dance); to dance entering a house, bu'ri'i; and to dance on the way to another vil- lage, djari" i.230 Such hints of ceremonial dance complex as we have suggest that there may have been present at- tenuated elements of the Kuksu cult of tribes farther south and west, or more probably some of the widely distributed forms which to the south were syncretized to form the Kuksu ceremonies. Sapir noted "bfl'ni feathers" like the feather dance cloaks of the Maidu figured by Dixon.231 This was worn about Christmas time: it was put on by one man far away from the village and when he appeared with it all the people cried. They then danced all day and finally things were burned. The note adds "Done at Chico [i.e., by Naidu), not in Noze [Yana] country -- ?" Yet a Yana name for the cloak and the circumstance that this does not agree with Maidu practices is suggestive. If the information is not hopelessly confused, it may be that we have here an element derived from the Northwestern Maidu winter Kuksu performances en- grafted on an annual burning ceremony by the Yana. Yet Sapir specifically noted that no Hesi dance, as known to Maidu and Wintun, was recognized. (Here Hesi is palpably equivalent to the whole Kuksu complex.) Further, he remarked that it seems that the fairly elaborate cycle of dances found among the Maidu did not obtain among the Yana and that ceremonially they resembled such simple tribes as Shasta and Takelma. 229Sapir, Yana Texts, 153-154. 230 Ibid., 41, 142, 143, and notebooks. How- ever there is also a note: bu'risi, man dances (tramping on ground), dja'risi, woman dances. 231Dixon, Northern Maidu, pl. 41. 2B05 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS There are two further scraps of evidence which may also be related to Euksu forms. One is a reference to feather ornaments called ba'-i bami, worn by the dance leader and resembling Dixon's figure 155 in his Northern Maidu, but whether this reference is to the feather band or to the "trembler" shown in Dixon is not indicated. The second reference may be to some sort of seclusion during initiation, like that of the Kuksu secret societies. It was mainly "high-toned" people who had their children (generally female) sometimes se- cluded as w6'anmauna [hidden ones ?232]. Such were kept apart even up to the age of thirty and either did not marry at all or else did so very late. Sam could give no reason for this seclusion and seemed? like Betty, either reticent or else comparati'vely ignorant of it. This is followed immediately in the notes by the remarks on the absence of the Hesi, as noted above. But it does suggest some relation to the seclusions of the Kuksu secret society type. One difficulty is that the Yana seem to have been at some distance from the area where these secret societies flourished in fuller form, but they were adjacent to Maidu groups which had initiat- ing societies. It is also conceivable that the seclusion referred to may have been one of the widely diffused background elements from which the cult initiations were systematized. In this connection Sapir had also abstracted part of one of Curtin's myths: When Jewinna came for his wives, their broth- ers and brothers-in-law gave the women presents; but when his two wives and two sons went home with him and old Jewinna saw them coming, he took off two bearskins quickly, and when they were on top of the sweat house, he caught the young boys, put them into the bearskins, rolled them up, and put them away to be Weanmauna. [There ends the myth, without further explanation.]233 It is barely possible that this is a reforence, myth-fashion, to the seizure of initiates for the cult societies. 232Curtin, 339. 