ANTHROPOLOGICAL REPCORDES 10:1 YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY I: Tulare Lake, SouthernValley, and Central Foothill Yokuts BY A. H. GAYTON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1948 YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY I: Tulare Lake, Southern Valley, and Central Foothill Yokuts BY A. H. GAYTON ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Vol. 10, No. 1 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Editors: A. L. Kroeber, E. W. Gifford, R. H. Lowie, R. L. Olson Volume io, No. I, pp. I-I42, 4 maps, 14 figures in text, I plate Submitted by editors February I9, I946 Issued October, I948 Price, $2.oo UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFACE ''The ethnographic data presented herein Story, to augment my incomplete data on Tachi X Eollected for the Department of Anthro- culture, of which it is impossible to get a y, University of California, on a number full description today. Another addition to my eld trips during the years 1925 to 1928; Tachi notes comes from Mr. E.W. Gifford, who 29 and 1930 the work was additionally aid- kindly gave me his record of Tachi moieties and .a fellowship of the National Research genealogies. I am indebted to Dr. Stanley S. Newman for - Some of the material then gathered has the lively account of a Yokuts war, and to Mr. ,.published in separate studies, namely, Donald Scott for the photograph of Yokuts speci- t and Western Mono Pottery-Making (1929), mens in the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. -Ghost Dance of 1870 in South Central Cali- A very valuable contribution to the anthro- a (1930), Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans pologist's knowledge of the Yokuts is Dr. ), and with Stanley S. Newman, Yokuts and Stanley S. Newman's Yokuts Language of Cali- en Mono Myths (1940). Unpublished but fornia.2 The archaeology of Valley Yokuts esible data on the use of jimsonweed by the territory, already investigated by Gifford, st and Western Mono are embodied in "The Schenck, Heizer, and others, has been summa- otic Plant Datura in Aboriginal American rized by Dr. Waldo R. Wedel in connection with e" (Thesis, University of California his own researches at Buena Vista Lake. rary, 1928). A few brief papers from the pen of Mr. The only original material now remaining George W. Stewart have preserved glimpses of the author's hands are twenty-five or more Yokuts life with which he came in contact logies and a file of several hundred through his many years of service with the nal names; these will be combined in a Visalia Land Office. Like Mr. Latta, Mr. i'e publication since this already lengthy Stewart had keen sympathy and respect for the graphy could not support addenda. native dwellers in the San Joaquin Valley. One A valuable addition to my own records is of Mr. Stewart's longer papers and the recent material on the Chukchansi collected by culture element study of Dr. Harold Driver have Barbara Thrall (Mrs. Arthur Wood Rogers) been examined but not used in the preparation 4938. On her marriage she generously gave of this ethnography.3 r field notes to incorporate with my own Published papers on the Western Mono Yokuts culture. Mrs. Rogers' material is tribes were few at the time of my field work, :result of but two weeks' stay at Coarse chiefly Kroeber's linguistic study, Shoshonean and its richness, for so brief a contact, Dialects of California, and Gifford's works on a tribute both to her abilities as a budding Northfork Mono myths and social organization, ographer and to the Yokuts as facile in- "Western Mono Myths" and "Dichotomous Social nts. A regrettable accident prevented Organization in South Central California."'4 Rogers from continuing her work for the Since that time Gifford's ethnographic account th of time she had planned. The myths she of the Northfork Mono has appeared, but the orded will appear in a separate paper by scantiness of the data in 1925 is indicated by ers and Gayton, "Twenty-seven Chukchansi the brevity of treatment received by the Mono ts Myths (in press). in Kroeber's Handbook.5 The basic picture of Yokuts culture as A more thorough knowledge of the Western wn by Dr. A.L. Kroeber in his Handbook of Mono peoples in contact with the Yokuts of the Indians of California has -remained un- foothills was exigent to a broader understand- ed by later ethnographic data from the San ing of Yokuts culture and therefore, after qin Valley. Rather, the picture has been working with the Wukchumni Yokuts of Kaweah led out, the composition has gained balance, River, I visited their Shoshonean neighbors to the colors have been heightened by more in- the north, the Waksachi. The contact proved te knowledge of the life depicted. Per- too fruitful to abandon after brief interviews otive has been added and depth increased. By and consequently fairly full accounts were got B of Dr. Kroeber's initial publications, of both Waksachi and Wobonuch life. So com- Yokuts Language of South Central California, ian Myths of South Central California, and 'Since published; see Bibliography. ethnographic sketch in his Handbook, a 3The Yokuts Indians of the Kaweah River Region. Sierra Itural orientation was already provided when Club Bulletin, 12:385-400, 1927; Culture Element Distribu- began my field investigationtionions, VI: Southern Sierra Nevada, UC-R 1:53-154, 1937. -I have drawn upon Kroeber's early work and (See Bibliography for explanation of abbreviations.) n Mr F..Ltasltl bo,UceJf' JAFL, 36:301-367, 1923; UC-PAAE 11:291-296, 1916. W Since published; see Bibliography. 5Handbook of California Indians, 584-589. t [~~~~~~~~~~~~iii] iv ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS pletely had these Western Mono absorbed the cultures of adjacent tribes must be consulted, culture of the San Joaquin Valley tribes that namely, Dr. Erminie W. Voegelin's TUbatulabal to separate it from Yokuts for purposes of Ethnography, and Miwok Material Culture, by publication seemed not only artificial but im- S.A. Barrett and E.W. Gifford. practical. The result was a somewhat unwieldy My gratitude is cast in two directions -- mass of material, the sheer bulk of which has to the many informants whose amiability and been largely responsible for the long delay in sincere interest sustained them through tedious preparing it for press. inquiries and labored explanations, and to Even now the record which follows is those members of the Department of Anthropology merely that: a record of ethnographic facts at the University of California who sponsored unaugmented by comparative references and un- my work and leniently permitted me to prolong adorned by interpretative conclusions. The its completion: more particularly to Mrs. random allusions to other cultures often are Josie Alonzo, Mrs. Mollie Lawrence, Mr. Sam more remote than immediate, casually calling Osborn, and to Dr. A.L. Kroeber, Dr. Robert H. attention to some ethnic similarity of piquant Lowie, and Mr. E.W. Gifford. interest. For those who would completely com- prehend the civilizations of the natives of the Santa Cruz, California A.H. Gayton San Joaquin Valley, two valuable papers on the September 13, 1943 Postscript Since the above was written, certain tribes are available in the publications of changes have taken place. A summary paper, Kroeber, Gifford, and Driver. "Yokuts and Western Mono Social Organization," An editorial decision to divide the largely based on the data herein, has been present ethnography into two sections will published (1945), and the materials in the facilitate both publication and subsequent thesis, "The Narcotic Plant Datura in Aborigi- use. Therefore it will appear in two parts nal American Culture" are being augmented and with the subtitles: Part I, Tulare Lake, prepared for publication. Wherever possible, Southern Valley, and Central Foothill Yokuts, bibliographic references have been brought up . and Part II, Northern Foothill Yokuts and to date. Western Mono. The Index will be found in Part I The kinship systems originally incorpo- Here I should like to add my thanks to rated herein have been withdrawn and probably Mrs. Mary Anne Whipple for her meticulous care will be combined with the genealogies and in preparing the manuscript for press. personal names in a later paper. Kinship systems of several Yokuts and Western Mono November 8, 1945 A.H.G. INFORMANTS Below are the names and approximate ages of contributing informants and the tribes about oh they gave data. The initials are those under which they appear in the text. Asterisks de- ,major informants. Interpreters, none of whom were important as personalities, are listed ately. About eleven individuals who will remain unnamed were tried and rejected as informants. Yokuts: Lake Tribes *** J.A. Josie Alonzo, 65, Chunut, Wowol, Tachi, Telamni, and Nutunutu t ** M.G. Mollie Garcia, 80, Tachi and Telamni Yokuts: Southern Valley < ** M.A. Martha Alto, 70, Paleuyami and Yaudanchi * F.M. Frank Manuel, 65, Bankalachi B.J.A. Big Jim Alto,. 70 Yauelmani and Hometwali D.F. Dick Francisco, 60, Koyeti Yokuts: Central Foothills M.L. Mollie Lawrence, 70, Wukchumni and Gawia (blind) D ** S.G. Sam Garfield, 65, Wukchumni and Yaudahchi -** M.P. Mary Pohot, 55, Wukchumni > ** J.P. Joe Pohot, 60, Wukchumni and Patwisha * J.B. Jim Britches, 70, Wukchumni K.G. Katie Garcia, 30, Wukchumni (and a star interpreter) L. Lottie, 60, Wukchumni M.S. Mary Sanwihat, 100, Yaudanchi J.W. Jim Wilcox, 70, Yaudanchi T.W. Tillie Wilcox, 70, Telamni A.M. Annie Marlo, 60, Chukaimina P.M. Pete Marlo, 60, Chukaimina Mo. Mollie, 60, Chukaimina ** P.D.W. Pony Dick Watun, 70, Choinimni, Gashowu, and Entimbich Yokuts: Northern Foothills * E.M Ellen Murphy, 70, Kechayi and Gashowu * B.W. Bill Wilson, 90, Dumna C.D. Chicago Dick, 70, Chukchansi * N.W. Nancy Wyatt, 50, Chukchansi M.W. Mike Wyatt, 55?, Chukchansi * J.R. Jack Roan, 80, Chukchansi and Southern Miwok * P.R. Polly Roan, 50, Chukchansi M.N. Matilda Neal, 70?, Chukchansi Transitional Yokuts-Western Mono S.O. Sam Osborn, 65, Michahai and Waksachi (blind) ** B.O. Bob Osborn, 75, Waksachi D. Dinky, 55, Michahai and Waksachi Western Mono *** M.J. 'Merican Joe 80, Wobonuch ** Jn.W. Jane Waley, 65, Wobonuch * Jo.W. Joe Waley, 75 Wobonuch * G.D. George Dick, 40, Wobonuch and Entimbich (and a star interpreter) B.S. Basket Susie, 60, Wobonuch D.S. Dead Susie, 75, Wobonuch and Entimbich M. Martha, 60, Wobonuch Interpreters M.L., K.G., S.G., G.D., Lillian and Marian Wyatt (Chukchansi), and Martha Waley (Wobonuch) Lv] PHONETIC KEY a, e, i, o, u as in Spanish e as in met ? as in it o as in off U as in German fUr oi as in German kOnig G the obscure vowel of about or idea ai as the vowel sound of eye ei as the vowel sound of hay oi as the vowel sound of boy iu as the vowel sound of you g as in gig I superior vowel, whispered J as in jig ni as in sing (nasalization) as in share c as in church t postalveolar or palatal placement x deep or gutteral aspiration h simple aspiration as in hand glottal stop raised period, protraction of a vowel sound accented syllable LviJ CONTENTS Page ace . iii tormants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . netic key ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............. . vi trdction . s s v @ * e * e * * * * * * * . YOKUTS: TULARE LAKE ut and Tachi. 7 ntertribal Relations. 7 elter, Subsistence, Utensils, Crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 leasures. .22 owledge . 23 cial Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . 25 fe Cycle ......... 29 pernatural Power and Shamanism . 31 eremonies . 38 host Dance of 1870 . 45 YOKUTS: SOUTHERN VALLEY euya i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 ilal . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 amn sm . . . . . . . . ........ e*.*v@v**@@@@v 46 Qeremonies ..... . 0 47 aot Dance of 1870. 48 tn i . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .48 . . . . . . . . . lachi: Yokuts-Shoshonean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 $tructures ............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 mscellaneous Data ............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Ceremonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 haman sm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Ghost Dance of 1870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 YOKUTS: CENTRAL FOOTHILLS whumn . . . . ... .................. 55 .Locality and Intertribal Relations .55 Shelter, Dress, Bodily Ornament. . . . . . . 59 ,-Hunting and Fishing .70 kVoods, Utensils, Medicines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Crafts and Manufactures .............. ...... ..... ...... . . 80 Money, Numeral System ......................... ....... .. . 87 Times, Nature, Directions, Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 leasures .90 Social Organization .94 Personal and Family Life ............................... . 101 Supernatural Power and Shamanism . . . . 108 .Pleasure Dances .115 Various Ceremonies .................................. . 118 Annual Mourning Ceremony ............................... . 124 G,fhost Dance of 1870 .................. 131 LXocalities ........ ^133 Sirth and Infancy ..........134 t Miscellaneous Data ........ 134 M-oieties . ........................135 t0Ceremnies ................. 135 r [~~~~~~~~~~~~vii] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Page BIBLIOGRAPHY ... ................... 137 PLATE AND EXPLANATION ...................... 140 MAPS 1. Yokuts and Western Mono tribes ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1 2. Local Map A: Lake tribes.. ...................... .. 8 3. Local Map B: Wukchumni and neighboring territory ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 4. Local Map C: Chukaimina and Michahai sites ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 FIGURES IN TEXT 1. Yokuts and Western Mono houses ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2. Twined basket types .. ......................... 18 3. Coiled basket types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4. Ceremonial paint patterns: Chunut, Wukchumni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 5. Yokuts thatched houses .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 6. Bedrock mortar and shade .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 7. Donning the hair net .... . . . . . . . . . . 66 8. Yokuts and Western Mono ceremonial dress ... . . . 68 9. Tattoo patterns .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 10. Hunting and fishing equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . .. 72 11. Hunting blind .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 12. Twining a mat .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 13. Netting and weaving techniques ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 14. Measurement of money .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 PLATE 1. Yokuts specimens, Peabody Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 (vliii) SOUTHERN SIERRA MIW~OK (POHONICHI) CHAUCHILA 4-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- 0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 9 0 ' o oX~~~~ 40~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~' A %~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 Oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Riv 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4'~~~~~~~A. 4'. ~ ~ ~ ~ C WN .~~g4' ii.LAK Ma 1 YktsanTEstr MootMe atrKobr YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY PART I: TULARE LAKE, SOUTHERN VALLEY, AND CENTRAL FOOTHILL YOKUTS BY A. H. GAYTON INTRODUCTION The ethnographer who works with a sub- to stay, and for the first time the foothill Jected people and attempts to recapture their peoples experienced the dismay previously vi;tjanishing culture must strive to set his find- suffered by the lake tribes as the intruders fJS sdefinitely in time, to define for others increased in numbers. Still, after the hos- be limits of the time-plane in which the cus- tilities of 1851 and certain dislocations re- toms described were known to have existed. sulting from attempts to reservationize the 7.-ortunately for those of us who have dealt with natives, a balance of peace between Indians and F Yokuts culture the answer is relatively simple. whites was established and Yokuts life went on. '-he span of contact with Europeans and Ameri- The villages in the foothills resumed their ans, compared with that for some other regions habits and the displaced Indians from the f North America, has been brief, so brief that fertile strip between the lake and the foot- ,,J original life still flourished late in the hills straggled in for haven. n<-*ineteenth century. The majority of informants In the upper hills the Western Mono' who A oXsulted in 1925 were born in native houses in up to 1850 were entirely undisturbed by white ;wtive villages, and while outward destruction intrusion, were still not on easily friendly Of their culture progressed rapidly during terms with their Yokuts neighbors below them. their lifetime, they thus not only had seen and Even as late as 1870 a mutual antagonism was experienced traditional Yokuts life themselves manifested by both the Penutians and Shosho- but had heard firsthand from their parents of neans, although in differing degrees depending the native ways then currently disappearing. on how far these natives were thrown together because of pressure from a common enemy, the The civilization described herein then -i that of the early youth of living informants American strangers. The Ghost Dance of 1870, -iAet that of the early youth of living informants diffused into Yokuts territory by Mono prose- and that of their parents and even grandparents, lizer was th firrtoa a i in whc - j ~~~~~~~~~~~lytizers., was the first social affair in which ~!--or often it was the grandparent who informed ~-tor often it was the grandparent who informed these two groups mingled freely, and even then -or instructed the young, for whom the old or instructed the young, for whom the old mutual suspicion was not entirely dispelled. people's JOy of reminiscence assumed a new and < ~~~~~~~~~~~~~The outward similarities of culture now to poignant significance in the face of their be found between Yokuts and Western Mono are culture's palpable decadence. The years 1885 to 160 overtheyout spn ofmy lderin- largely a veneer assumed recently by the latter. to 180 ovr heyothspn fyldrn- To analyze both cultures for the segregation of formants, the years 1860 to 1830 the mid-span of telrparets'llve an 183 to1800the items into culture-historical compartments is ..of their parents'I lives., and 1830 to 1800 the mid-span ofthirgrndarnt' iva formidable and intricate task which I do not Xmid-span of their grandparents'I lives. The bulk propose to undertake here. Yet some indication ;i16f cultural detail recalled was seen experi- of the major features of the question may be enced, or heard about in the years 1840 to 1890 given in brief approximately; in other words, it is Yokuts and Clearl e ch Western Mono life of those years that we have Cerytecrmne hc dre n characterized Yokuts culture -- the Jimsonweed recorded and described. Naturally, even in Ritual, the Rattlesnake Ceremony, the Annual 1840 the picture was not uniform for the entire Mourning Ceremony with its components of Huhuna valley, for though the advent of the Spaniards D a - ~~~~~~~~~~~~Dance and Shamans' Contest -- came to the -on the coast in 1769 had not seriously dis- Western Mono only as introduced performances. rupted native living in the San Joaquin Valley W them in Yokuts villages until, after 1870, they Coast Range had begun to feel uneasiness and American penetration had started in earnest. By weefetogthrasruedvios, r 01850 the stimulus of gold-seeking and land- krncluding those called NorthCork by GlITord (see Bib- seeking brought white settlers into the valley liography) and spolken off collectively as Monachi herein. [l] 2 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS when, also after 1870, Yokuts performers came known to have been recently adopted by the to Mono villages to present the aberrant specta- Yokuts from their Mono neighbors, i.e., the cles for entertainment. Before 1870, but triangular winnowing tray and the picturesque probably not before 1850, a diffusion of some hooded twined cradle which are now made by aspects of the above-mentioned Yokuts cere- Yokuts women instead of being bought from the monies may have been started by Western Mono Monachi. And, though it is yet to be proved, individuals, shamans particularly, who, only as I believe that the pottery-making of the Yokuts individuals, acquired for their own reper- foothills is a craft derived from the Western toires certain functions such as the handling Mono, linking with the Southern Basin Shosho- of rattlesnakes, the taking or administering Of neans and the Navajo rather than with the jimsonweed, or the exhibition of power by pottery-makers of Southern California4 making and propelling airshot. Western Mono have adopted Yokuts houses More fundamental and undoubtedly predating and have made one innovation, at least, in the Yokuts-Mono junction unwittingly effected adapting a thatch covering to the two-post oval by the whites, is the social organization com- frame (Waksachi). mon to both oultures. This includes (1) the In the realm of mythology the Western Mono basic patrilineal lineages (with their totemic have accepted many Yokuts myths, yet share with animal symbols) which lived either in tiny their linguistic relatives of the Basin tales hamlets or larger villages depending on locale, not told by the Yokuts.5 under a chief and his henchman whose offices Today many Yokuts are on the Tule River were determined primarily by inheritance, secon- Reservation; a few families have been permitted darily by popular choice; and (2) the further to live almost undisturbed on the large ranches grouping of these communities into a self- of white landowners along the foothills. Some conscious "tribe" havlng a name (Wobonuch, Yokuts and Western Mono have small claims of Waksachi, etc.) and dialectic distinctions.2 their own on which they dwell as poor ranchers With these named, dialectically distinct social or woodsmen. Little of the aboriginal life groups or tribes is linked the concept of a shows in this existence, save for the continued "home spot" which is a Miwok feature also, as use of acorn foods and the few implements is the moiety concept shared by some but not needed for their preparation, and basketmaking, all Yokuts and Western Mono. In other words, an art which flourishes because of tourist the historical relation of Yokuts and Western trade. Some mothers still confine their in- Mono social characteristics is embedded in the fants in the hooded cradle. Native language larger history of social organization in the and kinship terms are in use; family totems are entire southern half of California.3 retained, and official functions are aberrantly Stemming from the totemic lineage is the performed on rare occasions. Otherwise the practice of redeeming the totem animal by life of Yokuts and Monachi is scarcely dis- purchase and the totem-function bond--Eagle or tinguishable from that of poor white farmers Cougar as chief, Dove or Roadrunner as messen- and laborers in the San Joaquin Valley and _ ger, Bear dancing and Coyote clowning, features Sierra Nevada foothills^. shared by Western Mono and Yokuts. Before entering upon the ethnography which Another basic similarity between the up- follows, the reader should be familiarized with) land Monachi culture and that of their valley the geographic aspect of the San Joaquin Valley neighbors lies in the realm of supernatural in aboriginal times. Naturally enough, the beliefs and powers. The attitudes toward super- environment of the upper and lower foothills natural power, the method of obtaining it, and has changed but little, whereas the great the uses to which it was put are identical. valley floor was unbelievably different in the However, the Western Mono shamans did not go in past from the completely dry, hard plain it is for specialization as did the Yokuts, with today. There is no better way to present the their individual powers for controlling weather, picture of the past than to permit eyewitnesses rattlesnakes, and water creatures. to speak for themselves. There were many On the side Of material culture a more travelers in the area who left records of their even exchange has taken place since trade rela- experiences with the troublesome mire of the tions have always, apparently, been maintained tule swamps and of their awe-struck admiration for mutual benefit, with Western Mono serving for the scenery of the Sierra Nevadad but no as middlemen when the Eastern Mono (Owens account so well fits our purpose as that of Valley Paiute) did not want to risk entry into Lieutenant George .H. Derby, who in May, 1850, Yokuts territory. However, a few items are made a circuit of the valley for military re- 'Now summaried in Gayton Yokuts ana CC. Tschopik, Navaho Pottery Making, 70 fT.; Hill, Valley Pariute)d ino Gaytont to risk Western Mono Navajo Pottery Manufacture, 16, as regards pit-firing in Social Organization. the west Navajo area. 3Se Kroeber, Shoshonean Dialects of California, m 5Gayton, Areal Affiliations of California Folktale-,595. 122; cf. Steward, Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical 6 Groups, 50-57, and fig. 7 showing Owens Valley Paiute E.g., Estudillo, Fremont, Carson, Bunnell, Bidwell, (Eastern Mono) band areas. and others. | GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 3 7 -,connaissance. He entered from the west via boats or rafts. The gradual receding of the >- San Miguel Pass, already trodden by Spanish water is distinctly marked by the ridges of de- preMdecessors, turned south, then east, to go cayed tule, and I was informed, and see no Around the south end of Tulare Lake, then north- reason to disbelieve., that ten years ago it was K,_around the south end of Tulare Lake., then north.nal setniea he f1rtra h nearly as extensive a sheet of water as the e--ast, stopping to make a short digression to northern lake, having been gradually drained by the south-southwest, thence back and continuing the connecting sloughs, and its bed filled by northward beyond Kings River. After crossing the encroachment of the tul4. ;4he San Joaquin River at the ferry north of We crossed the slough on the 4th, being Tulare Lake, he eventually turned south, skirt- assisted with rafts of tule by the rancheria of InX the west shore of the lake, and left the Sin Tache Indians [Chunut or Wowol?] which we valley by the pass to San Miguel where he had found established at this point. Proceeding on over the desert which we found very painful e-*ntered. traveling for the animals, encamped at the On May 1, 1850, after leaving Dick's (San southeast point of the lake, having made 12.64 L-S!