233Curtin, 349. These several suggestions of the presence of elements related to the Kuksu ceremonies--or perhaps to the antecedent elements out of which that complex was built--are mere conjectures, but it does not seem obvious to what else they can be related. There is, of course, the possibility that these elements were introduced to the Yana as part of the developments stimulated by the Ghost Dance of 1870. The course of diffusion of these cults through Yana territory is not clear, but may be briefed as follows.234 The Ghost Dance en- tered northern California from a Paviotso source by several routes. By one through the Achomawi it reached the Northern Yana in 1871, and from them spread to Wintun, to Hill Patwin, and beyond to the southwest.235 A derived form, the Earth Lodge cult, developed amotng Wintun and Hill Patwin largely under the stimulation of a mixed Northern Yana-Wintu, spread northeastward in a return course to these Yana and the Achomawi in 1872-73. This ritual formulation may have contained Kuksu elements derived from the Bole-Maru cult. This was a revitalized form of the decadent Kuksu cult developed in the Patwin-Pomo area under Earth Lodge cult stimulus. The Earth Lodge cult may also have flowed independently to the Central Yana from the southwest, with later Bole-Maru elements coming from the same direction. While the exac-t course of these movements is anything but clear, it is palpable that the Yana may have received Kuksu-like items at this late date as part of the Bole-Maru complex. Yet it is unlikely; for the specific items suggest Kuksu rather than the Bole-Maru level. 234Du Bois, 1870 Ghost Dance, especially 40- 50, 52-53, 130-134. 235Sapir's statement (Yana Texts, 196, n. 308) that the Ghost Dance reached the Yana from the so-called "Chico Indians" (Northwestern Maidu) is probably based on fragmentary, incidental in- formation and does not seem to be correct. Kroeber's parallel statement (Handbook, 872) may be based on Sapir. For discussion of the diffusion of the Ghost Dance and derived com- plexes see in addition to Du Bois, Kroeber (loc. cit.i, Gayton, 64-65, and Spier, Ghost Dance of 1870, 46. 28JOu6 INFORMATION ON PLATES INFORMATION ON PLATES (Numbers preceded by 1- are University of California Museum of Anthropology specimen-catalogue numbers; those by 10- are Peabody Museum, Harvard University, specimen numbers; those by 15- are University of California Museum negative- catalogue numbers.) Plate 1 a, b, necklaces of dentalia (1-13454) and olivellas (1-13455) respectively (15-4786). c, luck-stones (1-13458) and basket (1-13453) to contain them. Plate 2 Yana baskets (a-g, 1-13456, 13439, 13440, 13442, 13452, 13447, 13441; 15-4782, 4785, 4783, 4779, 4778, 4775, 4774). Plate 3 Yana and Atsugewi baskets (a-h, 1-13448, 13437, 13450, 13446, 13443, 13438, 13444, 13449; 15-4777, 4776, 4785, 4780, 4783, 4784, 4784, 4782). Plate 4 Yana baskets (a-f, 10-76634, 76629, 76641, 76630, 76631, 76635). diam. (in inches): 3, 15; 7, 14; 6, 18; 9, 13 1/2; 8, 13; 5, 19. Ht. and max. Plate 5 Yana baskets (a-f, 10-76633, 76638, 76639, 76636, 76642, 76637). Ht. und max. diam. (in inches): 5, 8; 6 1/2, 8; 5, 8 1/4; 5 1/2, length 17 1/2; 8 1/2, 6; 1 1/2, 12 1/2. Plate 6 a, b, cradles (10-76626, 76627). c, side view of b. d, hood of b. a b c PLATE 1. SHELL NECKLACES; LUCK-STONES AND BASKET TO CONTAIN THEM. e g PLATE 2. YANA BASKETS. PLATE 3. YANA AND ATSUGE4I BASKETS. PLATE 4. YANA BASKETS. PLATE 5. YANA BASKETS. fim"Na-l- b a / XI . I. C PLATE 6. CRADLES. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbreviations: AA American Anthropologist (new series). AMNH-B American Museum of Natural History, Bulletin. BAE-B Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin. -R Annual Report. CNAE Contributions to North American Eth- nology. JAYL Journal of American Folklore. SI-MC Smithsonian Institution Miscellaneous Collections. -R Annual Report. UC-AR University of California Anthropologi- cal Records. -PAAE Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. USNM-R United States National Museum, Annual Report. UW-PA University of Washington Publications in Anthropology. Barrett, Samuel Alfred 1908. The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring Indians. UC-PAAE 6:1-332. Curtin, Jeremiah 1898. Creation Myths of Primitive America. Boston. Curtis, Edward S. 1924. The North American Indian. Vols. 13 and 14. Norwood, Mass. Dixon, Roland B. 1902. Basketry Designs of the Indians of Northern California. AMNH-B 17, Pt. 1. 