*orenzo) Creek in the San Miguel Pass, Derby miles? was about to enter territory south of the Tachi Villages on the west side of Tulare Lake. The following day, May 5, Derby gained the east side of the valley by traveling 15.38 I started accordingly about 10 A.M., and, miles, "over a continuation of the barren sandy crossing two ranges of low hills over a broad desert which had been our route for the last s. -gmooth trail, arrived at the shore of the great three days," where he reached a few cottonwood ?ach6 [Tulare) lake about 1 P.M. We were un- trees on Moore's Creek (now called Deer Creek) able to get close to the water, in consequence of the tule which environed it, extending into it the lake from two hundred yards to one mile, as Creek 12.20 miles, being then "about five miles far as the eye could reach. With a glass I west of the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada." could distinguish the timber at the north and As there was good camping with cottonwoods, the tule at the south ends of the lake, the willows, some large oaks, and luxuriant grass, flength of which I estimated at about twenty he arranged to leave his military escort there miles, but we could not distinctly make out the for the time being ,Opposite or eastern shore. The peaks of the Sierra Nevada, at this place twelve thousand On the 7th he ascended the creek for about fieet above the level of the sea and covered twenty miles, a small rapid stream, about with perpetual snow, appeared in close proximi- fifty feet wide and about two feet in depth. ty, and, rising far above the horizon, seem to We discovered two small branches upon each of us to come down precipitously to the very edge which we observed the remains of a large ranche- of the water. The distance from our encampment ria. The banks of the stream, as well as the to the lake we estimated at eighteen miles, or hills surrounding, were heavily timbered with ~nearly a day's march, and as the country passed o over was a perfect desert, and I found here no fforage for the animals but wire grass, the would, presumably, be in Bokninuwad territory, water standing in the tule brackish, and no for on the 7th he went but eight to ten miles wood at all, I concluded to return immediately north from Deer Creek to Tule River, the south- to camp . . . . An examination was made on the east extremity of which empties into Tulare 2nd . . . which terminated favorable, a good Lake. Koyeti occupied its banks at the edge of path being found through the southern extremity the foothills; within the foothills lived the of the valley, and a trail leading apparently Yaudanchi. around the south end of the lake8 On May 3, Derby's party left the Dick (San This stream has two branches, the upper Lorenzo) Creek camp and went 24.5 miles "from portion of which are well timbered, but the the emiatio ofthe ass reacingthe akebanks are swampy near the lake, and for a long the termination of the pass," reaching the lake distance in the plain the tule running up to and camping upon the sand. within five miles of the hills. All this time the stream was about one hundred yards wide, from twelve to twenty feet deep, and very rapid, We found here a ridge of sand about one which last is a general characteristic of all hundred yards in width, and twelve feet above the streams to the east of the lake. Upon its the level of the lake which divides the water upper banks and their vicinity in the hills, Of the northern or Tache from the bed (now plenty of large pines are found; lower down it nearly dry) of the southern or Ton Tache lake. is well timbered with the different species of This last is little more than a very extensive oak, syeamore, cottonwood and willowfts swamp, covering the plain for fifteen miles in a southerly direction, and is about ten in width. It is filled with sloughs and is of On May 8, Derby changed his direction of course impassable except with the assistance of investigation to the south-souGhwest. Having 7Farquhar , The Topographic Reports of Lieutenant lid ., 252-253.- George H. Derby, 251 Cf. 1Ibid., 253_254. 8lbid., 252 . 1Tb id ., 254 . 4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS gone eight miles he crossed Gopher Creek, which that portion lying immediately at the head of probably dried during the summer, and after the valley, and among the ridges of the sur- having gone a total of thirty-four miles he rounding hills, where are some extremely camped on Cottonwood Creek which he said was a fertile and well watered spots.13 constant stream. This took him through a no- man's-land unclaimed, so far as we know, by any When returning to his encampment on Yokuts tribe. Moore's (Deer) Creek he followed a course fif- teen miles west of his route down. The soil was not only of the most wretched description, dry, powdery and decomposed, but We found it, however, of precisely the was everywhere burrowed by gophers, and a small same character throughout -- barren, decomposed animal resembling a common house rat... of a soil, and no trace of vegetation but a few whitish grey color, short round body, and a straggling artemesias, except upon the margin very strong bony head. These animals are in- of the creeks. Gopher creek we found entirely numerable, though what they subsist upon I can-- dry, at the point of crossing, its shallow not conceive, for there is little or no vegeta- stream sinking in the sandy soil some eight or tion. Their holes and burrows, into which a ten miles above. horse sinks to his knees at almost every step, render the travelling difficult and dangerous. The low hills south of Gopher Creek extend On May 13, Derby reached Tule River at a about eight miles into the plain, their summit point which was 7.16 miles from Moore's (Deer) being about on the same level as the plain be- Creek -- probably close to the present site of tween that stream and Moore's [Deer] Creek, and Porterville. Here, Derby reported, the Tule are singularly intersected by valleys running River was 150 feet wide and he had to use wagon nearly south and north, which are crossed by other numerous small valleys running nearly floats to get his party across. This was in east and west, thus dividing the whole of this Yaudanchi or Koyeti territory. portion of the valley into blocks of hills about a quarter of a mile square, and from one hundred to three hundred feet in height.12 The country much improved in aspect from the time of leaving Moore's [Deer) creek, and upon Tule river, and during our march upon the Continuing southward on the 9th, Derby 14th, we passed over rich tracts of arable land, passed through country we believe belonged to fertile with every description of grass, and the Tuhohi. He went thirteen miles along the covered in many places with a fine growth of north branch of the Kern River. heavy oak timber.'4 Continuing north nineteen miles, Derby's ... a very broad deep stream with a current of party the next day reached the Kaweah River, at six miles an hour, which, rising high.up in the that time called the San Gabriel but renamed Sierra Nevada, discharges itself by two mouths that Lime Ded himSan -- a na ae l into Buena Vista lake near its northern ex- the Francis by Derby himself -- a name which tremity. Three large sloughs also make out did not persist. He was in country inhabited from the river near its mouth and from an ex- by the Choinuk, Wolasi, and Telamni, on the tensive swamp in the plain upon the north bank Kaweah River branches, and above them at the of the lake. We found the river impassable edge of the hills were the Gawia, Yokod, and with animals. Wukchumni. On the 10th, having got across Kern River, he reached Buena Vista Lake in Hometwali terrn- This strem flo narye from the hills and empties into Tach"e [Tulare] lake tory. about twenty miles north of its southeastern extremity. It is, at the point upon which we arrived, divided into five branches or sloughs, Buena Vista lake is a sheet of water about four of which separate from the main river, ten miles in length and from four to six miles about five miles above, Joining again from one in width; it lies about eight miles from the to ten miles below, while the southern branch head of the valley formed by the Junction of has a separate and distinct branch from the the ridges of the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada. Sierra, and Joins the main stream in the marshy Like other bodies of water in the valley it is ground near its Junction with the lake. The nearly surrounded with tule, and upon its north country, some eight miles in length by six in and east banks there is found a heavy growth of width, contained between these branches, is a willows. A slough, some sixty miles in length, beautiful smooth level plain, covered with connects it with the swamp and bodies of stand- clover of different kinds and high grass, and ing water in the bed of Ton Tache, and through thickly shaded by one continuous grove of oak them with the great northern lake. The sur- of a larger and finer description than any I rounding land is sterile and unproductive when have seen in the country. tlot an absolute swamp, with the exception of I2bid., 255. l*Ibld., 256. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 5 At this time each of the creeks was at its vicinity, and numbering about ninety warriors, ight; they are deep and rapid, and four of had been quite troublesome of late317 em much wider than Tule river.15 On the l9th, Derby went southwest 19.84 t;- The condition of the country between the miles, probably through Wimilchi territory, and Iterritory of the Wukchumni and Gawia on the encamped on the edge of the swamp three miles Zaeah River and that of the tribes on Kings above the mouth of Kings River opposite a R1er was much as it is now (save for oases of Nutunutu village. tiriculture made possible by modern irrigation), d the region seems to have been without ative villages, the area probably being used I was anxious to cross the river an: visit W ~~~~~~~~~~~it, but was informed by the Indians a large y for hunting and seed-gathering. body of whom swam across to our encampment, On the 15th and 16th of May, Derby's party that all the country in the vicinity was over- pleted the crossing of the Kaweah sloughs flown, and that it would be impossible to cross the "four creeks"), left the Cowees (Gawia) on even if we were to construct "balsas" of tule e 17th and headed for Kings River. owing to the rapidity of the current. It was evident enough that the country was overflown.18' k our course lay over a barren sandy plain, t nterspersed here and there with spots of vege- The following days, 20th to 23rd, Derby's F4ation, but in general a perfect contrast to party spent struggling through mire and cross- Rhe rich soil upon the river Francis [the ing eight sloughs to reach the Sanjon de San iXeah]. About 6 miles from the fifth creek we Jos6, the waterway between Tulare Lake and the observed four isolated hills or buttes about southern bend of the San Joaquin River. The >ix hundred feet high, two of them ranging near- Tachi lived to the west of it with a few on 7 north and south, and about two miles apart. Thi side to the Nutunutui a fem on t the first of these is a constant spring of the east side near the Nutunutu; above them to- i ter... .We arrived upon the banks of the Kings ward the San Joaquin were the Apiachi. Aiver at about 5 P.M., having travelled 23.66 Xiles in a direct line across the plains.16 In all these sloughs a strong current was running southwest, or from the San Joaquin After a day spent on Kings river to the lake. The country over which we sRiver, probably passed between the sloughs was miserable in the at about the present site of Centerville, extreme, and our animals suffered terribly for haVing ridden up the north bank about fifteen want of grass. There being no wood upon the miles and having talked with one or two white plain, except an occasional willow on the men established at the ferry, Derby wrote as largest slough, we could make no fires fOllows. The "Sanjon de San Jose" is a large deep slough about forty miles in length, connecting the water of the Tache [Tulaoe] lake with the ; The Kings River is the largest stream in San Joaquin river, with which it unites at its the valley, at this time of spring floods about great southern bend. At this time it was about fthree hundred yards wide, with a rapid current two hundred and forty feet in width, with an and water cold as ice. It is about sixty miles extremely slow current setting toward the river. eIn length, rising in two branches high up in The whole country for forty miles in ex- fthe Sierra, which uniting about forty miles tent in a southerly direction by ten in width, from its mouth flow in a southwest direction between the San Joaquin river and the Tache through the hills and valley, and empty into [Tulare] lake, is, during the rainy season and the Tache [Tulare] lake at its northeast ex- succeeding months until the middle of July, a tremity. Its banks are high and well timbered, vast swamp everywhere intersected by sloughs, and the country in its immediate vicinity is which are deep, miry and dangerous.19 apparently fertile. It forms five sloughs like "the Francis, but they are much wider and the After getting aid Derby's party reached ;country between them is swampy and difficult of the bend of the San Joaquin River, country access. There are no less than seventeen rancherias of Indians upon this river, number- attributed to the Pitkachi, on May 24. ing in all probably about thrmee thousand, in- cluding those situated among the hills of the vicinity. Of these those living upon the low- At the time of our arrival its [the San er part of the river are friendly and well dis- Joaquin Riverd waters were at their highest posed toward the whites; those high up among the hills are entirely ignorant, treacherous 1TIbid. Although the Choinimrni cannot be held entirely land mischievous I was informed by Colonel blameless of treachery, it seems doubtful, in the light of vHampton, at the upper ferry, that the Cho-e- the Mayfields' happy experience in the same years (1850- minee athoinimni] rancheria, situated in his 1852), that Garner's murder and other instances of "treach- ery" should be ascribed to them. h e Monachi neighbors are suspect. t5Ibid., 257. a1Ibid. 259. HtIbid., 258-260. tIebid., 260-261. 6 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS stage, the back water from the river had filled and feed the great tular. To the west of its the innumerable sloughs extending from its central waterway was barren ground little used banks in every direction across the valley, and save for rabbit drives by the Tachi; to the I was informed.. .that the whole country to the east was the fertile land watered by snows of north was overflown...The point at which we en- the Sierra Nevada and shaded by the magnificent camped at the southern bend was about ten feet above the level of the stream and for two miles roblar, the great oak forest. Barren land in extenti north and south was not overflown... spots were uninhabited, for as yet the great At this time the river at this point was about valley was not overpopulated and seed and game two hundred yards wide and from ten to twenty were plentiful. No famine nor wars for food feet in depth, but during the dry season it falls to from four to two and a half feet.20 It will be seen that the dwellers about the lake and its fringe of swamp or tular had On the 26th, Derby and party started south- a very different environment from those of the ward on the west side of the San Joaquin River tree-filled foothills. Yet nowhere was the and Sanjon de San Jose, skirting the western food quest a problem. Nothing could be more edge of Tulare Lake, bringing them again into misleading than labeling the people of the San Tachi Indian country, for they were near to Joaquin Valley, whether the Yokuts lake tribes, completing their circuit of the great valley the tribes of the foothills, or the Monachi of floor. the mountains, "seed-gatherers" or "seed- eaters," as though their diet were preponder- At a distance of twenty-two miles from the antly vegetarian. San Joaquin, we crossed the dry bed of a stream Fish and water fowl abounded in the lake flowing during the rainy season from the Coast region, supplemented by ground squirrels, Range to the lake, upon the bank of which we rabbits, and antelope from the near-by plains. found a few cottonwood trees and a little grass; In the foothills and mountains rabbit, squirrel, but with this exception the whole valley south of the bend; between the Coast Range and the quail, pigeon, dove, and deer were the common-. Tache rTularel lake, we found miserable, barren, est meats. Early travelers, Spanish and Ameri- sandy desert, with no vegetation save a few can, testify in open amazement to the plentiful straggling artemesias, and no inhabitants but supply of game constantly at hand ?2 Acorns attenuated rabbits and gophers. and seeds are not to be discounted as less im- We encamped upon a slough connecting with portant than meat, but they were not more im- the Sanjon upon the 28th... We encamped upon the portant in daily diet. shores of the lake on the 29th, having made The tabu on meat or grease which was en- 17.32 miles and on the 30th reached thejondaaltieofrigusrspiul debouche of the Pass of San Miguel...passing en Joined at all times of religious or spiritual route the rancheria of the Tinta Taches, situ- stress was not thought of as a personal sacri- ated upon the northwest eAtremity of the lake ficial abstention because of the preciousness and containing about two hundred and fifty or of meat: rather, meat and grease were sub- three hundred inhabitants...We took up our line stantial nutritious foods, ever at hand, and of march for Monterey by the same route that we were to be omitted like the solid seed foods . n had passed in coming out, upon the 31st, and odrt tanta euireatdpyia arried herewitout ncient21 order to attain that peculiar exalted physical arrived there without incident.2 condition brought about by fast or by the mechanical emptying of the stomach with tobacco Such was the San Joaquin Valley before and lime. Lack of food, whether meat or vege- American agricultural projects diverted, dis- table, did not constitute one of the hardships tributed, or absorbed the waters which filled of life for the Yokuts and Western Mono. the central basin to form the lakes and sloughs -- - 22~~~~~~~~~~'Example of abundance: in the vicinity of Yokohl 20Ibid. _ 61. Valley (Yokod-Wukchumni territory) four men shot 300 quaill "lIbid ., 2b2. in two days . Visalia Record , vol . 3 , Nov. 7 , 1861.| YOKUTS: TULARE LAKE CHUNUT AND TACHI INTERTRIBAL RELATIONS south of the mountains (the Coast Range). The Tokya ate the fish from the shells and traded W The tribes living in the swampy territory these to their inland neighbors. Usually the round the Tulare Lake were the nucleus of a buyer made them up into money: this was what okuts culture which differed in many respects the Wowol did. The Tachi went to Wolasi om that of the foothill and hill people. The villages to trade with the Wowol, but no ivergence was not merely that due to a funda- farther south, as Yi nel was the most southern rntally different ecological background; it Tachi village. The Tachi, Wolasi, and Chunut a manifest also in their dichotomous social traded seed foods in exchange. rganization and ceremonial practices. The The Telamni came out to the Wolasi to $ke tribes' cultural link was with the Yokuts visit but not to trade (sic). They, the , Kings River and northward, and with the Wechihit, Wolasi, and Chunut came to Tachi iwol to the south rather than toward the east- mourning ceremonies at Telwe'ytt. The Gawia F Wrd hills. did not ever visit so far west. The localities and intertribal relations 'r the lake tribes are presented by Kroeber,23 The large Tachi village called Telweyct - d to his information we.have little to add. was on the edge of the lake south of the S r Tachi informant (M.G.), long away from present town of Lemoore. An important chief there was Lucu si. The informant M.G. was born bldhood scenes, was unable to formulate pre- thr;aerermrigsemod"alte | ls lnormaionon er ntiv vilageregon. there; after her ma-rriage she moved "a little ise information on her native village region. )*he need for two interpreters to translate her east up the river EKings?J to a village called t onversation (Tachi to Wukchumni, Wukchumni to Gaiwo syu. The barren area west of Tulare Lake tn8lish) did not add clarity. The Chunut in- which extended as far as the Coast Range and W rmant (J.A.) excellent in other respects, was was roamed over by Tachi was called Utju i. bric1ear on local topography, whereas her (Kroeber places a village, Udjiu, in this area.) s owledge of names and locations of distant There was a pond near Loston Hills. .tribes was remarkably accurate. The informa- The Chunut informant, J.A., gives a differ- 'tion obtained from these two women has been ent picture of Tachi relations, but her less tdded to that of Kroeber and mapped in Local intimate view of the situation makes it seem p A (map 2). unreliable. She states that the Tachi, Wowol, According to M.G. there was no intercamp and Chunut fought frequently, with the Tachi -r intervillage quarrelling among the Tachi. But and Nutunutu as allies against the combined itter feeling, resulting in occasional fights, Chunut and Wowol. Telweytt, a Tachi village, 4xisted between the Tachi and the valley tribes was at Summit Lake. At Woko'n were a series of iving north of Kings River, known collectively camps among which the Tachi. moved, especially to the Tachi as Hoshima (ho Sima, northerners)* when one camp had been visited by death. J.A. -The Nutunutu, as the nearest of these, were named Hono'tan (to stop suddenly) and 'i'yi #pecific enemies of the Tachi. If these people (bones) as two important Nutunutu villages, ttempted to come into Tachi territory for *both near Kingston. Ciyi is undoubtedly .eeds or game, the Tachi "met them halfway and Kroeber's Chiau. A chief there was Oli kcs, jae them go back." The Chunut did not fight nicknamed Nai'nai"ti'"s (Squint-eye) because he Hoshima, M.G. said (but see Chunut in- he was cross-eyed. The Nutunutu was a very onmant's account, p. 9). large tribe, J.A. said. The Tachi were on friendly terms with all The Chunut on Tulare Lake had Tachi and he groups bordering on the lake, but particu- Nutunutu neighbors toward the north. Their arly with the Wowol who came as far north as land extended eastward almost to the present he Wolasi in their balsas to trade. They tied site of Tulare (city), east of which dwelt the he balsas to tiles and slept on them at night. Wolasi. The main Chunut rancheria, which J.A. e Wowol wanted a grass-seed food and traded pronounces pi'sras, a pronunciation I believe hell money in return. The Wowol acquired the is a corruption of "Pierce's Ranch," was near hells from the To 'kya (Salinan), who lived at Farmersville, which she claimed was Chunut u lama,2 near the ocean, and far west and territory (cunuetaci pa'an). Near Tulare (city) was a bottomless pond called mike'yet; things 2Handbook, 474#-486- which fell in were never recovered. The Chunut 2A Salinan site on Cholame Creek, an upper tributary frequently walked over to the ocean across the t the Salinas River. mountains to the west, provided relations were (7J APIACHI 3 WIMILCHI B~~~~~ "'p1 4- ~~TUL(ARE LAKE , 1"'""~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0 !t Vt.. X ' m\~- cdc %01-P~ *~~~~~~~ 0~~~~~~~~~~ Map 2. Local Map A: Lake tribes Map 2.LocalMap A Laetie GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 9 triendly with the intervening Tachi (and, pre- 4. telwe'yet: a Tachi village Eznbly, Salinan). 5. ugona Wowol territory was somewhat west and 6. hono tan (to stop suddenly): a elsewhere south of the Chunut. One important Nutunut uo v ge village was called Yiwo'ni. An island in Ciaui ( probably Kroe Chiau, a Nutunutu village Tulare Lake belonged to the Wowol; it was 8. gaiwa siu: a Tachi village *alled witi'tsolo wtn. On it was a village 9. wai u ihich J.A. and her mother visited by means of 10. u djiu salsas. They had a relative there. On the 11. go lon island was a tremendous number of bleaching 12. ci bones which J.A. says were those of humans who 13. yi mEl ed died of smallpox.25 The visit was probably 15. wi,stasuieui ^Mde between 1860 and 1870; it was "before the modern rancheria big earthquake." 16. 6'iu'ta South of Bakersfield lived people who "had 17. witetsolo wan: a Wowol island village a lake in the middle of their mountain. It 18. wa lna dried in the summer." (This may be Castac Lake, 19. yiwo mni: a Wowol village possibly a small lake near present Tehachapi.) 20. sukwu'tnu: a Wowol village26 sbis tribe was called tipe ktl yoko c (red clay people) "because they lived in houses plastered Two places not definitely located were: with red clay, with tule roofs which were 21, wo'kon; 22, mike ytt, a "bottomless" pond Bovered with mud." The people who live there near the present city of Tulare. ;RoW are called Tejon (whether this was Fort TeJon or Tejon Ranch some distance to the east, J.A. could not determine; probably the former, Warfare Vhich is near Castac Lake). The Tokya (Chumash and Salinan) lived "on According to J.A., who says she derived the coast"; the Salinan of Chulame were called much of her knowledge from an old Wowol woman Tokya also. Various types of shell money were now dead, the Chunut and Wowol were particular- got from them. J.A. had not heard of Mutulu. ly friendly and both were on bad terms with two (a coast Indian raider mentioned by Wobonuch in- allies to their north, the Tachi and Nutunutu. formants) or other individuals from the coast, Signal fires were built on occasion, and warn- and believed that the valley people went out to ings and arrangements for battle were made. do their trading rather than that coast people Doctors were particularly sought out as victims came in. She, too, says that the bought shells in a battle, and vengeance was wreaked by flay- were worked into money by the Yokuts purchasers. ing and impaling their corpses. Head-taking At Ventura lived the Ititu wtt, but J.A. was practised as well as flaying. does not know whether this was the Yokuts name There was no war chief, nor did an ordi- or these people, or what they called them- nary chief take any special part in battles, selves. though the account secured by Newman (see below) The Kawe'sa (Kawaiisu) lived east of Tejon, indicates the contrary. Any brave man, particu- toward the hills "and talked something like the larly one with Raven (ho'toi) as a supernatural Monachi." They were noted for their large bows helper, would lead war expeditions. Rarely and arrows. were more than two or three persons killed. 'The Riciki tu (Pitanisha) lived at Whiskey J.A. thinks the bodies remained unburied (which -Flat "over back of Kern River." At another seems unlikely unless the losers were complete- time J.A. said Ricikitu was "the Mexican name ly routed). She disclaims knowledge of motives for the Pitani'sa who lived at Pita ncn, where for war. there was a deep little river." That battles were frequently prearranged is clear from J.A.'s statement, Newman's ac- count, and the account of a battle between the Localities Pitanisha and Altinin.Z( This does not pre- clude a sudden flare-up such as that described The following sites are located on Local by J.A. when two doctors found themselves un- Map A (map 2). Places known to be villages are welcome among the Nutunutu. A certain captious- marked with a dot and circle. ness or predisposition to fight is suggested in two Yauelmani tales, wherein a mere shout in 1. mu sahau: a Wechihit village 2. wewa yo: a Wechihit village 26ossibly the Wowol village called "Bubal" by early [ 3 . wo'hui Spanish explorers (Gayton, Estudillo, 70 ff.); some fur- ther information on Southern Valley sites is contained in Wedel's Archeological Investigations at Buena Vista Lake '5Powers mentions a "plague" which took many lives in (particularly pp. 12-17). the Fresno River re^.ion a few years before his visit (Tribes Of Califor~nia, 380). 'rKroeber, The Yokuts Language, 274~. 10 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS the distance is regarded as an invitation to good clubbing. In reply to further questions, battle.28 A narrative of a famous fight, re- the [Southern] messenger told them that his corded by Dr. Stanley Newman, has been con- leader wanted the people in five days, for the tributed to this record. Lemondo, one of the [Northern] messenger would return in five days leaders, wsnnttand again in seven days. Some of the warriors leaders, was known to the Chunut informant, J-A. were very happy; they promised that the people would arrive at the proposed time. The [Southern] messenger returned to his Lemondo and Tabsa29 leader and reported that he had been successful in persuading the [Tinlinin] people to come in They knew that they would fight. The Yaud- five days. [After five days] the people anchi sent a man, who said that they would arrived at the leader's house. The warriors fight in a certain number of days. The immediately began Inquiring who their opponents [Southern] messenger (ho-ye'lis), sent by the were and when the fight was to take place. They Bankalachi, Koyeti, and Tinlinin, asked him how were told that the Northerners were their many [Northern] tribes were allied. He was opponents and that the seventh day had been told that there were three, the Chunut, Choinok, chosen for the battle. and WUkchamni, and that they would fight in The Northern messenger also arrived on the seven days. On being questioned, the [Northern] fifth day. He reported that he did not have messenger asserted that he was sure of this, much news: his people would come to fight on for the leaders had decided upon the time. The the seventh day. The [Bankalachi) leader said [Southern] messenger then said that the Banka- that his people were ready and asked where the lachi, Koyeti, and Tinlinin were not ready yet, tribes would meet. He was told that the place but that they would send their own messengers was Chiteetiknawahsiw (tsiti-tiknawa-siw, [to get an intertribal agreement upon the time?). literally "sliding-place; place where one makes [After the Southern messenger had returned oneself slide"; according to my informant, this and] made inquiries, the [Bankalachi) leaders place is situated near Deer Creek). told him that it would take them five days to The day of their departure arrived. The complete their preparations. The next morning [Southern] people went to Gayliw (gayliw, liter- they sent him to Tinliw, saying that he should all y "waiting-place, meeting-place," identified return in five days, for at that time they as 'Lookout Mountain" by my informant), from wanted to know when the [Tinlinin] could come. where they could see other people coming. They The [Southern] messenger then went to Tinliw, then descended to the plains and fought there. where the people were numerous, and told their They used only arrows and obsidian (t'sa sip), leader, Lemondo, that he had been sent. Lemondo with which they pierced each other. Half of ordered his workers (t'so-iihni') to assemble the Northerners were wiped out, and some of the people. He asked the [Southern] messenger them ran away. Some of the Bankalachi were whether his news was good or bad and was told killed too. Some of those who had run away that it was bad. His messengers ran swiftly. went far to the west and reported to the Tachi. One of them went to the Tejon people. On A Chunut messenger told the Tachi that the approaching, he shouted and the people gathered Northerners had been wiped out by the Southern- immediately. Their leader told them that the ers. news was probably bad, that they had better get The Tachi leader immediately sent his their bows and prepare themselves. By the time messenger to Tabsa. After receiving Tabsa's the messenger [of Lemondo) arrived, they were greetings, the [Tachi] messenger told him that, ready. He told them that the leader [Lemondo) according to reports, the WUkchamni had been wanted the people to com- to his house immedi- wiped out by the Southerners. Tabsa assured ately; they were to listen to one who had come the messenger that he would leave with his from far off. The people were advised by their people in two days. After the two days had messenger to get their bows and their necklace elapsed, Tabsa went to the Tachi. He asked the charms [talismans]. Some of them got grizzly- Chunut messenger, who was still there, what had claw necklaces, others got falcon-head neck- happened. The messenger told him that his laces, and still others got eagle-head neck- people had fought and had been badly beaten. laces. Tabsa then hurried him off to gather whatever When they reached the leader's [Lemondo's] Chunut warriors remained and to bring them back place, one of their leaders took them where immediately. The messenger returned home and many people were assembled. There the told the warriors that their allies were speed- [Southern] messenger was asked for his news. He ing preparations to fight the next day. The reported that the Bankalachi leader wanted the Chunut joined Tabsa, who again asked for infor- people, for a battle was to take place. On mation about their battle with the Southerners. being askel what tribes were angry, he answered They told him that half of their people had that they were Northerners--the Chunut, Choinok, been killed. Tabsa decided that they had and WUkchamni. At this some of the people better fight the following day. The Chunut asserted that the Northerners were a useless messenger offered to carry the news to their lot, that the Southerners would give them a enemies, for he knew where they were. Tabsa told him to go immediately. 28Gayto and Newman Yokuts and Western Mono Myths 87The [Chunut] messenger journeyed all night, Gayton and Newman, Yokuts and Western Mono Myths, 87, and the next morning he reached the enemies' 88, abstract 11, note 1. Nevertheless, to approach a camp, where he was greeted. He told them that village or isolated house without calling out was ill the Tachi had Joined his people and asked if f mannered and regarded with suspicion. they knew of Tabsa; they replied that they did 29Recorded in Yauelmani dialect by Stanley S. Newman know of him. It was agreed that they would 3 ffrom Frank Manuel, Bankalachi. fight the next day in the plains. The messen-j GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 11 ;er then returned to the Tachi and informed Property xem of the arrangements that had been made for the battle. Tabsa was pleased. Although there were no defined tribal The next morning they left and met their boundaries, customary usage gave people the nemies at the appointed place. They fought feeling of ownership of certain land. It was r a long time, shooting at each other and the of thiproduce and It was ging. Some of them ran away. Tabsa and not the land but the produce and game available nilal grappled with one another for a long on it which was the matter for concern. In tme. But Tabsa became exhausted, for Xenilal this way there was a sense of tribal property s a very large man. Finally Tabsa got away or "home land." As individuals, women rather spoke from a distance. Neither of them had than men felt ownership of those places where y more arrows; they worked on each other with they and their mothers had gathered seeds. cklace charms. At last Tabsa said that they had better Familles did not own land, nor did the captains. it fighting, now that all of their comrades According to the Tachi informant (M.G.) a woman d run away. Xenilal agreed. In reply to went to one place to gather seeds and her lal's question, Tabsa promise4 that he daughters went to the same place. Another uld never fight again. The Tachi had been woman would not come there without invitation, verely beaten. Then Tabsa and Xenilal con- but went to her own patch. If she trespassed, rred; they were friends now. Tabsa told a quarrel ensued. A stake (so'nLl) marked the lal that he bhut hould live peacefully end of a woman's claim; a series of these inestam, literally "in a good manner"). This several feet apart might be set up to include der seemed to be a remarkable man. He said an area about forty feet square. Such plots t soon he would arrange to have the Northern- had no special name.0 A woman had such a s and Southerners assemble, so that they special place for each type of seed. Her ld see each other peacefully. This remarka- daughters continued to use the plot after her e man was going to make a feast in seven days. death; a sister might claim it if there were no went on to say that Xenilal and his people daughters If there were no close female rela- ed be afraid of nothing, that they should d Ung their comrades and wives. Xenilal asked tives, M.G. thought it would be used by some the feast would be held and was told that woman friend who belonged to the same moiety. would probably take place in seven days. The A young married woman returned to her 1 greetings were exchanged, Tabsa repeated mother's plot to gather seeds. If it was too hope that they fight no more but live in far away, she remained at home to do the cook- ce, and the two leaders departed for home. ing instead of going with her mother-in-law. The people had missed them; they thought Her own mother would send or bring her food- t their leaders had killed each other. When stuffs from time to time, but the mother-in-law gba arrived among the Tachi, his comrades gave her nothing. The young woman cooked for re still there. They expressed their sur- t se at seeing him, saying that they had the entire family while her sisters-in-law went ught he was dead. He assured them that he with their mother to do the gathering. This, not been killed, though Xenilal was a very of course, was during patrilocal residence, erful (tipni') man. He then asked the which was the customary home of newlyweds in ople to assemble at his home and added that the lake area. would be best for them not to fight again. According to M.G., men did not own fishing ! Tachi people agreed. On being questioned or hunting places even in the above sense (but ut the date of the feast, he said that he o Ld start preparations immediately on his on this point a male informant's opinion is dstvart homeparations immediately on his needed). They went anywhere within tribal After he had returned to his home, Tabsa territory for game. Game was never sold, but unced that the feast would take place in was often given to friends. Men gathered tule ren days. He warned the people not to "talk roots more often than women, but whether the t anything" when the Southerners and the men, like the women, had individual claims on ut arrived. Then Tabsa sent his crier gathering places M.G. does not know. na eum) south to carry the report to all the inin, Bankalachi, and Koyeti. The crier ted these people to the feast and assured SHELTER, SUBSISTENCE, UTENSILS, AND CRAFTS that there would be no more fighting. The people went to the feast; all the linin and Bankalachi came there. As soon they arrived, they were stopped and present- with bead (lifna') money. This is Indian No adequate description of houses was ob- ey. They feasted heavily, eating fish and tained for the lake region. Two types are well ducks and wild geese. At the end of the known, the long communal house and oval indi- st the Southerners were again given bead vidual house; but the gabled house pictured by ey. Then Tabsa spoke. He said that he did tthink it good for them to fight; he thought better that they should see each other peace- sThe infrmaunt insisted that this property marking Lly, Just as they were doing now. Then he was a very old custom. The interpreter had never heard Ld them all to return to their homes and to the word for the marking stake until the older women ex- re peacefully. plained it to her, she claimed. ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS a b Fig. 1. Yokuts and Western Mono oval houses. a, Valley and Central Foothill type, 2-post, mat-covered. b, Waksachi, 2-post, thatch-covered. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 13 s, described by Kroeber, and presumably The frame was called tumlu 'us The oval house one meant by Estudillo with his phrase was covered with mats of tule or, where availa- ladas sus puntas" was declared unfamiliar ble somewhat away from the lake, a grasslike th informants.31 The conical house was shrub (kana'sts). ,,.used here. The floor of dwellings was not excavated The house with oval floor plan and with in the lake area since moisture and flood water s arched into a rounded top was the most would seep or run in. Contrarily, if a house on type of dwelling in the valley area site on a rise of ground could not be obtained, ally; according to J.A. and M.G. (fig. l,a).the floor was artificially built up by bringing .forked posts linked by a tie-beam formed in baskets of earth. For the same reason sleep- :basis of this structure. Upright poles of ing places were raised up on a low framework ow were set into the ground in an oval line of wood (willow). The Wowol particularly had d the center posts and the tips pulled in- these, and the Chunut and Tachi who bordered and downward and tied to the center beam. close on the lake. The usual tule mat floor- ngthening horizontal withes were tied ing and bed padding were used. d this framework. Large mats of tule were Kroeber's statement on the long house is on the frame and pegged down to the ground. somewhat contradictory. It may be partly based ot was left along the center beam for the on Powers' illustration. ke to escape. The tule mats which covered the frame were Et 8 feet high and 10 to 12 feet long; their ... the mat-covered, gabled, communal kawi of the Tulamni, Hometwoli, Wowol, Chunut and per- t roughly equaled the distance from the haps Tachi. The roof pitch was steep. Probably und to the center beam. Truly rectangular each family constructed its own portion, with B were made by laying the tules alternately door to front and back, closed at night with ,by butt to equalize the differences in tule mats. Each household had its own space ir tip and butt diameters; such mats were and fireplace, but there were no partitions, on side walls. For the rounded ends of and one could look through from end to end. house somewhat fan-shaped mats were made by These houses sometimes ran to a size where they accommodated a little more than 10 families. A cing the tules butt by butt, thus giving a shade porch extended along the front. The tule $ter width at the base of the mat than at stalks were sewn together with an eyed bone * top. Men gathered the tules, whereas women needle and string of tule fiber. le the mats. The reeds, already sorted by size The Yauelmani and their neighbors of the 4 length, were laid out on the ground. The southern plains off the lake approached this ividual stalks were held together by rows of long structure in aligning their wedge-shaped igle cords of milkweed twine looped once -tule houses or dumlus, but kept each contiguous und each stem (a half-hitch may have been family domicile separate. nt). The rows of binding cord were a hand- (about 9 in.) apart. All the rows were Kroeber goes on to describe the oval house, rked forward at once rather than completed attributing it to the Wechihit and Tachi of hat a time. modern times and stating that it may be made Technically, the long house was really an with or without a center ridgepole. The house tension of the oval frame. There was a mats were made by wrapping each stalk to the _es of forked center posts supporting a next with "a hitch in a single strand of string," itnuous ridgepole formed by overlapping and whereas floor and bed mats were sewn. The lng its units. The overlap did not have to Wechihit "use a covering of tall mohya stems, ncide with an upright. Willow withes held reaching from the ground to the ridge, and held side poles, which were bent toward the in place by several horizontal poles lashed to ter at their tips and were matched. by a the framework. This type of house was called allel withe on the exterior which held the te or chi. 'l32 e mat covering in place; both withes were A Wechihit informant (J.At.) said houses led tumlu 'us. Smoke escaped through a long in her village near Sanger were all mat covered ot left at the ridgepole. The long communal and were placed in any order along the river- zbe was partitioned by means of mats. bank. etions of the house were apportioned to sons' At Telweyst both long and oval houses were ilies, each family having its own fireplace, constructed. At Pisras, the village in Wolosi if the house were large, its own door. territory, the oval house covered with grass h a house was "Just like a street, you could mats predominated. On the north shore of k right down the middle and see everybody's Tulare Lake Jeff Mayfield saw long houses of re and what they were doing" (J.A.). The the Tachi. g house was covered with tule mats oiyhoo tuecvrdhue*wiyhnr The houses at the lake were the thing I noticed most. I do not remember having seen a 31Powers, 370; Kroeber, Handbook, 521; Gayton, ~ Hnbo,5152 tudillo, 83. 3Hnbo,5152 14 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS house there like those upstream. Generally The grubs (om"nol) of horseflies and of they were built of thin tule mats and were bees were eaten; the bees were smoked out with quite long. Some of them were at least one a damp tule smudge. The ground wasp (po'a onal hundred feet long. A sort of wooden ridge was larva was said to be eaten by the Telamni (it erected on crotched poles set in the ground and the tule mats were leaned up against it. Every- was scarce in the tular). This was called thing else was of a more temporary nature than taposi, was roasted on coals and eaten with I was used to at Sycamore Creek [Choinimni acorn mush. Caterpillars (mane ca) were territory].33 skinned (singed?) and eaten. Turtles (tu'nikot) were plentiful. They A chief's house was usually larger than were stabbed under the throat with a sharp stick, pUt on hot coals, and roasted; then the the rest, likewise his storehouses. J.A. re- shell was on off and te arger entril members Kontils which stood on a rise of ground: hell was broken off and the larger entrails "he was always having little parties there." were discarded. The long house made possible the practice of A great variety of fish was available for patrilocal residence customary with the lake all the lake people. The Chunut informant people (but not with those of the foothills). spoke of the following. "Greaser" fish The bottoms of mat-covered storage bins (tawa"at) was a black fish with a large head were raised off the ground. When a tree was and small body. The chub (tu'konu) had "fat available, a storage bin would be set up in its all over his tail." The steelhead (?) or branches. Their construction was like that of "lake trout" was called e'pts. The brook trout the foothills (see Wukchumni). (?) (so'lul) was colorless save for a red edge The ramada was Ueed throughout the lake on its forked tail. The minnows or young of region. any fish were called ta hs. Salmon (da'tu) were well known and greatly depended upon, but eels were said to appear only at Sanger on the Subsistence Kings River. A certain fish (u'dut) had a large head like a catfish but was not the same The subsistence of the tular region was thing, for catfish were called tamta'na "be- composed mainly of water birds, fish, rabbits, cause he has whiskers" (tamutanin, whiskers he and two staple flours made-from iris seed and has). The crayfish (keta"ketat) were common, tule roots. According to M.G. deer meat was as were water mussels (ia'pap, the shells; not obtainable even by trade, antelope being ta asp, the flesh). Abalones (to'nik) were the only available large game animal. Bear known only by their shells which were brought meat, which the Tachi were not afraid to eat, in from the coast. was also scarce. Elk were too fleet for a Fishnets (to'noi) were dragged between th hunter afoot, but were pursued on horseback. shore, where one end was fastened, and a balsa Weasels, coyotes, and lizards were not eaten; which moved in an arc toward the shore. Diving it is possible some people ate snakes. Bats for fish was a common practice, as in the foot- (ce mcem) were not eaten, as they were super- hills. The Tachi procured fish for Estudillo natural assistants. Rabbits, cottontails, and by diving with hand nets. squirrels were got by hunters in communal drives on the barren country west of the lake. There long nets were set up and groups of men At 9 A.M. came four Tache chiefs.. .Thirty- deployed to herd the creatures into them. May- seven young men accompanied them, all of them field states that the men formed wings and, prepared with hand nets for catching fish in armed with sticks two feet long, closed in in a this San Gabriel [Kings) River. This they did before my very eyes, with great agility, divi pair of arcs and incapacitated the fleeing quickly and staying under the water so long animals by hurling the clubs at them.3'4 that I prayed. Some remained under five credo The eating of dogs M.G. (Tachi) attributed [during five "Lord's prayers"], others no less to the Chunut. This practice Powers mentions than three.36' as generalized Yokuts, saying that the Yokuts raised dogs for the purpose. Estudillo witnessed the killing and eating of dogs at a A corral (wise'i) for catching fish was celebration near the foothills. However, a made in shallow waters by setting up button- Kechayl informant denied the practice for her willow stakes and intertwining them with tules. people with a circumstantial story,35 and M4ay- Persons waded about with baskets catching up field does not mention it, so- the usage may not the fish which others drove into the corral. have extended to the northern foothills. This method of fishing was seen by Mayfield, whose description is included for its graphic 33Latta, Uncle Jer's-Story, 31. qualities. It appears that it was the Choi- ~~Ibid., 33. ~~~~~nimni who used the weir while at the lake. 35Powera, 379; Gayton, Estudlllo, 75; Gayton, Ghost ________ Dance Or 1870, 72-74f. 36Gayton, Estudillo, 78.| GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 15 The tribe I was with had an interesting flower which was pulverized and thrown over of catching fish on the lake shore. A weir quiet water or a pond. The fish were scooped willow wicker work was built out at an angle up in baskets as they came to the surface. The the shore for a distance of fifty or sixty same flower was used in an infusion for head- s. Then a large group of Indians would aches; it grows commonly on the plains (not out beyond the weir and close the opening. ides;iit grows poison thescribedo a group would form a semicircle sometimes a identified). Another poison, undescribed, s e long. called t"lll, was mentioned by M.G. After the circle was completed they would Ducks, mudhens, and other water fowl were se in, all splashing and yelling and driving caught with nets set up among the tules, but o fish into the shallow water behind the weir. the exact manner of operation of the nets could ~this shallow water were two or three Indians not be described. The Wowol secured ducks for rg about, each with one of the bottomless Estudillo; "...in less than half an hour, with- Cl wicker baskets that they used up the ver for catching fish in pools. When they in my sight, they caught many with snares which t a fish with their feet or saw a ripple they had in the lake."39 o by a fish they would clap the basket down Again Mayfield supplies an eyewitness catch it. It was not possible to see the description from the Tachi. .h as the shallow water soon became very Sometimes three or four Indians would go out on the lake on one of the fishing rafts and Another type of weir, consisting of two hunt ducks and geese and stay out there as long wings, was erected in shallow water. No as a week. During this time they poled the ve was made; men waded in in the early morn- raft around through the tules and ate and slept and dipped up fish with hand nets (po'hac). on it. According to Mayfield a special raft forthrow loose tules over the raft and themselves, forming a blind. Then, through jhing and hunting was used by the Tachi at the hole in the center they would slowly pole >1sre Lake. the raft.. In this way they would approach with- in a few feet of ducks and geese and shoot them from the blind with bows and arrows. s raft was constructed in a different way.... Sometimes they would catch the ducks that was wide and flat and would pass over very flew overhead with a net. This net was a good llow water. It was pointed at the ends, but deal like the net fishermen use to take trout e points were not raised as they were in the out of the water after they have hooked them. t used on the river. It was about two feet across the mouth. They In the center of the fishing raft was a also snared ducks and geese among thetules.0 rge hole. Through this hole fish were gigged oh as they were from the platform on the ver above. Of vegetable foods, sopas (arrowhead?) was A few feet ahead of the hole was an earth- the staple.41 It was not put in a mortar at or mud, hearth. On this hearth a fire was first, but in a depression in the ground, where ridled, and the cooking was done. it was trampled. The leaves and seed pods were picked out; the seeds were put in a mortar and He also describes a novel method of fish- pounded. The flour, wetted with water, formed in the tular. a mush called so'passn sa sa. There is a doctor's song about this foodstuff. Tule roots (pu muk) were gathered, dried, les will float on the water, and the Indians pounded, and used as a flour for mush. Tule ke use of their buoyancy. On the lake, and s etimes in sloughs along the river, the tules seeds (tsos )were alo used. Before they ed to float about loose. The wind would ripened, the tule heads were tied together in ft them into great mats near the shore. The bunches where they were growing. When ripe, sh used to collect under these mats and we the seeds were knocked off into a basket and ed to walk over them and spear fish from them.8 the heads released. In February J.A. said, "We should be going around now to see how they 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~are getting along. Then maybe next month tie The Tachi fishing implement, as described them up." M.G., was a single-pointed harpoon (to"okoi). t * hooked point, about two inches long was Acorns in the neighborhood of Kingston e of a pelican wing bone which w&s lashed to were available to the Tachi. They went up * detachable foreshaft with sinew. The fore- there after them; men climbed the trees and t, about one foot long, was attached to the shook down the acorns with hooked sticks while k handle by means of a length of tule fibre women collected them in burden baskets. Ord. Fish poison (yao'ha) was made from a white 39Gayton, Estudillo, 72 . L_ *?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Latta, Uncle Jeff 's Story, 32. 31Latta, Uncle Jefr 's Story, 32_33. 4lOn another occasion J .A . said sopas was a plant wi th 38Ibid., 30,32.\ "large leaves and red berri es. " 16 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Several vegetable foods were identified usual materials. Dead willow wood provided from growing specimens by J.A. The word to"mul only "a slow and punky" fire. is used to cover all green plant foods, but is also specifically applied to all clovers, to yellow mustard, and, as bitter greens (kiiytt Mortars tomul) to brown mustard. Clover (ho'lom) was eaten raw while young and tender. Mustard The stone mortar and pestle (koiiwus and greens were cooked, and today bacon is added. po lwai) were obtained through trade with Fiddle-neck (ka lu) and filaree (po'halo) are people of the foothills. Mayfield conmments eaten with salt grass while in the tender stage. that mortars taken by the Choinimni to Tulare A plant, known by its Tachi name ya hal, but Lake were not brought back. Because he saw one unidentified, was valued for its seeds which dug up at a previous camping site, he believed were mashed and eaten. A plant with reddish- they all were buried, but more probably many purple flowers, ka sysn, has tiny edible seeds disappeared in trade to the Tachi.42 The oak which are greatly prized; they are rolled into mortar (pe'wus), gotten from neighbors in the a ball and eaten as we would candy (undoubtedly roblar, was used with a wooden pestle (ma'ta) red maid, Calandrinia). Grass nuts (tsa lu, (M.G.). Brodiaea) were valued for their small nutty Kroeber states: roots which were roasted and eaten whole or mashed into flour. A yellow prairie flower wa sdi oewya a fo .Thr Tai The most common form of these among the oto'hon) was used in some way as a food. There Tachi was one of white oak. The flat-bottomed were many others which must have been well wooden block was a little more than a foot high known and used. Horehound (ohoi'yon toi yu, half as much again in diameter. Except for a translated as cough medicine) wa-s cooked and narrow rim, the whole upper surface was ex- the liquid drunk for a cough. J.A. said the cavated a few inches, chiefly by fire; but the plant was an introduction of the white people. actual pounding was done in a smaller doubly A Mexican introduction is "five spot" or sunk pit in the center. The pestle was the spotted mallow (malpas, Spanish), the leaves of same as on bedrock. Even the hill Chukchansi which are cooked, mixed with castor oil, and knew the wooden mortar, which the called used as a poultice for pleurisy or kidney pains. Kowish; and the Choinimni used .3 The mashed roots of jimsonweed (Datura) were used as a poultice on broken bones, or on any J.A. insisted that the metate or flat excessively painful injury, by the Tachi, al- grinding stone (hise'ts) and mano or grinder though M.G. claimed that they did not use it (lo'wat) were used before Mexican intrusion. ceremonially. The Chunut used it ceremonially Particularly they were used for unshelled seeds and as a medicament. J.A. reports that the which were rubbed on it, then transferred to mashed leaves were put on sores. An elderly the mortar for pulverizing. "All ordinary man who did this became delirious for a day or people had them." Kroeber illustrates a flat- two, but recovered. For fractures a poultice tish grinding stone from the "Kings River Yokut of mashed jimsonweed roots was tied on after but seemingly there is no textual reference to the skin about the fracture had been scarified. it.44 Such a poultice was applied to Motsa's shoulder Bedrock mortars were, of course, unavaila- when his clavicle was broken. Another man at ble in the valley plains and lake region. Pisras drank a decoction of jimsonweed when he Powers states: was badly injured by being thrown from a horse. Any person, not necessarily a "Jimsonweed Around the lake and on Kings River one handler," used the plant medicinally. will often find a family using a well-made A few other plants were identified by J.A. stone mortar. They always admit that they did Blue lupine, not used for anything, was called not manufacture these implements, but happened snake's-urine (ya'hn tuyu hun). Bird's-eye on them in digging or found them on the surface (a gilia) was called owl's-eye (tukla'lai'sn and that they belonged to a race other than tsa'tsa), and owl's-clover was known as coyote's-their own. They sometimes have the ingenuity penis (po'tolo kai"iysn). Two kinds of "wire to improve on them by fastening a basket hoppe grass" which grew in water, one coarse, the around the top to prevent the acorns from fly- ing out. On the west side of Tulare Lake thes other fine, were called ka pi and o 'wun (the mortars are very numerous, and of course they words for knife and balsa). must have been carried thither from the The Telamni, T.W., reported that toyo ho, mountains .45 a plant with flat green leaves which gave milk when mashed and which "had no flowers," was 2 boiled and the liquid applied to snake bites; *SLatta, Uncle Jefff's Story, 31, 37. it reduced the swelling. The plant grew in ?3Handbook, 527-528, p1. 45. Cutler's field in Drum Valley. ?Ibid., p1. 66. Firewood was difficult to obtain. Dried 45P.377. "Thither from the mp.untains" is probably weeds and tules, eked out with willow, were the thither rrom the Coast Range, not the Sierra Nevada. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 17 The Telamni wooden mortar was described by basket made of tules was called a'nas, while an | , a Waksachi informant, during his dis- openwork one for fish also was called cotot. A lon of trade (see Pt. II). The mortar was stiff willow basket for seed-beating was called ,from the crotch of an oak tree which, cama l. All these were twined. The informant of mixed grains at this point, was very J.A. said that both coiling and twining were ID It was burned down to a rough size, then done by Chunut, Telamni, and Wolasi, but the ed at the heart and the charcoal scraped technique used depended largely on the materi- chopped out. This treatment was given in- als available. Two typical Yokuts shapes, the 4. and out until the desired size was reached. shouldered or bottleneck basket and the large slender pestle of stone was used with it. conical -burden basket, were obtained mostly by ese mortars the Telamni sold to the lake- trade. The shapes which she knew. and named llers, Chunut, Tachi, and Wowol, preferring were as follows. The circular coiled winnowing r themselves stone mortars of both large and tray (tsa'pgt) and a larger, flatter tray for 11 sizes which they also bought from the gambling (tai"iwan). Two small basket types achi or intervening Wukchumni. have incurved tops, one (po'msk) has a simple curved side, the other (tsot pomck) a flared straight side which eventually curves inward at Pottery the neck. The bottleneck basket (o'sa) was known but seldom used. The large burden basket Pottery was not made by the lake tribes-X6 (anas) was bought from the foothill people. The en a knowledge of it in old times was denied seedbeater (ha lai) was handled. The basket M.G., while J.A. said she had seen it made cap (pukiu was) was known to have been used in Wukchumni women (M.P. and daughters) but did the old days, but was not an addiction as it t remember how. My demonstration of the was with women of northern California. tor actions of making a "rope" of clay merely The tumpline (tsono'lhi) and carrying net icited a description of firemaking. Red clay (tsuno'lus) were known to J.A., but she did not s sometimes shaped with the fingers into know how to make them. ittle dishes (tipe'kcl ki wss). It was chief- The Telamni informant, T.W., whose home * valued as a medicament smeared on the chest. had been among Telamni in contact with the A reliable Wukchumni informant (M.L.) said that Wukchumni and Gawia more than with the Chunut pottery was traded to the lake people. and Tachi, described Telamni baskets as follows. Coiled types were the coiled winnowing and gambling trays (kayo to); a large, flat- Basketry bottomed, flaring-sided basket used for cooked mush and given as a gift basket (kotcao'); and No detailed description of basketmaking the shouldered or bottleneck basket (osa). The -techniques was obtained from the Chunut and twined baskets were the large conical burden A'achi informants, but both had important state- basket (a'inas); the oval, handled seedbeater unts concerning forms and materials. This (caC'aici); and the large, somewhat globular, ged Tachi informant (M.G.) repeatedly affirmed cooking basket decorated with bands of red hat the lake people did not make coiled (po'dano). baskets in old times, that the coiled pieces The tumpline she called 8u'rilsk, the soap- oere obtained by trade. The Wechihit and root brush toho't. 2hoinok had coiled wares, she believed, but the toothill people, Wukchumni, Gawia, and Yaud- jnchi were the ultimate source for lake trade. Blanketmaking n exchange, the handsome tule mats from the lake were prized in the foothills. The Tachi, The Tachi made blankets (woi'yon, the word wol, and others dwelling in the tular used a used for mats) of strips of mudhen skins. ined technique exclusively on tule and willow Rabbits were scarce in the tular, consequently terials. There is little remaining evidence blankets of their skins were obtained only by r the tule wares, as they are perishable in trade. The chief source was the Wimilchi tribe exture and not attractive as museum pieces. living up Kings River out of the tular area. In the collections of the University of Nevertheless, rabbitskin blankets were alifornia are a few pieces from "Santa Rosa made by the Tachi, according to Jeff Mayfield. Rancheria, Lemoore" which might have been made He describes the process as a kind of looping y a member of any lake tribe, and a few tule or netting, not weaving. Variations of the baskets of miscellaneous provenience. blanket were used as shawls, skirts, blankets, The following basket types were described and baby covers.47 by M.G. (see figs. 2, 3). An open conical basket (cvoto"t), which might be large or small, ?LtaUceJr' tr,3.I g B mde oftrianulartule8(pumuk)* Aseed the lake people with whom Mayfield spent his time were Wimilchi and Nutunutu at the lake sloughs rather than the 0 Vide Gayton, Yokuts and Western Mono Pottery-Makilng. Tachi proper. ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS YOKUTS WESTERN MONO TW/NED BASKET TYPES CHUNUT WUKCHUMNI MICHAHAI WOBONUCH WAKSACHI ClOse twine; 7 alwoy6 4 red bonds In plain or herringbone pQttern COOKING BASKET ? pota'na poeno poto-n topono'8i obtained ci se Wine; from the stittened wt fothills sooproot juice tribes wo,no 2 BURDEN BASKET canoas O'lafi a'naI po-no medium open twine; handled yomaki 3 SEEDBEATER hai'aoi ta'myuk ea' phoi p3tso ' * tansho fitne open twvine; no hancdle 4 SIEVE ? tamyuk ta'phai pu"an ? coarse open Twine no hwrndte 5 FISH SCOOP AND CARRIER ? a pot ta'phoi pu"on ? close twine; stiffened with obtained obtained unknown by trode by trade 6 WINNOWER ? toDo-ti u a ? open twine; ncQe has lid | 7 HANGING BASKET OR CAGE used by all tribes (native word not recorded) Fig. 2. Yokuts and Western Mono twined basket types. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 19 YOKUTS WESTERN MONO COILED BASKET TYPES CHUNUT WUKCHUMNI MICHAHAI WOBONUCH WAKSACHI I MUSH,STORAGE,OR WASHING ? a'oki 3ai'op ? used exclusively for storing loaves of brecd 2 "'BREAD BASKET' (MODERN) (native word not recorded) 3 INDIVIDUAL FOOD BASKEET ? kaAdao amat ? a-po A WOMAN'S CAP (SELDOM USED) pukiu'was wakiVnits amat pi kwo'l O WINNOWING TRAY tso'pit koiy o'!o koiyo'to sai'ya -. ,(Patwisha) 6 GAMBLING TRAY tol'iwan tai'won tai'won s3i'ya bo'gtu little used by Chunut 7 TREASURE BASKET o'so oo'3 o'so osa ? 8 GIFT BASKEr po'mik (a and 9 are shapes made by the Chunut and probably by other Lake tribes) 9 TREASURE BASKET tsotpo' mi k Fig. 3. Yokuts and Western Mono coiled basket types. 20 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS CEREMONIAL PAINT PATTERNS YOKUTS: CHUNUT COYOTE: d' BUZZARD*.@ CRANE; d EAGLE: do ANN%~ . HAWK sp..4 COOPERS HAWK:4 RAVEN: c ANTELOPE: 6 YOKUTS: WUKCHUMNI n R Q 0w d0o. GENERAL USE: Wand w BEAR: cf. HEtI14NAMIT: WATIYOD: e in~~~~o on X B~~~~~~ COYOTE DANCER: 4 HEgI5NAMIT:J(5iHAMAN) WATIYOD: J^(SHAMAN) Fig. 4. Yokuts ceremonial paint pa.tterns: Chunut and Wukchumni. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 21 Balsa Construction could paint his face any way he liked if he did not want to follow a totemic pattern. After The balsa, made of triangular tule, was ceremonial washing a man's face was covered Iled tule boat (pumuk o'wan). It was made in with red paint; sometimes a little white paint e sections, a long central bundle and two was put on a woman. ler, fatter, lateral ones which formed The following information is from Mr. E.W. tly raised sides. Tules cut for the Gifford, who kindly put his data on Tachi se were laid out on the ground or on moieties at my disposal. da tops to dry. An average-sized balsa held comfortably The Tachi employed moiety face paints. The ''people and their traveling possessions. toxelyuwic painted a "pink" stripe of wild rose- ryone sat cross-legged. When there was more bush powderA8 from the edge of the hair on the one passenger a man poled at each end, the forehead down to the tip of the nose, and a men poling on opposite sides. The pole, horizontal stripe under each eye. A small willow, was called owo wn ai'yai according black spot was added under each horizontal the Chunut, J.A., but sa hat according to stripe of pink. Tachi, M.G. Paddles of wood were not used. of The nutuwuts moiety painted the right side ,.Tachi, M.G. Paddles of wood were not used. Of the face solid white, the left solid black. n never poled unless necessary. The making No spots were added. balsas and poling were men's work, as was gathering of tule roots. The Tachi in- t said children would have crude little It seems probable that the informant who sas of their own or would sit astride a gave these data described patterns character- e bunch of bundles tules when playing in istic of some animal (lineage totem) associated i water. with each moiety. There is no suggestion of specific moiety patterns from any informants of moiety-divided tribes. The lineage is the Painting essential unit; but if forced to characterize moieties, an informant will choose some im- Painting was a favorite form of ceremonial portant animal (lineage totem) of each, most entation with people of the valley and frequently Coyote and Eagle. Without further region. The general word for paint was detail being given, it would appear that all si'amin. The colors were black (ka'lyan) persons of one moiety or the other had these e from charcoal, red (hoi'iyu) obtained in animals as totems. I believe it is thus with e from the mountains, and white (ho sot) the two paint patterns described to Gifford: fe rom burned shell (but at another time that the informant oversimplified. d to be white clay). All these were pulver- in little mortars and mixed with grease application. Several patterns were de- Money Manufacture lped as symbolic of the wearer's totem lopedas s~mboic o thewearr's otemThe shells for money were obtained whole 1 (fig. 4). The pictures call for certain The Tokya mash, Sla, o other nt. Cote (kaiyu) had black about from the Tokya (Chumash, Salinan, or other uth. Crow (ka'nkas) had black dots over the coastal people to the west). By laying them on ire face. Sandhill Crane (u'lats) had white a rock and giving them a sharp blow with a vering the entire right side of the face. - stone held in the hand, they were broken up ering (tohe hadntie rghot sideack lines fcex _ into several parts, which were again cracked -e(o'h'l) had two short black lines extend- into smaller pieces by the same method. Each . diagonally outward from the eyes and, about diagonally outward from the eyes and, about piece was given a circular shape by rubbing lower neck and shoulder-plane, a band of down its edge on a large, flat, hard rock. The lid white which represented the bald eagle's discs were then drilled by means of a drill te. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ic nere then drile the means tim wa thouhtll Lte neck and at the same time was thought of (wa'lai) of bone which was imbedded in the end Eagle's sacred talismans of eagle-down rope. teke Hak" su up)had ongblak lnes of a button willow stick. The palm of the left cken Hawk" (su'hup) had long black lines hand' umdwt ihgle oldti rl presenting tears from the inner corners of hand,_ gummed with fish glue, rolled,,te drll eye to the sides of the mouth: "he cried on the left thigh while the right hand pressed Lthe time because he was lonesome." Cooper's the disc against the rotating tip. k (poiiyon) had similar black "tears" and vertical white lines on the chin. Antelope c oi'yol) had two black lines radiating widely 4OConcerning the possible derivation Of this powder the eyes. Prairie Falcon (l1imik) had Professor N.L. Gardner, of the University of California, writes me [Gifford]: "There is a fungus growing on cer- ree parallel oblique stripes on each cheek, tamn species of roses which causes distortions in the te, black, white, and tied his hair up in a branches of the rose, such distortions being filled with ceial kind of "screw" on the top of the head. masses of orange colored spores. It is barely possible kA. knew of no Bear pattern. that these might make a temporary pigment." White stripes and spots were made on the 49Practices wIth the left and right hands are uncertain Iy Just as one wished. J.A. said a person with this informnant, who is herself left-handed. 22 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS PLEASURES The pole and stick game (aiki'wtc) was fo men only, moieties were opposed, and it was played at any season of the year. Although Tobacco M.G. says her husband; Tsai'wal, was a good Tobacco (so'go'on) grew on the west side player, she does not know the count. Tobcc the go'on) particularly at U west se The pole and tossed hoop game (hole'wtc) of the lake, particularly at Udjiu west of was not played by the Tachi or, M.G. thinks, Huron. It was not cultivated or pruned. When by the Wechihit. Once a Telamni man came over full grown the leaves were gathered, dried, to TElweyst and showed them how to play, but i pounded, moistened, and made into cakes called was not carried on. t po'on. It was smoked in cane pipes (hal a, Matching lines was a game played by two cane). (The cane grew only in the foothills; men of opposite moieties on the last [celebra- none grew near the lake.) Wood, stone, or clay tion] day of a mourning ceremony. It was done pipes were not used. in the daytime; no songs accompanied it. Each The Chunut informant said that tobacco man had a gambling tray under which, on the was mixed with baked, ground shells (ka'pap), ground, he made a long and a short mark. The moistened, and drunk only by people who sought man who was matching his opponent won if his supernatural power. It caused vomiting and long line were on the same side, i.e., opposite induced spurious dreams "that were good for his opponent's. o nothing." The drinking of tobacco was denied J.A. described a favorite Chunut and by the Tachi informant; this and J.A.'s evident Telamni game which figures in a Chunut myth. disapproval of the practice suggest that the This she called k'a nal (she gave aiki wu t as custom was not a general indulgence among the a general word for games); it was played only lake people. J.A. said tobacco and lime by men. A pole of button willow (kais iwan) or rixture was most frequently used as a salve or another Atraight willow (sala am) about 8 to poultice applied to a painful spot. Doctors 10 feet long was set up in the ground. Fastened used it to cure by chewing it up, spitting and to it at the top was a ring (sota"'al), abouted blowing it onto a patient. If a patient were twelve inches in diameter, of pliable willow very ill, the doctor himself would smoke and welve ith in ster, A babl willow eat tobacco to induce a narcosis in which he wrapped with tule string. A ball (ai'yak') 5 saw the cuse of th illness.made of tules wrapped into a spherical shape5 saw the cause of the illness. was tossed through the ring. The player stood Ordinary persons smoked tobacco whenever about fifteen feet away for tossing, farther they felt so inclined. If frightened, they away if he were shooting arrows through the would chew a little tobacco. ring, a favorite alternative. A successful throw counted one, but if done twice in suc- cession the player "won everything." Games The Tachi informant, M.G., briefly de- String Figures scribed several familiar games. The hand game (wehala'nwsca) was played by The cat's cradle was called by the same both sexes, but at night only. There were word as the carrying net (tsunolus). J.A. three or four on a side, opposed by moieties. knew only two types. One was the "sweathouse" A One pair of sticks was used; they were hidden of other regions, inappropriately called "tule under a blanket. Guessing and hiding were ac- house" by J.A., and when doubled, that is, one companied by singng. Twelve counters were on each hand, "two tule houses." The second used,and playing continued until one side had type is the European "cutting trick," which acquired them all. v , J.A. did not name but which she demonstrated The walnut dice game (hucu'is') was played as cutting finger, wrist, and neck. by both sexes, but in the daytime only. Moie- ties were opposed. Eight dice were -thrown, counting thus: two or three up, 1; all up, 3; all down, 4. Flower Festival Shinny (ko'nwtc) was played only after a mourning ceremony, according to M.G. (This The magnificent sea of wild-flower blooms may be a misunderstanding derived from two in- which covers the San Joaquin plains from March terpreters.) Both sexes played, opposed by to May was greeted with rejoicing by the people moiety. The field for play had the starting dwelling there. During this season young point in the center and a goal post at each end. people went out to pick the flowers and to con- The Tokelyuwich moiety played toward the struct crowns of flowers for themselves. ThereI western post, the Nutuwich toward the east. Each side had its own ball. The object was to ______ be the first to hit the goal post. There was 50Gayton and Newman, 17.| no return play to the starting point. 