1904. Some Shamans of Northern California. JAFL 17:23-27. 1905. The Northern Maidu. AMNH-B 17, Pt. 3. 1907. The Shasta. AMNH-B 17, Pt. 5. Dixon, Roland B., and A. L. Kroeber 1903. The Native Languages of California. AA 5:1-26. Du Bois, Cora 1935. Wintu Ethnography. UC-PAAE 36:1-148. 1939. The 1870 Ghost Dance. UC-AR 3:1-151. Gayton, A. H. 1930. The Ghost Dance of 1870 in South-Central California. UC-PAAE 28:57-82. Gifford, E. W. 1926. Californian Anthropometry. UC-PAAE 22:217-390. 1928. Notes on Central Pomo and Northern Yana Society. AA 30:675-684. Gifford, E. W., and Stanislaw Klimek 1936. Culture Element Distributions:II--Yana. UC-PAAE 37:71-100. Holmes, W. H. 1919. Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiq- uities. Pt. I: Introductory; The Lithic Industries. BAE-B 60. Kniffen, Fred B. 1928. Achomrawi Geography. UC-PAAE 23:297-332. Kroeber, A. L. 1905. Basket Designs of the Indians of North- western California. UC-PAAE 2:104-164. 1907. Indian Myths of South Central California. UC-PAAE 4:167-250. 1909. California Basketry and the Pomo. AA 11:233-249. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. BAE-B 78. 1932. The Patwin and Their Neighb6rs. UC- PAAE 29:253-424. Mason, Otis T. 1894. North American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers. SI-R for 1893:631-679. 1904. Aboriginal American Basketry: Studies in a Textile Art without Machinery. USNM-R for 1902:171-548. Merriam, C. Hart 1926. The Classification and Distribution of the Pit River Indian Tribes of California. SI-MC 78, No. 3. Merrill, Ruth Earl 1923. Plants Used in Basketry by the Cali- fornia Indians. UC-PAAE 20:215-242. Nelson, N. C. 1916. Flint Working by Ishi. Holmes Anniver- sary Volume (F. W. Hodge, ed.), pp. 397- 402. Washington. Pope, Saxton T. 1918. Yahi Archery. UC-PAAE 13:103-152. Powell, J. W. 1891. Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico. BAE-R 7:1-142. Powers, Stephen 1877. Tribes of California. CNAE 3. Sapir, Edward 1907. Notes on the Takelma Indians of South- western Oregon. AA 9:251-275. 1908. Luck-Stones among the Yana. JAFL 21:42. 1910. Yana Texts, together with Yana Myths collected by Roland B. Dixon. UC-PAAE 9:1- 235. 1916. Terms of Relationship and the Levirate. AA 18:327-337. 1917. Position of the Yana in the Hokan Stock. UC-PAAE 13:1-34. 1918. Yana Terms of Relationship. UC-PAAE 13: 153-174. 1923. Text Analysis of Three Yana Dialects. UC-PAAE 20:263-294. Spier, Leslie 1927. The Ghost Dance of 1870 among the Klamath of Oregon. TUW-PA 2, No. 2. 1930. Klamath Ethnography. UC-PAAE 30:1-338. Teit, James H. 1930. The Salishan Tribes of the Western Plateaus. BAE-R 45:23-396. Voegelin, Erminie W. 1937. Suicide in Northeastern California. AA 39:445-456. Waterman, T. T. 1918. The Yana Indians. UC-PAAE 13:35-102. [295] INDEX Acorn preparation, 249 Amazement, gesture of, 275 Amulet basket, 264, 282 Aprons, 253 Armor, 269 Arrow: 268; flaking, 268; poison, 268; re- lease, 268 Avoidance, 273, 274 Awls, 255, 258 Babies carried, 250 Ball play, 279 Basket: caps, 254, 264; classification, 260; hopper, 262; luck-stone, 282; techniques, 260 Beauty, ideals of, 256, 271, 272 Belt, human hair, 253 Berdaches, 275, 279 Birth of first child, 271 Bole-Maru cult, 286 Boundaries, uncertainty of, 240-242 Bows, 252, 268, 285 Brave men, 269, 277 Bride payments, 273 Bridge, 259 Brushes, 250, 256 Buckskin, 253, 258 Burial net, 258, 276 Burning ceremony, 277, 285 Camping: house, 257; places, 246 Cane, 256 Caps: 253, 254, 269; net, 255, 281 Cardinal directions, 247, 278, 279, 284 Chiefs, 274, 280 Classification of foods, 252, 285 Cleanliness, 256, 275 Comb, 256, 275 