51lnformant was uncertain Of ball's construction. | GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 23 many songs connected with this practice, of the dead. The following birds were named J.A. could not recall them: one song ran, without comment: belted kingfisher (tsutatu' - I am making a crown (se'ma) of flowers." klas); Steller's Jay (tikai'ya [sic]); Cali- there was an expression, "to go flowering."52 fornia Jay (tai'tai); hummingbird (general) i.men who could not wander out in the fields (haha'tsui); Gair'dner (?) woodpecker (ko'wo'- d ask children to make crowns for them too. kLts); California woodpecker (tiwe'sa); Cali- re was no ceremonial significance to this fornia [Valley] quail (saka'la) were scarce in ivity, which was probably more widespread old days but common now; red-shafted woodpecker one might expect, as there are hints of it [Flicker] (pala 'tat); great blue heron (wa 'hat); other recorders. The Miwok wore flowers, northern shrike (pe lpil); western mockingbird ticularly as wreaths," and the Maidu on the (tikai 'ya [sic]); yellow-headed blackbird rican River had a dance in which girls wore (tolo hano); pelican (ha 'hal); Cooper's hawk er fillets and pelted spectators with (po'hiyon); kingfisher, variant (saka'ka); wers.53' crow (ka 'nkas); raven (ho 'toi); sandhill crane (u'lats); prairie falcon (li'msk); chicken hawk (sp. ?) (su'hup); eagle (sp. ?) (to`hsl). The following were not identified but were KNOWLEDGE described with considerable accuracy by J.A.; dubious descriptions are given with the in- formant's own words. Flies in general (mo'nai), Birds, Insects, Reptiles, etc. housefly (pisa'tna), blowfly (ka'msal). Hornet (?) (mi'nel); the Chunut and *Tachi did not eat The following birds were identified by the nests with larvae but know Choinimni, Wuk- A.; most of them were seen about her house chumni, and other foothill people did. The yard, others, like the crane, were seen ground wasp (po'ao 'nai) "is mean, lives in the ing our trips into the fields within a two- ground, makes no honey and just raises young le radius of her home. ones." The Telamni ate the young roasted on The western robin (wipe'lLts, "singer") coals, a dish called tape si, which was eaten ye 'Walk, walk, walk!' when it sings. People with acorn mush. The furry bumblebee (lo'k'o) the foothills say that there are going to be was known and "a bee with a hard back" (was' t of blackberries when robins are plentiful." ha 'lu). Small moths (a nt sa) and a "night" ldfinches (towi 'nLts; from towo" a, yellow moth (toino"cn ant'sa) were distinguished, le pollen) are named for tule pollen because while a very large spotted moth was called hey go in among the tules and get yellow dust "eats dead people" (tatahe ta "ats) and liter- 1 over themselves." They were eaten by some ally was believed to do so. Butterflies in Dple, but J.A. has not eaten them. The com- general (woge ki); the Monarch butterfly was blackbird (Brewer) is called "eyes"(tsa'tsa). called metaphorically "big bee" (matek lo'k'o), sve with white eyes are said to be the and the "cabbage" butterfly descriptiv2ly lee: they are called kuta nan tsatsa from "little white butterfly" (tso lol witsa ha 'uts, small round clamshell beads. Western wogeki). Dragonflies (islo li), mosquitoes uebirds (tsoitsoi"'ina) "come from the (kas'ho'p), a black beetle (te't'l) , and the untains in winter. They say 'tsu'its, water weaver (soi 'yol?) were mentioned by J.A. luits, tsu'its' which doesn't mean anything; Small ants, either red or black, were called is Just his word." The mourning dove by the same name (ke'ntts); tree ants (ha'sa') pla li) "sings when she is going to lay an smelled bad when killed"; the big ants which * i' The meadow lark (ula'ti) "says when he made hills were called "crazy ants" (lok'e"sts pgs, 'Where you going? What you saying?"' kenots)Y' isyu tuk ma, ha wa yuk ma). Whippoorwill The tarantula (tu mun) was "a widow a long i'wali) feathers were burned, put in water, time ago"; less commonly the tarantula was Idrunk by a woman in labor. The whippoor- called "bear" (noho"o). J.A. does not think Ll's cry was thought to "sound like a baby." they were poisonous, "Just mean, Mexicans erican magpie (o'tsots) was pine'ti, advice- sometimes make them fight." A large white rer to the birds in mythical times, "Just spider (ko '101 ks 'lwai) makes a web (otsti 'ho) ke a lawyer." Killdeer (ka'tsa) frightened "just like crochet. We say about Spider; 'He ple as they crossed the bridge to the land s~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~J.A. says this is derived from the Spanish loco, that 52J>.A. said, "to go flowering, Just like we are doing there was no concept or word "crazy" in the old times. ."Today, during the wildflower season, every Yokuts Three young girls who ran around with Mexicans, got drunk, Fehas a bouquet of blossoms thrust in a tin can or Jelly etc., were called both loco and alete'" ts by the other a8 even though the flowers are profuse outdoors and Indians. t'he latter word means foolish or irresponsible, her domestic furnshings are of the crudest sort. "crazy" in the American slang sense, not demented. J.A. kBarrett and Gifford, Miwok Material Culture, 222-223; insisted that alete'ts is not a native word, but I can Wera, 325. find no Spanish source for it. 24 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS carries string' (to ntom siWlwa)." The black Two unrecognizable creatures were de- spider with red spot on belly (Black Widow?) is scribed by J.A. One was called "acorn" called metsa, a term applied to powerful (e son) "because it is red like an acorn. It shamans, which means "true, real, big, power- comes out of the ground just after sunrise and ful." Another spider with black, red, and flies off." The other (Citbo bi) might possi- yellow markings is called "coyote" (caif'yu) bly be horned toad; it lives in the ground, ha "because every time it is thrown away it comes horns, a tail, is flat, is gray with black back. These are all mean and bite. The Wowol spots, it has four legs but walks rather than call to be bitten by one 'to be broken' hops. (ta"taita"tai)." This is because a paralysis, results so the limb is immovable "like broken to pieces." There was no attempt at medicinal cure; no swelling resulted and mobility eventu- ally returned. Nature The centipede (taka l ta-ka l) was feared because "it stung with its feet and there was Thunder (kunumu'mwiya) is personified in no cure, you Just died." The scorpion (pite-. charmstones called u nok (see Rain-Making, p . tits) was "partner to that other one [centi- pede], he lives in the ground, has six legs, a round body and a little tail that sticks up and Unok can be dreamed; when it likes you, stings you. It hurts awful but you don't die." you can find pretty ones. Unok is thunder: Lizards in general were called ko"ntedi. there are four brothers, two are triangular "Kontedi was Coyote's son." A big blue lizard tule (pu muk) and two round tule (pokton). was olotoii A mal lizrd wileli)and Poton is soft, rolling thunder and Pumuk is was solo toi'i. A small lizard (wile li) and loud and explosive. another one "with colors on it" were known in Once after sundown on the day of a big the foothills and called by the same name. storm Teresa saw a man on the horizon, he was "This one sang when he went to dance: 'You are wearing ceremonial feather garments and was not supernatural; Lizard is supernatural' (o ho dancing the kam [the ordinary doctor's dancing ma tL pni; wile li ts pni) ." Lizard was some- step]. times euphemistically referred to as "my ten fingers" (ti ye nan pu ntuk), referring to his hands which served as the pattern for human J.A. amplified her statement later (1929 hands.55 She said thunder is made by two brothers who Pollywog (seyao'siyao'i) "had some kind shake tules. Pumuk, the triangular tule, is of song in old times; another one (po"ol'lwai) the worst, he is mean and smashes things. Th was like a pollywog but bigger." Waterdog little flat tule, Poton, is the little thunde (we tpot) "looked Just like a baby." Another which says, "ta,ta,ta,ta, boom." Lightning is creature which might be a skink, as he was thought to be part of thunder, is called "something like a waterdog but more like a ka lLl; a mild thunder [lightning?] is called lizard," was called alata na. kalla m. If a person were feverish, a layman with supernatural power might rub him all over with Once I [J.A.] was out picking wild onions; a charmstone (unok). These charmstones are I was kneeling on the ground when I heard some- "part of the world, they came that way, they thing say "tststs" near-by. "What's that?" I were not made by anyone." Doctors did not us said. My nephew showed me an alatana right them. under my knees. He said, "That's alatana. The rainbow (saiiyap, Chunut; yonina, Isn't he pretty?" Then he told me that you Wukchumni [J.A.]) is made of flowers. It ha must always say how pretty he was or he would four stripes: the purple-red stripe is of make you sick. So I Just kept on picking - onions and said, "My, isn't he pretty," al- ka syn flowers whose seeds are greatly priz though I didn't know whether it was a boy or a blue is of tsa lu, grass nuts; the yellow is girl. He has little eyes, nose, mouth, and oto hon, a yellow prairie flower; and the ears just like a person. orange of wata'gu, a wild flower "that looks something like a marigold." These flowers or their seeds are all edible except. watagu. A Frogs in general were called kob'ytawat. rainbow forecast a plentiful food supply, "it The bullfrog was called a'oi %ts by the Tachi, will bring a good world [year] and plenty to but wipelsts (singer) by the Wowol and Chunut eat"; but it had no supernatural significance. "because he sang all night." Children liked to pull them out of ponds but were always told to _ put them back. They were never eaten. -APalligawonap whom Powers interviewed at the Tule River Reservation stated that "the rainbow is the sister of Pokoh tthe creator] and her breast is covered with flowers," but he also said that some thought a rainbow 55Gayton and Newman, 56, abstract 9, note 41. marked the fitrst menses Of some mailden (p. 395) . GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 25 Earthquakes (ye lya) were infrequent, and Chunut; Tipwatswat, Tokelyuwich, Wowol; attributed to any special cause by J.A. Halha lis (Joe Thomas; Jose) Nutuwich moiety, she was a little girl, she and her little Tachi. Pohasa's son died before he was old tor were sitting on the ground together enough to officiate as a chief, and Tipwatswat a very heavy earthquake came (1872 ?). (Charlie Thomas)57 succeeded Pohasa in import- said it caused a tree to fall over. ance. Some years later Tipwatswat wanted J.A. A flood (hu'u'lu'un) of unusual propor- to be a tiya because she was a paternal niece Qua forced all J.A.'s people to seek refuge of Pohasa. This suggestion she rejected "be- ?A hilltop when she was little more than an cause she would have to entertain visitors and ant; she remembers no other. Floods have strangers and she had no man to protect her ome infrequent owing to intensive irrigation from doctors." Wep's, J.A.'s brother, acted as :the San Joaquin Valley. a tiya on ceremonial occasions. The last Tachi chief of importance, Kanti, had no children, brothers, or sisters that J.A. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION can recall. When he was very old he gave a feast at which he selected three men and two Officials women, all of chiefly lineage, to continue the duties which yet remained to them in their dis- Chunut chiefs functioned much as those of integrated culture. Motsa, whose father had foothills, according to J.A: they set been a Tachi chief and who was himself already e time for mourning and other celebrations, known as a chief of dubious personal repute, scouraged quarrels, assisted poor people, and was maternal "nephew" (mother's cousin's son) ayed host to visitors. The position was in- to Kanti. He was said to be about Kanti's own rited in the paternal line. The chief's wife age, Kanti selected him as a successor. The children were also called by the chiefly other four were Sokai (Joaqu?n), a Tachi; tle, tiya, but while a brother was called Gomepss (George Garcia), a Wolasi, and' his sa, his children were not unless he succeeded sister, Watsmat; and Yaowatat (Tachi) a the position. daughter of the Tachi chief, Joe Thomas. J.A. stressed the chief's wealth, but Estudillo mentions four Tachi chiefs, uld not specify exact methods of acquiring Mariano Tiesar, Goolill, Cullas, and Chilaxas, She implied that the chief made a slight and two Nutunutu chiefs, Taija (perhaps a cor- fit on all money exchanges which he handled. ruption of tiya) and Chata, his nephew, and a reover, any traveler coming with something to chief of the Wimilchi, Coytisa. Three chiefs 11 first went to the chief's house, as any from the same region he assigns to two un- sitor would, where the chief had the first identifiable villages or tribes, Guchita (or rtunity to buy and, as a result, could re- Guchaita) and Hocha of Guchetema, and Guchalne 11 at a higher price. J.A. said, "Anyone of Tatagui.5 This was in 1819. here who saved money could get to be tiya," J.A. did not know of Lu"Cusi, the chief at t one had to dream [of Eagle], and "anyone Telweyst. o helped poor people was called tiya." But The official messenger (wina'tam) had oh a man was not confused with the chief of a much the same duties as in the foothills. Both iefly lineage, and he could not acquire an chiefs and shamans had these assistants, being le lineage totem by this means. His pres- called respectively, ti yan winatem and ge was due to his success, and his influence la nutun winatam. While J.A. says that Dove was y in his personality. the totem for either class of messenger, she Every village had a chief. If groups of has at other times stated that Roadrunner ople happened to camp together there might be (o 'ioi) might also be a messenger's totem. many as three chiefs, any one of whom offici- Moiety distinctions did not hold for chief's ted over all the people regardless of their messengers, who served a chief irrespective of iety affiliations, his moiety. J.A.'s husband, Tsupa, a Tokel- While J.A. stated that women became in- yuwich Tachi tHutsammi], said he "sometimes luential as chiefs in their own right, she didn't know which side he belonged on because uld not name any, "this was Just what she he was a tiya's winatum." heard about the old times." A chief's messenger, when going on an Regarding Motsi, J.A. said that she was official visit, carried a long cane called t a chief herself; she was the mother of site lami, to the top of which was attached a 'lustu, the wife of J.A. 's paternal uncle, strand of beads. (J.A. could not say what be- hasa, who was a chief. "Motsi wanted to be came of this strand but implied that it was illed tiya because she had lived with Bob left somewhere.) On entering a village he went Tista," a doctor of chiefly lineage who had directly to the chief's house where he was och personal influence among the Indians of he plains. About 1875-1880, at Pisras, there were 5Joe Thomas and Charlie Thomas are not related. tree captains, Pohasa, Tokelyuwich moiety, ~ Gayton, Estudillo, 78;80. 26 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS served food. The first bit that he put in his south of Lemoore, and Brown Wilson, nineteen mouth he spat out "Just like Dove."59 years of age, the toxelyuwis chief. The latte The Chunut had an official not found in succeeded his father [Motsa]. In response to -the foothills. This was the pine'ti or lane 'i, my question, it was stated that the toxelyuwis official adviser. J.A. had difficulty defining chief was regarded as slightly superior to the his functions. Magpie (o coc) was his totem, tuwuts chief. acien incert. but his duties were not associated with either the two chiefs acted in concert. moiety. Seemingly he acted as a go-between for habitat, the principal village (teemit) of the ordinary persons and a chief. "If a man wanted Tachi was Walna, at the northwestern corner of to kill a doctor, he would go to pineti to make Tulare Lake. There were dual chiefs there, on the request. He'd be told to wait until pineti for each moiety. The earliest chief remembered had consulted the captain." However, he did by the informant was a toxelyuwis chief named not speak at ceremonies for chiefs, who often K'anti, whose totem was the eagle. When this not speak at ceremonies chief died, he was succeeded by his son who talked directly to the people. Another of- bore also the name of K'anti. ficial made proclamations for the chief. The nutuwuts chief at Walna, contemporane- The official proclaimer was hile`tsts, a ous with the younger K'anti, was Jose (bap- term often applied to crow (kankas), his totem, tismal name). The contemporaneous chiefs just as Dove is often referred to as "winatum." K'anti and Jose were friends (noiciwts), but The chief paid this man to make announcements not relatives, so far as the informant knew. for him. If at a mourning ceremony a chief was The two modern chiefs of the Tachi are distant fready tom collt amourne, hermoud call the wan relatives of K'anti and Jose ready to collect money, he would call the an- Jose did not inherit his chieftainship nouncer, give him "about ten cents," and tell from his father Coiiwai, who was not a chief, him to go through the camp telling the people but a shaman (ancu); Coiiwai was a nutuwuts man "to pay now." of the coyote totem. Jose was his son by one Kroeber equates a Tachi official "hohotich" of his many wives. Jose was appointed chief by with the "hilet'ts" of Yauelmani and "hiauta" the nutuwuts people because the preceding chief of Yaudanchi, classifying them all as clowns died without male heirs and his daughters did "whose business it was to mock sacred cere- not want the position. wones, busineak cntrwadtorily., mo sredcent, and Jose was married twice. From his first monies, speak contradictorily, be indecent, and wife Meyula he separated. Jose's second wife, act nonsensically."6 It would seem that Motsi, was a female toxelyuwis chief at the hiletis should not be in the clowning category. present village near Lemoore. She was nomi- Another man who was not a tribal official nated for this position by her second husband, but had a specific function was pine w'ts (the Bob Bautista, a nutuwuts man of influence in hiau"ta of the foothills). This was a man of the community, being a rattle-shaker and singer grywho would kill doctors; such a (wipelit). Before becoming chieftainess Motsi great bravery hs k. While s had the crow for her totem, but following her man dreamed of Cooper's hawk. While his elevation, the eagle. It was said that the functions were the result of his private toxelyuwis chief always had the eagle for totem special powers, his services as a destroyer of This example seems to strengthen the case for malevolent shamans brought him public recogni- an association in the Tachi mind between the tion. chief of birds and the chief of men. On Tachi chieftaincy we have Gifford's in- The chief's messenger is called winado formation gathered in 1915, which agrees in and the message feather which he carries is largempation wi tered given 1915, thichuu a s icalled laasis. Over the shaft of the feather large part with that given by the Chunut J.A. beads are slipped, one for each day referred to in 1928-1929. The Jose of Gifford's data is by the message, as, for example, when a group Joe Thomas, according to J.A.; her information is invited to a ceremony at a fixed time. regarding the woman Motsi corroborates Gifford's. Powers mentions a Tachi chief, one Santi- The Tachi possess moiety chiefs. The ago, who had two sons, Ka-teh (Kanti?) and title of the chief is diya. A male chief is Ku-to-mats, "of whom Kateh was the first-born, described as noca diya, a female chief as but he [Santiago] designated the other to suc- mukela diya. In one recent case of succession bth Snig)dsgae h te osc the Tachi "elected" a cousin of the decedent to ceed him, because, as Kateh ingeniously ac- the position. Both were toxelyuwis. The in- knowledged, 'he was the smartest'" This was formants said that a close relative of a dead about 1871. J.A. states that "after Kanti died chief was "elected" anciently, always one of his spirit returned [went] to a place called the same moiety, of course. However, a dying Kantu over towards the northwest where there is chief might name his successor, his son, for a large church and many Mexicans living. example. a large church." There were always two chiefs in a settle- Kanti's spirit is in that church." ment, one for each moiety. In 1915 Joaquin Robert was the nutuwuts chief in the rancheria Moieties The Tachi, M.G., gave info'rmation on 59This evidently refers to some habit of the mourning moiety manifestations and the classification of dove . 6'Handbook, 4~97. 61Powers, 371.l GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 27 c animals. The words tokelyuws& and A village was not necessarily ruled by two 'tc she aligned with west and east re- chiefs, one of each moiety. Some camps would tively, and the head of each as Crow and only have one chief, another large place, like Fe, respectively. Telweytt, might have three. At Telweytt there Further categorizing was as follows, were Lucusi, and [name forgotten], Tokelyuwich, and Kanti, Nutuwich. She said Prairie Falcon was the totem of Lucusi, Prairie Falcon and Tokel uwich, west Raven of Kanti, and did not recall the third. ho'toi: raven Gifford's information on Tachi moieties, ls'mtk: falcon their functions, and totems follows. upye"si: mourning dove hi tyi: raccoon te-psk: sealj62 The moieties are called by terms cognate poho'ot: weasel with those of the Chukchansi and Gashowu moie- eo,hiyon: Cooper's hawk ties, viz., toxelyuwis and nutuwuts. The form- s o-'0so "chicken" hawk:63 er is rendered "west side," the latter "east Nutuwich, east side," and [these terms] were said by the in- kai yu: coyote formants to be derived from the stems toxi ulo 'i: black bear (west) or toxil (eagle) and notu (east). Else- soi yol: antelope whereO6 the probability of these terms really ma,cwi: elk referring to "downstream" and "upstream" has been discussed, although my Tachi informants gave hosim for "upstream" and homoti for "down- A member of one moiety "respected" all the stream "I The aged informant Mary Fernando stated a animals of his moiety, but had one that her father was a neophyte at San Miguel 1 as his lineage totem. Members of the Mission. He told her that the Salinan Indians imoety should not marry. Persons with the of the vicinity had two "sides" (moieties) 'lineage totem could not marry, nor could which corresponded to toxelyuwis and nutuwuts. or parallel cousins. Moiety members With the Tachi, and at least the Nutunutu, d each other merely "friend."9 moiety exogamy is said to have prevailed. In playing gamnes and in mourning cere- Similarly, guardian spirits obtained in moiety members were reciprocally op- dreams were often mountain lions and bears n, moiety members were recipriocally op- rather than totemic animals. A man might be- ^. In the doctors' contest, which was a long by birth to a group having the coyote for ure of the mourning ceremony, there was no totem, but get a bear for a guardian spirit. y opposition, but there was tribal oppo- [See Gifford's report on Halhalis, p. 36.] wn. Sometimes there were doctors from The Tachi informants described the totemic erent tribes on one side, but no men of the moiety situation by saying that anciently as *;tribe would be opposed. Doctors on the well as now people had birds and mammals as ;..tibewoud b opose. "ctusto friends." pets".. .the term "pet" really is to be in- side might be kelatives or "Just friends" terpreted in the sense of totem. There would t With respect to moiety manifestations in seem to have been less actual keeping of birds tribes, M.G. had rather definite ideas. and mammals in captivity than among the Chuk- Hoshima (northerners) called people of the chansi, perhaps because of less fixity of moiety cousin, i.e., literally sibling. habitation. Choinuk and Chunut had the same divisions Associated with the t;oxelyuwis moiety are Tachi Thunut had th e We divieve the crow (kankus), the eagle (toxil), the road- eTachi. Th owol had., too, she believed, runner., the killdeer., the osprey (soksu) , the it was not customary for a Tachi to. ask a raven (hotoii), the antelope (soyul), and the tl hat his "pet" (totem) was. She was un- beaver (ndebig). in whether the Gawia and Yokod had moie- Associated with the nutuwuts moiety are the following creatures, if identification by native description is correct: coyote katyu), the burrowing owl Speotyto cunicularia wecica), .0. twice gave teptk as seal, her interpreter adding the screech owl Otus as-io (tokulei), the great slS yu se n te ircs. S ebr gve tOUkas horned owl Bubo virginianus (hutu-lu), the short- like you see in the circus." Kroeber gives t?JpUk as eadowAsofaeu (aiy)anwlcld p (The Yokuts Language, 242), as does Gifford (ndebig). eared owl Asio flammeus (sawiyu)p an owl called agreed with M.G., also giving tepck as seal. I think solili (translated as%illy owl, which would y be sure that the animal M.G. meant was seal, re- seo of the correctness of the name she used. Fages 65Kroeber, Handbook, 494. s that "seals and otters occur as far as one hundred iThese terms which refer to north and south fit with fifty leagues upstream in the Rio de San Francisco" the Tachi topography, where the flow Of water between Joaquin River and its sloughs](Fages, A Historical, Buena Vista and Tulare lakes and the Sanjon de San Jose tical and. Natural Description of California, 77). into the San Joaquin River is from south to north. (There 63Thi8 is probably osprey, as given by Gifford. M.G. must have been some misunderstanding between informant and only say Of the bird that "he went up to a little recorder, however, for hosim (north] would be downstream in the mountains and got fish there." and homoti (south) upstream.) In the eastern portion Of the valley where the rivers flow west or northwest, the %or the Tachi kinship system see Gifford, Californian downstream-upstream analogy fits with the moiety names hip Terminologies, 8J-82. Tokelyuwich and Nutuwich (westward and eastward). A.H.0. 28 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS be Speotyto cunicularia), the male sparrow hawk teptk: 71 seal Falco sParverius (ttitic), the female sparrow naha-'at: otter hawk (liklikca), the marsh hawk Circus hudson- k&yo?k&ut: badger ius (istis), the prairie falcon limik), the hoi: deer Cooper's hawk Accipiter cooperi pohiya'), the c i`u: cottontail rabbit sharp-shinned hawk Accipiter velox (kohuiye), tsa'pal: Jack rabbit the skunk (cok), and -the seal (nahaat). Perhaps mamtlb blackberries of mythologic significance is the statement of one informant (Sam Thomas), that "we have for- gotten our (limik's) language and speak wecica's During a discussion which added nothing instead." definitive on the classification of animals by Eagle and coyote are respectively the moiety, J.A. added the following to her heads of each moiety, or perhaps more correctly list of Nutuwich animals: Cooper's hawk each group of moiety totems, though more often (pohiyon)72 ; pelican (hahal); bat (tcemtcem)73 crow and coyote are used as eponyms for the two ' , ,, moieties. Apparently, the eagle is especially rattlesnake (tamhana); a bird "like kingfishe connected with the moiety chief, for in the but bigger (sakaka); Steller Jay (tikaiya). case of the woman Motsi who became a chiefess, Of no moiety were ducks (wa'tswats, duck; it was said that originally the crow was her u'lui lum, drake);whippoorwill (waiwai); two "pet" as it was her father's, but when she was unidentified birds, one "sang sometimes and elevated to office the eagle became her "pet." used to be like people" [lived in prehuman er Moreover, it was said that a toxelyuwis chief (ystswahats), and the other (la 'ptana) "walked always had the eagle for totem. lame like a seal." Tachi meeting and not knowing one an- l Eale atseal." other's moiety, say: "Hatnuk kwun puus? What Eagle (tohl) was on both sides because is your pet" (literally "dog")? A nutuwuts both moieties had chiefs." person replies: "Katyu. Coyote." A toxelyuwis The animals listed are not all lineage person replies: "Kankus. Crow." Sometimes a totems, and few are dream helpers. It appear toxelyuwis person names the killdeer instead of that those creatures which are not lineage or the crow. dream totems, and do not serve as food, are arbitrarily forced into the moiety alignment. The Chunut informant, J.A., aligned The informant's uncertainty may in part be du animals as moiety totems in the following way. to the disintegration of her culture and the disappearance of the wild life; it may also b an indication of an attempt to carry the clas Tokelyuwich, west fication beyond its normal limits. su'hup: hawk Ordinarily a child followed the paternal l'mtk: prairie falcon moiety, but the rule was not rigid. In a lar o 'coc [sic]: roadrunner family a man might "give his wife" one or two ulati:67 meadow lark of the children: they would assume the dutie ho hwimus: swan and tabus of the maternal moiety. Tribal af- tsu tokta klus:68 kingfisher filiations, too, were normally patrilineal, b koiyotywat: frog (smalla J.A.'s daughter, whose father was without oao yts: frog klarge moiety (i.e., a Hutsammi "southerner" from Tu ymtsahats [sic]: antelope River Reservation), "didn't feel like them a sopas, pumnuk, followed her mother's people. "74 Ordinarily, tsos, etc.: all seeds even after marriage, a woman continued to as- Nutuwich, east sociate herself with her paternal moiety in a cai yu: coyote situation where moiety alignment was called f etW ti: 69pymow wehtuu "o pygmy owl Moiety exogamy was usual but not obliga- taklali: "screech" owl tory, as the genealogies disclose. Since lin poho"vot [sic]: weasel age was the fundamental regulator of marriage poho'ot:70 ground squirrel (the consanguineal tabu group), no difficulti tu'nul: wildcat arose as the result of rearing a child in the a'dza: fox maternal rather than paternal moiety. Member of the same moiety who knew themselves to be 71These animals were caught in rivers and lake "west l wr he wa- Lemoore," and at Summit Lake little ones were caught in 67aneadow lark was "mean" in the prehuman world; was nets; the Tachi informant M.G. also insisted tepLk was a cannibalistic gambler (see Gayton and Newman, 17). seal "Just like you see in the circus." 68Kingfisher had supernatural power; he helped doctors. 72He was "official shaman killer" ("daredevil") of all 69A11 owls were "doctors, " and were Nutuwicoh. Pygmy owl the bi rds . was the first doctor, and he was "often on both sides 73Bat was a dream helper. [moieties)"; people quarreled about this "because he was a doctor's [dream] helper and could easily be on both sides." 7 hi was doubtless due, at least in part, to the fac that the girl's family lived among Chunut, Telamni, and 7?&round squirrels were eaten by Tokelyuwich people. Wowol in a rancheria where moiety functions prevailed. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 29 ly related called each other yoko cnsm Eagles belonged to the toxelyuwi's moiety my, or "my people"); other co-moiety chief. Dead eagles were danced over and care- they merely called noci 'nm (friend my). fully buried.75 People not of the toxelyuwis of the same lineage referred to them- moiety who wished to obtain money would kill an collectively as ta'atinsm (relatives, the toxelyuwis peopletthepeople that Owned it, -bwn folks"). It was permissible for co- was a free wild bird, not a captive. When the *in-law (ma 'ksi) to marry, but this toxelyuwis people saw the eagle being brought, ''happened. No cousin marriage, either they would arrange blankets upon which to lay > parallel, up to and usually including the body and then cry for the dead bird, sinship, was permitted. scattering beads over it. Beads were also e ceremonial functions of the moieties given to the man who brought the eagle. The tioned elsewhere. In brief, reciprocal nutuwuts people did not cry for the dead eagle. For a slain coyote no ceremony was held; tion prevailed at first-fruit rites, at in fact, anciently people were afraid to kill ial washings, possibly at one purely coyotes. No animal of the nutuwuts moiety re- tdance, during games played at mourning ceived such respect as the eagle of the toxel- ies, and during the hand game. It did yuwis moiety. tect the Shamans' Contest, the Rattle- ...Although some of the creatures [totemic itual, nor did it in any way appear in animals] were occasionally kept captive ... - personal aspects of shamans' activi- there would seem to have been less actual personal aspects of shamans' activi- keeping of birds and mammals in captivity than uch as curing or persecuting their fellow among the Chukchansi. perhaps because of less fixity of habitation. emption of totem animal.-- The rite of a payment for a totemic animal was siwa'lunLts, and was confined to Eagle LIFE CYCLE yote by the Chunut, according to J.A. es a man from the foothills would come Birth and Infancy lains chief with an eagle, which might be bird or dead. In either case the bird If delivery was difficult, it was attrib- down on a mat with its wings outspread uted to the evil force of some shaman. Ordinar- er supervision of the Tokelyuwich ily no man was present during a childbirth, , persons of that moiety cast bead money but a shaman was called if necessary. He knelt t. All the spectators, regardless of before the squatting woman, held the top of her tJ wept. The money (all or part?) was head, pressing his sacred talisman upon it, to the visiting man by the Tokelyuwich then similarly pressed her abdomen and sprayed , who kept the eagle. But members of the a little water on it. Then the birth occurred; oh moiety were responsible for its final it was attributed to the power of his talismans. iltion. If the bird was dead, they took Sometimes women lay on a bed of hot ashes be- k to the foothills for burial; if alive, fore the birth in order to hasten it. A de- they who freed it. Eaglets were never coction of burned whippoorwill feathers was nd reared as in the foothills. thought helpful. s dead coyote was "redeemed" in the same The cord was cut by an assisting female y people of the Nutuwich moiety, but this relative with a cane knife (asspi) which was t, apparently, a public affair. Any used for no other purpose. Te placenta and och person who wished to would pay for the cord were put on the end of a buckeye stick and , whose carcass would then be buried, its shoved down under the water in some secluded being kept as a talisman, corner of a stream or pond; the stick pinned 3Eears were not redeemed. the objects to the mud at the bottom. Occasionally people kept pets; a Tokelyu- The navel stump (tutu 'sami) was put in a chief might keep a pair of crows. J.A.'s little skin bag (nowadays bebded) and worn on a . once had two baby skunks, which she kept string about the neck. J.A. knew no purpose F d on a tray. for this custom. The father of the infant ate F :or the Tachi Gifford gives the following, no meat until the stump had come off. agrees well with the Chunut information The mother remained on a bed of hot stones on the matter of coyote redemption. and ashes for about two weeks. When she got up she was washed by her husband's mother and The people of one moiety might kill the presented with some new clothing. This little t6" [totemic animals) of the other moiety, ceremony was called hiam edpo n (ep, to wash t of their own. This prohibition applied with water, to swim). The eating of meat was tonly to a man's own pet, but to all of the tw of his moiety. Nor might a man have a - h of the opposite moiety kill one of his 75The eagle buried with abalone ornaments over its y s8 pets. In fact when one was killed, it orbits may be an example Or this practice from the more the duty of the people of the motety with southerly Yo.ts near Buena Vista Lake (Gifford and h it was connected to redeem it and bury it Schenck, The Archaeology of the Southern San Joaquin prly Valley, p1. 13). 30 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS not resumed until after the first menstrual Puberty period following on the birth; the diet was ex- clusively warm cereal food such as acorn mush, Menstruation was called paiya'htn (paiV sopas seeds, etc. J.A. said a Choinimni girl, blood; lit., "to be blooding"). A little ce a daughter of Sumtiwts "nearly died" because mony was made for a girl at the termination 0 she ate gooseberries, raw and cold, after her first menses. J.A. recognized her own having a baby..."she should have waited longer." puberty as neglected due to disrupted native The baby was named about three or four life.; however, her mother made "a little part weeks after birth. The parents gave a "little for her after her first menstrual period. Sh party" (wi, i lonu'iwts) at which food was was washed, and dressed with beads and earri served to guests who came with gifts. There for the first time. She abstained from meat was no singing or dancing. J.A. does not know throughout the ensuing month and for six days who selected the child's name, but believes of her next period. Then she was washed with that names could be chosen among those from decoction of "some kind of weeds" and was per- mitted to eat meat. She was informed that to either parent's lineage; her daughter Yuki at mitdoeamat Sewsnfrdthto eithnmer paren'slieae her date aughtertYuki'at eat meat at this time would cause a hard ball i aed infornhe parsten craunt wasthesoft to grow in her abdomen and that, if she at- The infant's first cradle was the soft tempted to steal meat to eat in secret, she tule mat (wa'tsas hu toni). The second cradle would die. J.A. regretted that she had not (watsas) was the type with forked-stick frame, been sent out to swim at night as part of her upon which the child remained until it was able puberty training or taught "igto mind her dreams to walk and then sleep on the ground as adults as she should have been. dld. A prospective Tachi mother ate no meat, only roasted roots of the flat tule. Delivery Marriage took place in the home; afterward the woman lay face downward on a bed of hot ashes. The pla- A young man went to a girl's house and re centa and cord were put in water. The navel mained there if she accepted him. For about a stump was worn on a neck string by the child year he hunted and helped his father-in-law. until it reached puberty. Kroeber states that Then the couple removed to his parents' home the Tachi preserve the cord by having the child where, if there was room, they remained perma- wear it over its abdomen. Surely the navel nently. The function of the moiety in marria stump was meant. is discussed under "Social Organization." The Tachi had different names for men and The lineage was primarily a nuclear ex- women, but M.G. could give no rule by which ogamous group and secondarily, the moiety. they were distinguished, "You just knew." She Though it was usual to marry without one's said that a girl might be named for her ma- moiety it was not compulsory, as is evidenced ternal aunt, and a boy for his maternal grand- by the genealogies. No cousin marriage was father. This stressing of the maternal side permitted, and a couple known to be remotely may be accidental, nevertheless Gifford related could not marry without unfavorable mentions the bestowal of names by maternal as comment. well as paternal relatives, as follows. On Tachi marriages and affinal usages Gifford has some remarks. Children were named by old relatives for The term nukatmin means "my relation." dead relatives, sometimes for living relatives Mother-in-law and father-in-law tabus were in also. Nicknames were also bestowed and in the force. There was also a partial tabu against course of one's life he might be labeled with man talking to the wife of any man he called five or six appellations. Informants professed agas (mother's brother, mother's brother's son to know the meaning of none. If a person's etc.). Cross cousin marriage was not practic namesake dies, the person goes by one of his though it was said that anciently it was and other names or else he is renamed. In the case that a man might marry either his mother's of the young chief Kanti, however, such was not brother's daughter or his father's sister's the case. He continued to be known by this daughter. I have no genealogical evidenee to name after his namesake (his father) died. support this statement. The younger chief Kanti is a good example of a person with a plurality of names. He had Death two other names applied to him, also in infancy. They were Ha'cau and Wallo'. For none of these The Tachi informant had lost a grandson names could the informant give meanings. The chief Jose also had two additional names: about a year before my visit and wept when Siwulik, bestowed by his father, and Osowoii, mourning ceremonies were discussed, although bestowed by his father's father. the child's mother, one of the interpreters, The woman Yawata was named by her mother's showed no outward distress. Consequently no mother in infancy. Motsi was named by her information on death or burial was obtained mother. from the Tachi or Chunut informants, beyond ths GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 31 hat cremation was once practised, the re- Vista hills, in Tulamni territory, included bones and ashes being buried. Relatives some skeletons painstakingly wrapped in strings ~to a different locality to ease their or tules and others incompletely cremated be- -"they would get sick if they cried all fore burial.79 *." J.A. said the Chunut burned the of a deceased person, whereas the Tachi The ghosts of the dead were believed to moved away. M.G. denied any notions of rise in two days and travel westward to the in the afterworld. afterworld which was ruled over by a chief, -The following is from E.W. Gifford's notes Tip& 'kn&ts (supernatural power one). There ihi moieties. life was reversed; the dead slept by day, danced and enjoyed life at night; food was At a funeral three women from each moiety, abundant and inexhaustible; a living person X all, attended to making the funeral pyre, smelled foul to the dead. Ghostly relatives adays to digging the grave. They were lived in the same domestic groupings as in life. ted by the respective moiety chiefs. These beliefs, practically uniform for all women were called onotim. According to Yokuts people, were embodied in a myth about a ormants, berdaches (lokowitnono) had no man who followed his dead wife to the after- Aished functions at funerals. Kroeber world and who thus brought knowledge of it back ' the contrary for Yokuts in general.T6 world andsgo rormation being the older and positive is to the livin bly more reliable. Moreover, with a ity of berdaches women would no doubt tion as substitutes. SUPERNATURAL POWER AND SHAMANISM The ceremonial functions of the tono cm Acquisition of Power s-handler) at the time of a Tachi's death M.G. offered the following information on iven in some detail by Kroeber.77 Tachi beliefs regarding supernatural power. Not all people dreamed to get power nor, The Tachi had a more elaborate ceremony, if one did, need he become a shaman. Many men las tonochim hatim, "Tonochim's dance, on and old women got "unprofessional" power. Women ccasion of the first gathering after a were never shamans. In this the performers wear long false If a significant dream came to a person he ,made to project over the forehead like a went out and "talked to it." He went some dis- IThey represent long-billed birds called tance from his house, smoked a little tobacco, knan, perhaps loons. They have the privi- and scattered on the ground crane (ko'ltat) o taking for themselves any property, must be redeemed by the owners after the down (eagle down was too dangerous). This was i. They draw a mark on the ground; whoever done whether the help was accepted or rejected; es this is captured by them and thought to to ignore a dream helper's offer of power would ble to leave his imaginary inclosure. make one ill. If the helper was accepted, a 4should he escape his watchers, it is be- fast was maintained throughout the following .,some mysterious force would compel him day. The helper was called ane cwal. Cooper's eturn against his will. Such a person must hawk (pohiyon) was a "strong" dream, i.e., this his liberty redeemed by payment, else he tpt in confinement until the conclusion of bird was the bestower of strong power. ceremony. This ritual would appear to have Kroeber gives us the genesis of a Tachi a local custom. shaman. At burial, the dead person was admonished Bo return. o return. gotoanotherlandThe prospective Tachi doctor bathes night- You go to another land ly for a winter in pools, springs, or water You like that land h .78 holes, until the inhabiting being meets and in- structs him, or comes to him in his sleep. In one such hole lives a six-mouthed rattlesnake; Eroeber also states: in another, a white water snake; in a third, a hawk which can occasionally be seen flying into or out of its home below the surface. The Tachi, like some Costanoan groups, ed everyone of any account, believing that al gave wizards an opportunity to steal the A Chunut man became a shaman by dreaming of the deceased and thus evoke their and fasting. If he wanted great power he would ts; but they did not bury the ashes. A let a black spider (metsa)81 bite his tongue; p of ancient bodies discovered in the Buena [ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7-'fandbook. 499. 8?Gayton and Newman, 17-19, abstracts 140, i141; Gayton, ~Hndbookr, 4f97. The Orpheus Myth, passim. '~bi 500 SlMetsa means "true, authentic," in this case refferring %,oeber, The Yokuts Language, 375, and Handbook, 509. to black spider's great supernatural power. 32 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS then he would dream of the creature. When he Nevertheless, this was said in a prayerful arose he ate and drank nothing but tobacco. He manner, as if to convince herself and any un- absented himself from home, walking about known power behind the dream, that all was wel during the daytime. If possible he went to a [ A neighbor of J.A.'s was said to be a prosti pondof ate whre ome upenatralanials tute. J.A. has tried to keep Belle out of pond of water where some supernatural animals difficulties with men lest she "lose her grub might come out and talk to him. He did not from the government."] have to take jimsonweed. Moiety affiliations do not limit the walat talismans secured through dreams: thus Cooper's In connection with dreams J.A. stated tha hawk (pohiyon) can be dreamt of by anybody. So a plain person (of no family prestige) "could could the ground owl (wetiti), who was so com- dream and get to be something." A man could monly a shaman's helper "that people didn't dream of Eagle, which would help him acquire know which side [moiety] he belonged on." Other wealth, and he would then be a chief (tiya).82 owls were definitely Nutuwich, so that "if a Dreams were regarded as actualities. If Tokelyuwich person dreamt about owl, he'd think one dreamed that someone was gossiping about a Nutuwich doctor was talking about him." Such him, he would chide the person about his be- a dream visitor might even be recognized as a havior at the first opportunity.'83 specific person's helper. The man who accepted dream help and wishe Those persons who did not want to possess to become a professional shaman continued his ttpni (supernatural power) even for private use fasting, dreaming, and praying over a long had to be respectful to a supernatural visita- period of time. HIe secured walat, the talis- tion when it came onsought. J.A. declared her- mans of his dream helper: these might be part self such. When a young woman she ate tobacco of animals or birds who were assisting him, or but dreamed nothing in result. She was a objects which they directed him to obtain. The little fearful of power and really did not want might be a necklace of beads, or any object it. designated in a dream, such as a weasel skin, bird or animal heads, or a portion of the dream helper, its wing or tail feathers. The One night a white spider (kolok& lwoi walat always referred to the dream helper and metsa) bit her. She threw it away but it came was indicated by it. An exception to this is back to her. The spider said, "you are going to dance in [at?] the fire." She replied, "No, the eagle-down strings, which always were im- I wouldn't do that. Om na t'pni (I am not bued with tspni and were the common "tool" for tL&Pni). Don't bother me. i'm just a plain magic. J.A. said a raven's head was a "good" person." walat, she had seen one which its owner kept Last year (1926) she dreamed an old man wrapped in eagle down. Weasel skins were used said to her, "I'd like you to be tiya." He in extracting "airshot." offered her a big -basket. J.A. did not want it, A walat, once used, lost its usefulness. returned it to the old man. This man was re- The owner took it out and hid it in some se- membering that her father's brother had been a Thedowert,ok it ou andhd t in some,se chief. They argued for a bit, but J.A. main- cluded spot, and if he wanted to live long, he tained her negation. However, "she got sick would never take it out again. Owners of wala later on because she didn't believe this," i.e., kept them carefully in some private place as she made no prayerful or grateful response, had they were dangerous, "they got mean if they not thought of it as a supernatural dream. were lost or carelessly handled; they talked A short time ago she dreamed that her about you." present son-in-law [brother of her daughter's The walat of the Chunut is identical with first husband] came and wanted to marry [?] The wala't of the WuchumnutisBt identiclewt Belle. He stood behind the door. Then he the ai n'tc of the Wukchumni. Both people kicked J.A. over each eye. She woke up. She used the word anatwal to indicate the dream went to sleep again and dreamed that she was itself, or verbally for the process of dream- praying. Her daughter Belle stood there point- ing. It appears that the foothill people use ing to heaven "because some kind of devil was the first part of the word to indicate the after her." When J.A. awoke in the morning she dream talisman (ain&tc), the lake people the decided that this dream had no supernatural second part (walat). significance, that "there was nothing to it, s that she and Belle were both good and did no one harm. She said to herself: Sickness and Curing om na heuto ho not I prostitute, [to go around] In curing a patient a doctor took with hi o a flint knife for cutting, a bunch of hand om na lowai tna not I male sexual partner 52This seems somewhat contrary to the inheritable nature Orf the oiffice but agrees with her statements con- hina -na na'as toti cerning C~hunut chieftaincy made at another tine. happy I~~~~ I not bad ~~8J. A. complained that some neighboring Indians were om na 'as heho ma topo lti "talking about" her while I was there, and I could never not I to-get-rich genitals-by discover whether this was real or dreamed. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 33 a (so 'n'l or waca `m) to brush off the In such cases of deliberate harm, if a es, and his talismans. Eagle-down strings person sent for a doctor other than the one who worn wrapped around the body. Special had sent the sickhess, the doctor who attempted such as animal heads, were pressed the cure would be sickened by the evil shaman. t the patient's body and held up in Only a very "big" doctor could bring about a ent directions while the doctor prayed cure under such circumstances, and at great * supernatural helper it represented. A risk to himself: it was one man's power 1 doctor was able to suck out sickness against another's. bUt making any incision. Coyotes were thought to be "servants" of When Poso'o was in the process of curing a evil shamans and ttpni peopl*- If a doctor were ' he never ate or drank, nor did he sleep. going to injure a family or make a visit with uld bathe, walk about in secluded 'places, harmful intentions, he would send a coyote eonverse with his walat or with some animal ahead of him the preceding night. The coyote would tell him what to do. A cure usually would go through the village barking and thrust 4 two days: the first "call" was made in his head in the door of the doomed house. When ;evening, and was for the purpose of diag- people heard a coyote doing this they would get . Then the shaman consulted his super- up with their bows and arrows and try to shoot al assistants, as above, and return to it. But they never succeeded, as such an ct the cure at noon of the following day. animal was supernatural. When the coyote re- as then that he announced the. cause of the turned to his master, the shaman would dance ess and fell to work with cutting, sucking, and sing his songs. The next day the doctor brushing. If he were treating a wound would appear at the house The use of a coyote h was dirty, he would blow on it, lick it by a man who used his supernatural power to ughly, and spit onto a tray (tsa 'pl) persecute others was related amorgst other red with sand. Sand, saliva, etc., were anecdotes of evil shamans by J.A.5 ion a fire. A doctor of standing had an assistant tun winatum) who looked after his para- Shaman's Cache lia, prepared the medicines if any were e administered, dressed the shaman in his As in the foothills, doctors were believed onial costume and painted his face, and re- to have private caches where the wealth they ac- d the sickness, which was squeezed or spat cumulated was hidden: such a cache is called a tray. The doctor's winatum, like the tai wan (a big burden or storage basket). One ef's, had Dove as his family totem. of these is located in a little ridge about A doctor's paraphernalia were burned on eight hundred yards north of the Lemoore Ranch- death; they were not inherited even though eria. As usual, a fabulous account was given man had a son who was a shaman. Neither by J.A of the beads, baskets, feathers, skins, there inheritance of his ritual methods. A etc., stored there. In this region these n would probably have one son who would be things had to be buried as nature did not offer ctor: it was somewhat expected, but there the convenient rock shelters of the foothills. s no rule about it" and it "all depended on Should anyone start to dig in this hill, swarms dream.s." ifof gnats, flies, and fleas would attack the in. A family in need of a doctor would get to- truder and kill him. Or if he succeeded in er what they hoped would be a sufficient reaching and touching the objects, he would and send it to him with a request for his suffer terrific pains and sickness. The doctor did not have to accept; but if A taiwan is always guarded by some sort of anted more money he would not demand it creature. This one is inhabited by a personi- but would wait until later on, when curing fied fire: a bright light emanates from the under way. The mercenary attitude of ridge at times. It glides about and frightens ans was emphasized as usual by J.A. people when they walk to town at night; it follows them. It is a kind of person without If a doctor did not want to cure a person legs who just floats along; it is called til all his money was gone, he'd let him stay he'ute'sts kalsl (walks light [or lightning]). k. If he didn't get enough money he'd let This lightning sings: epatient die. A bad doctor might shoot a white feather hia-m i) na tipi,newe oiyolomo o you; only he could remove it. An evil now I t'pni move ef would pay a doctor to affect an enem W h sickness which he would not cure. '8When tiya was Jealous he had a doctor do his kill- .2 A ---_ . tia was. jAlosn ehay doctor dol or his kill When the ground is plowed (by the white proprie- fo. i.Aydco"cudwr o n tor), the glowing light extends for about a y quarter of a mile in all directions. [ 8See Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans. 85Ibid., 404f. 34 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS - This taiwan is an old one; nobody knows Several anecdotes of individual sickness what doctor owned it. Poso'o told J.A. about were related by J.A. it and warned her to keep away from it. He said a big sickness (tau'mui).like consumption When X, was a llttle girl, she "had fit or pneumonia would "come out" if any one at- CheniXi was a little was paid $ lt0 teptd oditub h pac.A Choinimni doctor, No hono, was paid $5.00 f tempted to disturb the plaee. cutting her at the forehead and the back of t A doctor who has not practised long., yet neck, but no cure was affected. Another doct shows inordinate signs of wealth, is suspected Kaosus, did the same thing; he extracted some of being a grave-robber. Some doctors were not intrusive hair from the back of the child's afraid of graves or of dead people. When they neck. She was cured. jopened a grave they ate all the flesh of the Another little girl "had fits" which we corpse and left the bones scattered about.6 attributed to an evil man. This man, who had come to shear sheep, asked the child's father for $20.00, an amount the father did not have Once J.A., her daughter Belle, M.P. and as he had just bought a horse. Soon after t her daughter Leah were out gathering wild the little giri "had a fit every time she saw onions on the Pohot ranch. They found a baby's that man" (a possible .case of rape?). Nohono skeleton: first they found a shoulder and a the Choinimni shaman, was called to cure this little hand, then a leg, and then a foot case also. farther over toward the northwest. They were W.At. 