Confinement hut, 270, 271 Contempt, gesture of, 275, 281 Cords, 257 Cosmetics, 253, 256, 271 Cradles, 262, 271 Creation myths, 249, 282 Curing, 276, 280 Curses, 284 Dance leader, 275, 286 Dances, religious, 285 Dancing: 259, 274, 275, 285; at burial, 276, 277; at puberty, 272, 285; scalp, 269, 285 Deer disguise, 252 Dentalium beads, 255, 256, 276 Design names, 266 Dialects, Yana, 244 Digging stick, 258 Dixon, Roland B., Yana notes of, v, 247 Dreams, 280, 281, 284 Drums, 259, 278 Dwelling, 256, 276, 277 Dyes, 260 Ear lobe perforation, 271, 272 Ear ornaments, 254, 255 Earth lodge, 257 Earth Lodge cult, 286 Earthquakes, beliefs about, 283 Enemies, 269 Face painting, 256, 276 Family solidarity, 273, 276, 280 Fauna of Yana territory, 248 Feather headband, 255 Fire drill, 258 Fishing: 252; places, 246 Fi.sh trap, 258, 264 Flora of Yana territory, 248 Flowers, attitude toward, 285 Flute, 259 Gambling, 278 Game, first killed, 284 Gestures: 275; hand game, 278 Ghost Dance, 286 Ghosts, 284, 285 Girdle, tasseled, 253 Grass game, 278 Graves, 276, 277 Hairdress, 254 Hand game, 278 Headdress, 255, 282, 286 Head scratcher, 272 Helmet, 269 Hobos, 275 Hunting, 252 Illegitimacy, 270, 275 Informants, 239 Insect foods, 250, 252 Intertribal relations, 270 Intoxicant, 251 Javelin, 269 Kinship terms, 275 Knives, 258, 261 Ko'mbo, identity of, 239, 252, 257, 270 Kuksu cult, 275, 285 Land of dead, 284 Leaching process, 250 Leggings, 253 Levirate, 273 Local groups, 244 Luck-stones, 281, 282, 285 Magnesite beads, 255 Marital residence, 273 Mats, 264 Maul, 258 Measurements, 254 Meetings, 274 Menstrual lodge, 257, 272 Menstrual periods, 272 Migration legend, 248 Mill Creek Indians, 239, 245, 248. Moccasins, 253 Moon, beliefs about, 283 Mortar, 250 Mourning: 275, 276, 277; anniversary, 277 Musical instruments, 259 Names, personal, 271 Navel cord, 264, 271, 272 Necklaces, 254 Net caps, 255, 281 Nets: burial, 276, 277; rabbit, 252; seine, 258 No'zi, identity of, 239, 242 Omens, 284 Origin tales, 282, 283 Ornaments, 254 Packstrap,.258 Paints, 256, 260 Pestle, 251, 258 [296] SAPIR AND SPIER: NOTES ON TEI CULTURE OF THE YANA Pets, 275 Physical type, 249, 282 Pipe, 259 Pitch, 276 Pit roasting, 250 Place names, 247 Poison: arrow, 268; magical, 274, 277, 280, 285 Population, 248 Power, supernatural, 271, 279, 280, 281, 282 Prayer formulae, 273, 284 Puberty: dance, 259; rites, 272 Quivers, 268, 269 Rabbit net, 252 Rabbitskin blanket, 253, 258 Rattles, 259, 273 Residence after marriage, 273 Robe, 253, 258 Root foods, 250 Ropes, 257 Sacks, 260, 262 Salt, 252 Sandals, 253 Sapir, Edward, Yana field work of, v Scalp dance, 269 Scalping, 269 Seasons, names for, 283 Seine, 258 Septum pierced, 255, 275, 284 Shamans: 275, 279; in childbirth, 271; in curing, 276, 280; headdress, 255; regalia, 281; specialization of 280; women, 279, 281 Shell beads, 254, 27~, 280, 281 Shield, 268 Shinny, double-ball, 277 Sifter, basket, 262, 264 Sifting board, 250 Singing, 275, 278, 280, 281 Skirt, 254 Smoking, 259 Sneezing, 284 Snowshoes, 253 Social distinctions, 275, 279 Sororate, 273 Souls, 284 Speech: collective for chiefs, 274; plural for respect, 274, 275; sex differentiation of, 274 Speeches, 274, 285 Spirits, 280, 281 Star lore, 283, 285 Stick game, 279 Stirring paddle, 250 Stone blade flaking, 268 Subdivisions of Yana, 243 Suicide, 277 Supernatural beings, 282, 283 Sweat house, 246, 257, 271, 278, 285, 286 Sweating, 253, 271 Taboos, 252, 270, 271, 272, 273, 279, 280, 281, 285 Tanning, ?58 Tattooing, 256 Terms of address, 274 Thunder, beliefs about, 283 Tobacco, 259, 281 Topography of Yana territory, 248 Torture, 269 Trade, 254, 255, 258, 269, 270 Tribal designations, 242, 244 Twins, 270, 271 Vengeance, 277, 280, 284 Village names, 245 Warfare, 253, 254, 255, 269 Warming-pit at childbirth, 271 Wealth, 274, 275, 276 Wedge, 258 Whistles, 259 Whistling, 284 Whores, 274 Yahi-Wintun, joint territory of, 242 Yana culture, extinction of, v 297