's little girl "had fits" every ni terrified and ran away at once. About a week and morning. Her dead twin sister, Sikiyat, later they heard that Halopca and his father, kept calling her. When Koyiyi had these spel Etak, had dug up a little girl's grave; she was she kept turning her head and looking back ov of a wealthy family and had lots of money her shoulder for her sister. They took her t buried with her. As these men lived up at Dun- another Choinimni doctor, Sumtiwts (Bob of Bo lap it was thought that they had come down via town) who gave the foregoing diagnosis; howe Eshom Valley to Lime Kiln Creek and thrown the he said if "he got that spirit [the dead remains on the Pohot's property to obviate sus- sister's] out of the child she would die." J. picion. and others were skeptical of this excuse. J. told the girl's mother to make her smell rom (rosemary), which was "used by the padres and Doctors who were believed to cause deatho smells *ood," when she had these attacks. Wh were usually killed when someone had courage to Koyiyi starts to die" lumps form between her do it. J.A. did not formulate the procedure, Reyebrws bth disapere when she "comes tolii merely said that this was so, and that her own Recently the child fell in a pond, but recov grandfather was killed by some Tachi because it was thought he "sent sickness. J.A. knew of one woman doctor, Suko t'ts Illnesses and Treatments: who lived down at Tule River Reservation. Sh The following were specified by J.A. was not a berdache, for she had a son who, h self a doctor, was eventually killed for mal- practice.; J.A. has seen her cure. Headache: de'ltal. This was cured by sucking blood (pai yamgt) from the forehead A black scorpion bit Tsomoi'yot (J.A.'s juNt between the eyes.o . cousin) on her foot; it had been sent by a Nose bleed: tomo luna. This was due to a Wukchumni doctor. Sukottts was called. She long hair of a dead person which a ghost in- sat down before the patient and talked to her serted in one's forehead. The hair lay, intern- dream helper who told her the cause of the ally, down the length of the nose. A doctor trouble. (There was no dancing.) She sang a cut and sucked the extreme tip of the nose, and 80 exhibited the intrusive hair. n Pain: woto ,kwi. Any pain was called by this term and an attempt would be made to cure tuna'ha la na we-ta 88 it by cutting and sucking. Cold: ho sowona. This was usually not hiye'wuka na treated unless very severe. The roots of a here-Ia I hard-wood shrub (atsaiJysn ho'pal) were boiled and drunk for chills. To prevent cold in the we*ta puku 1 chest a red clay was smeared liberally over the wainus wainus tTachi form] In chest. For a bad cough, horehound was boiled and the liquid drunk. A cold which became 'incurable (pneumonia or consumption) would be attributed to a malevolent shaman, and then a At the end of the song she gestured up toward shaman would be called to attempt a cure by his the pine ridges of the hills and then down to methods. Tlisthe woman known as Poi"in or Bo"iyon to c ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~other informants . 86Burials were shallow and not impervious to animals . 8BWainus was a -supernatural serpent ( ?) who lived und However, the belief that doctors ate the flesh Of dead ground; he was a powerful dream helper. See Rogers and people is mentioned from other tribes. Gayton, Twenty-seven Chukchansi Yokuts Myths. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 35 ground toward wainus. She cut and sucked two "recipes" for poisons. (1) Jimsonweed and the scorpion poison. But she herself was "some other plants" pounded up in a mortar; oned by it: she lived a little while after this was called mets anta wa, real or true ng the cure, then "turned yellow all over poison. (2) A rock poison, haiyt n&l, was made died. of pulverized iridescent rock which was said to protrude from the ground. It "looked pretty, 7 J.A. heard her sing the song many times; just like soap, all colors; nobody dared to go ily it varied somewhat but its essence re- near it." J.A. said she "even hated to look at d the same. Her talismans of supernatural it." r were an eagle's head, a weasel skin, the The whole concept of poisoning is indeter- a of a baby coyote, a prairfe falcon, and a minate. It was dwelt upon at length by J.A.,89 per's E?] hawk. She wore many beads strung yet, as always, she said it was more prevalent eagle-down cord (pisesan) about her neck and somewhere else: she claimed it was "worse up ts. The coyote's head hung on one of these. north and down at the reservation [Tule River] ."caught the sickness" which then would be than around here." The foothill people, too, ezed off its nose onto a tray for exhibi- pointed to its southern source, claiming it F When curing, she sat in front of her spread from there after the 1870 Ghost Dance. ent and held onto his head, meanwhile call- Both ordinary and ttpni people were on her dream helpers. She "went around to thought to resort to poison. If a person It and dream just like a man." wanted another killed, he would ask someone near the person to poison him for pay, frequent- ly a friend of the victim. If the friend re- Once J.A. was very sick with chills. Two fused another person would be hired to kill utiful girls with flowers in their hair came stood at each side of her feet. They told them both. A bad doctor would put poison on to ask God what she should do. Soon a clothes left hanging about or on hair comb- le baby came and sat near her; it was suck- ings. If someone discovered the contaminated its fingers; she could hear it crawling objects and burned them--for instance, a person t in the leaves. No one came to help her. in a Jimsonweed narcosis could see poison--it lly she made her way over to Poso'o's (Bob would kill the doctor who had placed it there. ista's) house. He cut her on the back of But when this was not done sickness resulted, neck and at each temple and sucked. She not only to the owner of the clothes, but also better soon. A girl there cooked some v e (flour and water] for her which she ate. to others. Also the poison might be blown When she was a young woman, J.A. had around by ttpni people; they could not make sles, "she nearly died." Her mother sent "airshot," however. 'Sapagai who came and brushed her off with Some further anecdotes of poisoning were hand feathers. The sickness, which "looked related by J.A. insects," he squeezed off the feathers. He and sucked at the top of the sternum. She vered soon after. A woman (whose name is not recalled] was outside doing some washing. She had a baby cradled near by. Her lunch was already pre- Sumtiwss (Bob of Bobtown) and Tutya (Pony pared in the house: she went in and ate it. Ck Watun) are the only doctors left (1929). Immediately her heart began to beat hard and e former diagnoses by holding both wrists of she vomited blood. The baby "put up blood" too. patient. About a year ago J.A. suffered The baby died first, then the mother, both too pabadieadaches; she went upgto JAsuftiwd quick to get a doctor [white]. Nobody knew who m bad headaches; she went up to Sumtiwts. poisoned her, "but somebody must have." This cut over the inner extremity of each eyebrow happened about fifteen years ago. sucked out blood and a little white pointed Down at Ricvikitu [Pitanisha] there was a ect from each incision. doctor who was able to shoot poison instead of resorting to the contamination method. He Poisoning shot it into a woman down there who began to urinate blood; at first she thought she was Another kind of inJury caused by doctors just menstruating. Then she vomited blood and tAnthcled poisdoning,ry bautsneie ictnors died. A few days later the woman's husband met 'that called poisoning, but neither it nor the doctor on the road and shot him. shamans using it are distinguished by any W.At. had a boy fifteen years old. He cial term. The poison itself is called anita- suddenly vomited "a whole pan of blood and died." from the same word root as shaman (afitu5. A white physician was summoned but did not Boning is thought to operate by means of arrive in time. ual contact. with poisonous substances which J.A.'s maternal uncle, T'pwa tswat tbe put on any object which the victim is (Charlie), was a Wowol chief who was poisoned el to touch, or the poison may be adminis- by a Humtinin chief, Laimo ndo, from Fort Tejon. e in rood. Yet it is thought to be invisi- put poison in Tpwatswats' coffee. Soon after .Symptoms of poisoning are severe swelling_______ parts (thought to have been touched by the ZSee Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans, 402 ff.., son) and the vomiting of blood. J.A. gave for anecdotal material. 36 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS that T'pwatswats' wife was killed by a shaman. especially to those of their neighbors, the He had come to where she was sleeping and faculty of surviving repeated killings in the pulled the blankets off her; she resisted him; bear shape: the medicine man merely returns she was pregnant at the time with a posthumous his home the next night as if nothing had child dnd was very angry. The rejected shaman happened. A famous shaman of this kind was a poisoned her immediately after. San Luis Obispo in mission times ,they declare. Then another maternal uncle, Ha tna (Frank) Once he was trapped and roped, in his animal died soon after this. His daughter, Tsai "iyat form, and had the misadventure of being dragg (Nancy), who did not want to sleep with a cer- in to fight a bull. This tale seems to inclu tain shaman, was killed after he had killed her the Chumash among the tribes that believed in father. The bereaved widow and mother then bear doctors.1 moved down to Porterville to escape the per- secution which followed the family. J.A.'s aunt, Yukif'at (Mary), went down to A man became a Bear doctor by the same the Tule River Reservation where a tiya named A -- b a far dr by A nats gave her a large handsome basket which methods -- bathing, fasting, dreaming -- by proved to be poisoned. Yuki'at's forearm and which one acquired t'pni power for other pur- mouth swelled up from handling it. As there poses, according toKroeber's anecdote. was no doctor at Pisras at that time, she died. Kanti, the Tachi chief, was poisoned by A Tachi bathed at night. At last a bear some other tiya. He got sick at his stomach appeared in his dreams and instructed him. and his legs swelled up. After many years, not before middle life, he Wepts, J.A.'s brother, stepped on a stick reached the power of becoming a bear at will. and sprained his ankle. His leg swelled up and He swam in a pool, emerged as the animal, and he vomited blood. Nahalat, a Choinimni doctor, went on his errand. To resume human shape a cut and sucked his leg but it did no good. He went onhi errand To res sape a was sick all winter and died in the spring. plunge into the same pool was necessary.92 J.A. considers this a case of poisoning. P.D.W. is in the hospital (1929). Some- J.A. was told of a Bear shaman by Juana, body put out poison for him to sit on, "Just to J.a. wasnto (mofaear coshmnb find out if he had power enough to cure himself." her Tachi aunt (mother's cousin). [The truth is, he went over to Friant to cure some one there and suffered exposure in the A man was called Piwa'sa, a name ref erri recent storm.] to his Bear shamanism, although his real name- Specialized Shamans was Aho ni. He had bear's hair on his chest. When the blackberries were ripe he would turn While the lake tribes do not seem to have into a bear and go to play with real bears. H would say, "I am going out to be Bear." He had specialized doctoring, i.e., weather a knife and killed anyone who came to kill h shamans, snake-handlers, as strongly developed When he was a little boy he dreamed of Bear; as in the southern foothills, they possessed told Bear that he was his friend; Bear became one class of shamans, the Bear doctors, who his dream helper (pu'us). All bears are were merely dancers and transformers in the classed as Nutuwich but this does not mean th foothill regions. The emphasis on Bear shamans the man belonged to that moiety. who were also transformers is probably another indication of the cultural alignment of the Gifford reports on a Tachi shaman: lake tribes with those to the north -- Chuk- chansi, Miwok -- rather than to the east. It is from Kroeber and Gifford that the present In the genealogical information obtained Tachi data are derived. The bit of Chunut in- but two shamans are mentioned. Halhalis is t formation from J.A. concerns the Tachi; she did older. He was a Nutuwuts man of the coyote ai;totem. He was a cipni shaman, one who had de not recall any Bear doctors among the Chunut, rived from a dream thepower to turn himself Telamni, and Wowol gathered at Pisras. into a bear. His son Coiiwai became an ordi- *Kroeber gives the following information on nary'curing shaman (ancu). Tachi Bear shamans. Only the Tachi attributed particular cura- One shaman, Solo lo, known to J.A., tive powers to the song and dancing of the bear specialized in ghost scaring: this practice doctor. In fact the function of this class of was called ane 'tapsn wsps '1. He was said to shamans other than as exhibitors of their have learned this from dwarfs; he Just sang. powers is not clear. They were difficult to He was not esic] paid for his services. keep killed; but they seem not to have been - dreaded marauders or ferocious fighters as Another man got special gambling power among the Pomo and Yuki. In the hunt, a shaman from his father's cutting flint, which he kep of this class might enter the retreat of a as a talisman. This made him unbeatable skulking bear to rout him out.n ... The Tachi (yam 'fl). ascribed to their bear doctors, and of course, 90This statement obviously does not apply to the Tachi 91Handbook, 516-517. Or other lake dwellers who rarely, if ever, encountered bears in their territory. 9Ibid., 5l14-515. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 37 Rain-Making Kroeber gives "teshich gomom as the designation of 'rain doctor' or weather Chunut, Tachi, Nutunutu, and Wowol shamans. 95 tribes) did not have special practi- for rain-making. J.A. recalls a Supernatural Creatures named Hutu' [Hopodno ?I who was asked 'up to Pisras to make rain. He had an A very long time ago there were two girls r"like an egg (se"'el) without any shell called ta'nai (datura, jimsonweed). In the .When he threw this up in the air, water spring when jimsonweed was in blossom they 1 over from it." would go out on the plains to pick these blooms. In could be made, or a storm might even They made wreaths for their hair and carried ed, by the use of the charmstones (unok) bunches of flowers in their hands. They were In the lake region. Any doctor or plain very beautiful as they danced out over the who wanted to could use one. They are plains, always at a distance from observers. ted with thunder and are thought to be As they danced they sang, "Now I shake the 1; i.e., not man-made objects.93 To oper- flowers being carried" (hiya mi na watsa' meke' se a little water was sprinkled on them elao ni). Men were fascinated and wanted to y were cast out in the direction from catch the girls. They would drink a decoction rain was desired: gentle rains came from of jimsonweed in order to see them better. On- t or northwest, hard rains from the lookers would ask the men what they saw, what st. If a violent wind was wanted too, a the girls were doing. The drinkers would run earth was put on the charmstone with the off over the fields trying to catch the girls, but the girls were supernatural (t'pni) and could never be caught. (See section on "Jimson- weed." In February (1929) J.A. and her godchild weed.") ut gathering mushrooms. The girl found Water babies (wi tep a ki, lit., spring picked it up and asked what it was. baby) were not uncommon in local ponds. They she heard J.A. 's explanation she thought- had- long black hair and tiny hands. People did threw it away, for which she was chided. not like to see them. ponsequence it rained and stormed for two A supernatural dog (t&pni pu'us) lived [which it did]. amongst the button willows at a pond just north- east of J.A.'s house. The dog had no special th the fear that the owner might be name. Some supernatural people lived there too; a, J.A. has consistently refused to sell real people never got very close to them. she has in her trunk. When a bad Wainus is a big snake with a human head. storm comes up it is always said that He lives underground, and if he likes a person has been playing with an unok. will come out into view. He helps doctors, but eber gives us the following with regard if a person who did not want supernatural power hi rain-making. were to see one, he would die. Chicken-hawk doWn was sprinkled before them if seen. Bob ..but the Tachi and southern tribes de- Bautista, a prominent Tachi shaman, longed to cylindrical stones 6 to 8 inches long, see one "but he never did." ed at one end, as the necessary apparatus. ned or dipped a little into water, the t produced a shower; but if the doctor was Miscellaneous Practices and Beliefs d, he plunged the whole stone in and a t storm followed. These objects which An all-black dog was said to be "Thunder's t the well-known "charm stones" of the ,, rnia archaeologist, but were probably a dog." But during a thunderstorm any dog might ct though similar type, were inherited be whipped out of doors until it yelped, then father to son; and the Tachi go so far as it would be turned loose and the thunder would y that the theft of this amulet would de- cease. This refers to the belief that the the owner of his power. Spirits are no- Thunder Twins were fostered by a bitch, that mentioned directly in connection with the they will cease their racket rather than have king faculty.t94 her suffer. Most Yokuts people were, and still are, scribed and illustrated in Gifford and Schenck, 93- 33-3. They also were used by the Indians of afraid to wear abalone shell ornaments during Santa Barbara, and Ventura as weather-making a storm. If a person were caught out with one o (Yates , Chastones , 299-305). in bad weather, it should be torn off and thrown as far as possible. At the spot where t would seem, from J.A. 's evidence, that these cyl- th aligte "h thunder wu tan rigt on L ' ' ~~~~~~~~~it aligrhted "the thunder would stand rigzht on elstones are not s imilar to, but are, the charm- | of the Californa archaeologist. The loss of power, it," i.e, lightning would strike and take it. loss Of the amulet, is common to all persons hay- pernatural power. There was always anxiety over the y of talismans. 95Handbook, 5k, 518. 38 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS An old man whom J.A. knew once had an (Hoshima). When it was used at Ciau, the abalone shell talisman in his pocket. Thunder following practices were observed. saw it and tried to get it. But the man saved Jimsonweed was taken but once during 1i it by grabbing his dog and whipping her and im- by men only, at about twenty years of age. mediately the thunder stopped. old man who had Jimsonweed as a dream helpe Abalone shell ornaments (sa'wi ) were worn had charge of the affair. He took the yout hanging on a cord at the breast or chest where away from the village for about two months, they caught the sunligfht. Their glitter was usually November and December. The drinki thought to startle rattlesnakes into giving a was not done in public, and M.G. implied tha warning rattle. During early spring (about it took place at the end of the first month April) when the rattlers were emerging from seclusion. They abstained from meat for one hibernation there might yet be thunderstorms, month before, and one month after, the dri hence the precautions mentioned above. subsisting entirely on tule root mush (po'kt A coughing spell, when not occasioned by They took an emetic before eating meat again a cold; was attributed to melancholy by J.A., The seclusion of the drinkers was not who said, "I get that way when I feel lonesome. rigid; they came home occasionally to get Something in my throat Jumps and I can't stop things they might want. M.G. thought they it." 11 96to do a great deal of running, but did not If one touched eagle down and then touched what instructions were given them. someone, that person would swell up immediately. The purpose of the drinking was to ens Only a person with Eagle as a family totem or a a long life (c'ac'ai 'nawas, "to have roots"). dream helper could handle eagle down with im- These men did not become shamans, nor did th punity. while in the narcosis, attempt curing of oth Windstorms were assoQiated with the death Jimsonweed was used medicinally by the of shamans. J.A. said she "nearly died" once Tachi: a poultice of the mashed roots was from the activities of a ghost to whom she was applied to broken bones. distantly related. After a Wowol named Gifford includes the following in his Soiyi'i (Manuel) who was "a big magic doctor" note,s on Tachi moieties. had died and was buried, a terrific wind arose while J.A. was sleeping "and almost turned her upside down." The use of Jimsonweed (monui in Tachi, Anpeclipse wasn regarded as the devouring tani in more southerly Yokuts dialects) seem An eclipse was regarded as the devouring to have had no connection whatsoever with th of the moon (or sun) by some creature, probably moieties or the totems. In olden times boys Coyote, as believed elsewhere. Kroeber states drank Jimsonweed and saw many things -- the that on these occasions an old Tachi woman world, as the Tachi express it -- while in n would sing and dance and prayerfully beg that a cosis. Sometimes a mountain lion or bear wa little of the sun be left.91 seen. The creature seen was usually not a At Summit Lake there was a fire in the moiety totem. bottom. "This is where fire started." (J.A. knows no story about it. She may be referring The Chunut, in closer contact with the to a tule fire.) Burned over land (hite'na) is foothill people, made more use of Jimsonweed dangerous; if one steps on the ground, one will (ta nai) than did the Tachi and Wowol.98 Th go down and never come up again. Just water Wowol did not refuse it entirely but were un comes up. (This probably refers to some lo- easy about its powers, according to J.A. Sh cality of quicksands, possibly around Summit has never taken it, and holds it in awe. Sh Lake.) does not think it has been used ceremonially for thirty or forty years. The Chunut Jimsonweed drinking took pla CEREMONIES about February, or even earlier. Young men women who had reached full maturity of growt Jimsonweed Ritual might take it, and as often as they wished, provided it was in the early spring. By tak The Tachi, according to M.G., did not it one "could see anything": one found out use Jimsonweed (ma'nai) as-"they were afraid of long he would live, saw the causes of people' it." She saw it drunk at Ciau (Kingston) by sickness, saw what shamans were doing, who wa Nutunutu but does not believe it was used by dying far away, or where lost articles were. the Choinuk, Wolasi, Wechihit, or northerners As an example, J.A. said if somebody would t some Jimsonweed now, she could find out who broke into her trunk and took her things and 96Compare Coyote's grief in a Yauelmani myth: "When where they were now. (Her trunk was robbed Prairie Falcon died he felt bad. His heart came out of his about a month previous, while she was at Dela mouth, he relt sO bad. He would have died but he caught cooking for sheep-shearers.) his heart as it was in the air and put it back into his mouth" (Kroeber, Indian Myths, 24f8). "The Chumnash used it as a prerequisite to the handll rThe Yokuts Language, 374t. of weather-making charmstones (Yates, 304f). GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 39 Jimsonweed grew in abundance on the plains. plasterings of his own blood, nettle down, and utista's wife would dig up the plants for mashed jimsonweed. They made him drink a brew -the digger abstained from meat for three of the plant which "made him crazy for about ,.before setting out on the task. The plant two weeks and then he died." He became swollen *prinkled with chicken-hawk down and ad- and the wounds refused to heal. ed, "Well, tanai, I'm coming after you. An old Humtinin man (a southerner), Sololo, going to bury you in ashes and make a drink took Jimsonweed to cure a large bump on the *u. A man is going to drink you." back of his head. He was thought to have ob- The drink was made from the roots. These served all the tabus carefully (meat avoidance, roasted on hot coals under ashes "like principally), but he died soon after. potatoes." This made them tender and Forx fractures the skin was scarified all er, and then the sap was wrung out of them around the injury and a poultice of cooked, a large basket. mashed Jimsonweed leaves was tied all around it J The decoction was made by the leader or to make the bone mend. Motsa had his right Vresponsible for the affair. He had special clavicle broken in falling from a wagon. A which J.A. did not remember. She did large poultice was applied all over his shoul- ber a Wechihit man, Wao du'i (Tip), who der, and he was cured. from Sanger to Lemoore to administer it. For frightening ghosts, Jimsonweed was ave each person a small basketful, saying used in the valley as it was in the foothills, he did so, "Here is your drink. See what i.e., boiled in the house of the dead person. .can. May you see what you want to see." drinker replied by addressing the tanai. About two months ago (DeCember, 1928) me. See what I am. Show me my life." W.At.'s boy's ghost came in J.A.'s house during While under the narcosis the drinker could the night. He opened and closed both the back .the causes of sickness. These often door and the front. She could .hear him walking red as microcosms which they picked off the about softly in the kitchen. She called to him, lid and threw on the fire (not on a basket; asked him what he wanted, said she would help rshamans put sickness on a basket). They him if he wanted her to, but he did not answer. [ooand The next day a woman told her to cook some Jim- dalso see poison on poisoned objects and sonweed in the house to drive away the ghost. be they would toss on the fire to be de- But J.A. had been eating meat and handling yed. An evil shaman who feared discovery greasy things, so she did not want to touch any ugh this means would "cover" the tanai's jimsonweed. er with his own, so that the drinkers saw hing. Chunut Ceremonies The wife of one of J.A. 's maternal uncles, 'i' yat (Julia), often took a little jimson- An informant (J.At.) of Wechihit blood re- in order to see her dead sister. called a Wechihit (?) doctor, Toi 'Ck, who wanted J.A. to take it, but J.A. didn't handled snakes. She saw him perform the Rattle- tto. She said she was afraid she would snake Ritual at Kingston where "a little tribe, out that she was going to die the next day, not the Nutunutu, lived."f *if I'm to die, I'll die anyway; I don't Ito know about it." She recalls that Poso'o (Bob Bautista), a Toicsk got two or three snakes which he shaman, took Jimsonweed at least twice. kept in a big bottleneck basket (osa). They als reembrs hattwoChonimi mn tok were starved for six days. Then he put the oction remembersrthatime ad C nie s ae conk snakes out on the ground. He stepped on them tcoction in summertime and died (as a con- and picked them up and put them around his neck ence of the stronger qualities of the "to show that he was not afraid of them"; but e plants ?). he did not let them bite him. Everybody Jimsonweed was used for medicinal and watched him; he was not paid [sic]. There were sfthetic purposes. It was not used thus by singers there, too. There was some purpose in ens,but by any person, even one without a this to keep people from being bitten by rattle- rs,bed am perso kn one practia snakes, as it was always done in the spring. person if he wanted," but he was not "mean" and The leaves were sometimes mashed and put never did this. The snake ritual was called ores. An old Chunut man did this and a le 'alawa, the handling, dal was or tatla was. osis resulted. J.A. and his wife were much id of him while he talked to persons known- The Bear Dance was made by the people of e dead. He recovered in two or three days. the foothills and roblar, but not by the lake As an example, J.A. described the use of tre It was als denied to the Wch b onweed on Lu tsuk (Jim), who died as the tribes. It was also denied to the Wechnhit by lpt o an fight.Early one morning J.A. was Jitt nd tar ened ~ ~ ~ ~ . bshuigwihohr,sernot~The infformant, who was very dull, could not recall found Lutsuk "hacked all over and bleeding the name of the tribe. She may have had the Hutsammi in fusely. They covered his wounds with mind. Several points in her account seem garbled or dubious. 40 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS her husband, W.At., who had never seen it. J.A. had the ability. It is classified as a "d knew of it, as performed by the Wukchumni and by its name "magic dance" (tLpni ha"tim) in Gawia, but she could not describe it well. She Chunut. Poso'o and Sapagai (a Wowol ?) wE knew of one man, Sapa"te, who did this dance; the only two doctors known to J.A. who coul the singers used cocoon rattles; it was done in this. the daytime. It took place in the fall, after In the early spring these men "were ca the acorns were down; acorn mush could not be ful about what they ate"'; they ate nothing eaten, otherwise. of a new seasonal crop, as, for example, yo Bear doctors, however, were not uncommon tule roots. About the middle of February t in the lake region. gave their performance at night by a fire. The Rattlesnake Ritual was not made by the (These were individual affairs, however.) Chunut, Tachi, or Wowol; it may have been made least one singer served as accompanist (Jim by the Gawia, Yokod, and Telamni; J.A. definite- Wilcox sang for Poso'o, who used a cocoon ly attributes it to the foothill people. She rattle). The doctor danced almost continuo' once saw PuslL l&n, a Choinimni, "go around all night, while the singer sang a series o with a snake" which he stepped on; that part songs about "birds and animals." Not all t was called tatlawas. She knew of no purpose in songs had words. Two of them which J.A. re the performance: when one was bitten by a calls are "soisoi maiyin" (see Wukehumni) rattlesnake one qalled an ordinary sucking the following: doctor. Neither did she know of coyote imper- sonation in this or any other connection. ma a First-fruit rites were merely called. ma an(t) gut bahokY "little party" (witi lonu 'iwts), and seem to have been scrupulously observed, yet remained pa wus maiiytn ye'ha ye-eoe-e' unelaborated. J.A. thinks the Tachi and Wowol seeds are coming, coming were like the Chunut in the observation of these rites, which pertained primarily to uyayi uya"yi berries and seeds. All seeds (pa'w3s3, so pas, [exclamation] tsos, sukun, ya'ha "al, tsa mLt, and taltoi ya hotmniht nke waca ma [mushrooms)) were classified as Tokelyuwich, [burning?) shaking hand feathers whereas berries, birds, and animals"o were Nutuwich. The little ritual was a reciprocal hia"ma ta'iho awa function. The moiety associated with the foods, now reddening as Nutuwich was with berries, would obtain a , p supply of them when they first became available so ppas inana he each year. The chiefs called the people to [a plant with red berries) assemble, and the Nutuwich people presented wiWya ta"ho'iwahtn them to the Tokelyuwich, who thereupon ate them. will be reddening Then the Nutuwich were free to do so; the new crop remained tabu to them until the Tokelyu- wich had eaten of it. If Nutuwich people ate At some time during the night the magi blackberries (ma mtl) too soon, their children display was made. Poso'o made seeds of foo would "break out with berries all over their plants appear on the floor by the fire; if bodies." The same procedure was followed with seeds of a certain kind were manifest, it i seasonal foods associated with the other moiety. cated that these would be plentiful. J.A. referred to the Bear Dance and acorn Sapagai's exhibition was more elaborat tabu in this connection, knowing it as an ana- He danced about near the fire. When he kic logue in foothill culture. However, she did the ground, seeds appeared all over it. Th not know of any first rites in connection with he would stamp on the ground, and the plant salmon or migratory birds. Clover "belonged to themselves were there, growing. Another d everybody" and was eaten at any time of year; stration made use of the ornamental bunch o tobacco was also freely used. She was unable feathers (sontl) carried by doctors in thei to give any details of the ceremonial eating, hands and used in curing processes. Sapagal to name the participants, etc.; it seems reason- would hold his sontl over a large tray, and able to assume that the chiefs and their when he squeezed it downwards, seeds fell f families were the first to partake as in the it onto the tray. But the seeds were magic northern foothill region. not real, and melted away before the specta A seed-growing dance, which was at once a eyes. prophetic ritual and display of magical powers, During this display the people would qu was given each spring by one or two shamans who the shaman about the crops of wild seeds fo the coming season. "Where were the seeds go '1'J.A. could not classify the Nutuwich foodstuffs, to grow?" He would point in certain directi rather vaguely making "berries" the sole food involved for or even reply that they would be prolific n this moiety. a specific person's seed-gathering place. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 41 At the end of the singing and dancing not always have words"; they probably were of Is who had long illnesses would be brought the "hai ya hai ya" variety. Both sexes joined be cured. The shaman brushed off the in the dancing. The women wore eagle-down t with a flipping motion of his hand strings around their hair. The men wore the rs. Neither doctor nor patients ate any ceremonial feather skirt (tuhu'n) if they could ifor six days after this performance.103 get one, and painted their faces with stripes .The Huhuna Dance, which in the foothills or spots of black and white. There were no t of the annual mourning celebration but special paint patterns for this dance. also occur as a discrete entertainment, was No description of the dance steps was ob- in the lake region only as an adjunct to tained, but J.A. made it clear that the dancing urning ceremonies. J.A. recalls a per- was not a group affair. A few men and women ce at Tule River Reservation some twenty would dance at a time, which seems comparable ago, and another in Tachi territory when to such pleasure dances as we know from the s a little girl. Her failure to give a Wukchumni. There were no names for the dances: tic account of this for the Chunut fits they were referred to as plain dance (hu nai the Tachi (M.G.) statement that the hatiJm) or "little dance half the night" (wi'ti tiuk, Telamni, and northerners (Hoshima) hati m tu"pan toiino). Gd the dance. For its description see Although the chief's house was larger than ing Ceremony." others, the cooking, eating, and dancing took Guksai is a name mistakenly applied to place outside. by some informants. J.A. clearly dis- At another time J.A. made brief reference ished between the two and, indeed, was the to a similar affair which she called "plain person who had seen and knew exactly who fandango" (hu nai lonu"iw's). This involved a i was. She saw this dancer at a mourning moiety division (in eating and dancing?) but it ony in Drum Valley; his performance was not reciprocal, i.e., the moieties did not owed immediately upon Huhuna's. align as host and guest. It was held any time This man was a doctor. His tribal affili- of year. A large meal was eaten, dancing con- n was not known to J.A., who thinks he tinued all night, in the morning the partici- t have been Choinimni. He was dressed, not pants swam, ate breakfast, and dispersed. Paint uhuna's long feather robe, but In the usual was worn for this "dance." or's regalia: feather headdress (sema and Gifford, in his data on Tachi moieties, ,feather strand skirt, white paint (ho sot) gives a bit of information which may be perti- treaks on his body but none on his face; he nent here. ed a bone whistle. He danced about by *lf, then he would sit down for a while and Two dances in which ... paints were used to an accompaniment: Huhuna never sang. were mentioned. One of them, called toxeliwis i could not find money. But like Huhuna, hatama, was danced by shamans (an"Cu) of the was killed" by a doctor. In this instance toxelyuwis moiety. A second dance, called ras a shaman named Manuelo (otherwise un- kikitwi, was described as a round dance and was to J.A.) who functioned. While Guksai said to have been originated by the nutuwuts unconscious, the spectators wept but ceased moiety. In its performance, however, some loon as he was revived. tokelyuwis usually participated with the nutu- J.A. said that Guksai was never seen "down At a feast each mo.ety prepared and served way" (in the valley or lake region); she the food for the opposite moiety. A feast of not know the subject of his songs. Both this sort was held in 1913, two years before my and Guksai performed solely for the visit. se of making money; the spectators wanted cause "it made the people giving the fand- Tachi Ceremonies Emourning ceremony] cry." Pleasure dances (ha tim) were frequently The following Tachi information from M.G. A chief might give such little parties seems unsound in large part, no doubt owing to in referred to as lonu witi) at his house. misunderstanding by the interpreters and myself. wife and female relatives prepared It is given as recorded. As mentioned above, tities of food, and all the guests brought the mourning ceremony was a distasteful topic contributions for which they were paid. and only the least "mournful" parts were spoken guests were "anybody" of any moiety, every- of. from the village went, or any visitor from The Shamans' Contest was known to all the -by villages. This was "Just for a good plains people: "Wolasi, Telamni, everyone had ,"and neither singers nor dancers were heswas." It was performed in the summertime . The singers used the clapper accompani- toward the conclusion of a mourning ceremony. tor such profane affairs. The songs "did A winatum got the doctors together, he got them from Ciau (Kingston, a Nutunutu village) No0payment was mentIoned in conneebion with this af- and from the Wechihit. M.G. saw this at Ciau. and my neglect to ask about it is a serious omission. The Wechihit were on one side and some Wuk- 42 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS chumni were on the other. They were not op- The Snake Ritual M.G. knew of, saying t posed by moiety, some being relatives and some the Wechihit had it but the Tachi, Choinuk, just friends. There were only four doctors on Chunut, Telamni, and Wowol did not. She said each side, that is, really two doctors and Pusl 'ltn was an old man who could make that their assistants. dance as Snake was his totem animal, but no 0 The winatums built a large fire on each else, without this totem, could dance with side. The doctors got close to these as it was snakes. However, Kroeber states that the Tac from the fire they obtained their airshot. had a ceremony which "approximated" the Yaud- When ready the doctors and assistants in two anchi rite which he describes.103 files marched formally past each other and took The Bear Dance M.G. claimed for the Tac up a position facing each other about twenty and Wechihit but denied to the Wolasi, Tela feet apart. In "fighting" they looked toward Choinuk, Chunut, and Wowol, and northerners the sun from which the actual power of the (Hoshima). The Tachi had three Bear dancers; shots was thought to come. They did not speak one woman danced it also. The performance wa or pray to the sun but held up their hands, given in the middle of summer or at any other saying a long expirating "Ha-a-a-a!" then time for entertainment. Everybody paid a rubbed their hands together and then onto the little to see it. M.G. knew of no purpose in large basket tray (6o'ptt) with which each was its performance, perhaps it was performed by armed. There was no singing or dancing. When Bear doctors. all was ready each doctor banged his tray on A beaver or fish dance (o 's.ws'), a sham the ground, face downward, to propel the shot: istic display of the foothill people, was un- "a tray held three rounds" and then had to be known to M.G., although Kroeber attributes it renewed. As the doctors succumbed they were to the Tachi.104 carried aside by winatums; the onlookers wept. M.G. likewise disclaimed any dance which M.G. thinks that some succeeded in reviving was done exclusively by women. themselves by looking at the sun. If this The pleasure dance (hata'mtc or wa tiyod failed, the doctor whose shot was responsible was done by the Tachi, usually in the winter- was called to remove it. A doctor who revived time when it would be "danced all night" by himself returned the intrusive shot to the open fire. Five men of no special totem stoo sender. in a row with three women at each end. The m The Huhuna Dance was known to Tachi, wore the usual upright feather headdress (cu) Nutunutu, and Wowol, but the Choinuk, Telamni, and had bunches of flicker feathers tied to and Hoshima (northerners) lacked it. (M.L., their arms and wrists. There were three the Wukchumni, here interposed that her grand- singers who sat at one side and used a clappe father had danced it at Lemoore [in rancheria accompaniment (tawa 'tawsl). The dancers paid times ?I and G.G., M.G.'s son, had seen it at the singers; spectators paid the dancers. the Tule River Reservation.) The Nutunutu The onlookers would say, "What dance is would come down to a Tachi village to see the that?" A singer would reply, "Deer dance," performance, which always took place during the referring to the songs which were about birds week of the mourning ceremony. Like the and animals.'05 M.G. could only remember two doctors' contest it was a daytime affair. The such songs, which are doubtfully translated. dancer's costume consisted of a "feather dress," and a cap shaped like an owl's head. He wore hiawe na ko"no no paint on his face save 'a little white Where am I, Daylight? around the mouth." He carried two long elder- berry sticks which he cracked together as he mosa 'o wa na ko 'no jumped. He was able to find hidden money. Then Little sweathouse in t?] long I, a doctor killed him with airshot. M.G. recalls Daylight Kosewa as a doctor who did this; she thought both the doctor and Huhuna were Nutunutu; the In the second, Pelican (ho'hima) is sing doctor belonged to the Nutuwich moiety, but she did not know Huhuna's affiliations. When Huhuna died, all the spectators wept. The he'li ipaiya na doctor then revived him. The spectators paid Pack in my head food I [refers for the exhibition. to pelican's method of putting The Tachi mourning ceremony, according to fish in his pouch] Kroeber, lacked the effigy rite. "Among the latter [Tachi], after dancing till morning, property is given to visitors through the medi- 103Ibid., 506. um of a sham fight in which they despoil the 1?? b E ^17 owners. After this the chief mourner, who has Ibd. 507 arranged the ceremony and provided food for the 105Kroeber gives three Tachi songs, none of which seems guests, wanders through the village crying. " 102 pertinent to this discussion although one is, indeed, a ______________ ~~~~~~~~dance song ( Yokuts Language , 366); two Yaudanchi dance '0Handbook, 501. songs are about deer ( ibid., 369) . GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I - 43 Annual Mourning Ceremony special mourning singers (ahe 'nc) sang in the early morning and evening; there were criers DThe pribiary reciprocity at Chunut and (pa 'ic) also. Everyone who felt like it would r valley tribes' mourning ceremonies was Join the singers and criers in their activities, en tribes, secondarily between moieties. which were of short duration. The singers ibal reciprocity was like that of the would put out their hands and the mournful lls, and the tribes functioning in this sounds ceased. During the six days of the ionship likewise were called gi ''i. J.A. affair men could play pole games, but no other ers two large celebrations, one a Telamni games. ny where the Wowol were the gi'i, and an- J.A. gave the order of rituals for the r in Drum Valley where the Wukchumni served Annual Mourning Ceremony thus: huhuna (Huhuna), 'i to the Waksachi. On this last occasion guksai (Guksai), heswas (shamans' contest), ies were not involved as neither tribe was ma tek pa hat ("big" cry), tsumo 'lwas (cere- itized. monial washing), hatim (pleasure dance with ., Once understood, the double reciprocity of women participating), and kam (doctor's dancing e and moiety is very simple: opposite with songs). Oties of the opposed tribes washed each On the third day the Huhuna Dance was thus theoretically, Tokelyuwich of Tribe given. The performer, who was not a shaman, shed Nutuwich of Tribe 2, Nutuwich of Tribe was dressed entirely in a full-length costume hed Tokelyuwich of Tribe 2. Details are of feathers. A net closely covered his face in place in the following account of the and head, and to it were affixed two abalone 's ceremonial. discs which covered the eyes, and two feather A little ceremony, the private mourning horns resembling an owl's "ears." He had a ony," was held in the third moon following bone whistle in his mouth and carried a little *ath. The relatives of the deceased sent stick (see fig. 8, c). He went around the money to the chief of the opposite moiety- dance space and found money. (J.A. says he the end of six days the chief had much meat could see in spite of the shell discs, i.e., mush cooked up. He appointed someone to naturally, not magically.) A winatum had built the male mourners, and the food was con- a fire, and by it a doctor prepared his shot to after the washing was done. This was kill Huhuna. It appeared to the spectators ed witi lonuwss (little ceremony), or one that Huhuna was unaware of his fate: they wept. of it teya o wa'ha l tsuma lnut (first cry When the doctor propelled his invisible shot % to wash). and Huhuna fell unconscious, a winatum carried When the time approached for the "big," or him aside. The doctor sucked out the shot, 1, mourning ceremony, a preliminary cere- spat it on a tray; the winatum burned the in- called kiyu w&s was held for the purpose trusive matter. On Huhuna's revival the weep- aking plans.106 A Tokelyuwich and Nutuwich ing ceased. ef assembled the people of each moiety. They The people who were giving the mourning gathered and danced, and each moiety paid ceremony paid Huhuna land the doctor, presuma- other for this entertainment. The chiefs bly]. When J.A. was a little girl she attended oh had a family to do the washing." a Tachi (?) mourning ceremony where Tsewa (Joe, The Tachi, M.G., said that all the chiefs a Tachi of Nutuwich moiety) performed the a village had to unanimously favor a mourn- Huhuna Dance; she does not know who the doctor ceremony before one could be given. There was. Another time, twenty years ago, she saw no secondary chiefs (tuye 'i) here, as the dance at Tule River Reservation; and again e were in the foothill tribes. she saw it at a mourning ceremony in Drum Although "money passed between chiefs" at Valley (Wukchumni territory) where it was ing ceremonies, it was not a matter of followed by'a Guksai Dance. Inferentially it 'ent for loans: the distribution of money appears it was not normally part of a Chunut interest, elsewhere called laknO'n'ts, J.A. mourning ceremony. d not define or describe. Neither was On the fourth day of the mourning ceremony e a fetishistic element involved.'07 "At the doctors' contest (he 'swas) took place in end of ten months they [the mourners] took midafternoon. There was no preliminary or y to some tia 'a. At the end of six days little contest as there was in the foothills. tia'a had lots of mush cooked up. He The contest began with the making of airshot ed those men," said J.A. She believed the (tu'yus sa'men, airshot make). In the dance y was given solely for the specific service space, which had no special name or enclosure, sashing, not for the food. the doctors' winatums had built fires for each The mourning ceremony itself (lonu 'iwts) doctor. Soaproot (to hot) and "some other root ted siX days. Each day for four days that has little spines all over it, from the _ ~~~~~~~~~~~lake"' were put on the fire to make the shot, XSuch was my understanding; no amount of qvestioning but nothing visible resulted. At Pisras, and ito clarify J.A. 's statements. also at diau (Kingston) three doctors were on ECf. Strong, Aboriginal Society, passim. each side and, in the center, one powerful 44 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS shaman who was in the range of shot from both but pretense, two or three women winatums sides. Each doctor had a large tray (tsa'ptt) rescued them and put them on a blanket. These and in unison they held these -- in both hands, women kept the "dolls' clothes" but the frames at opposite edges, and tray face outward -- were burned. Speeches were made from time to over the fire, toward the west, the east, up- time accompanied by intermittent weeping. ward, then toward the north, the south, and At dawn, after the burning, the ceremonia face down over the fire. While the tray was washing took place. The Telamni were ranged o over the fire the doctor drew the smoke over it the west side of the dance space, their gi'i, with his hand. The tray was then laid on the the Wowol, opposite them on the east side. ground and stamped on with one foot. The tray This dividing was called wtkci wts and made th was picked up and "smearing" motions made over sides yet ka yet (one to one). A chief of eac it with the hand and the "shot" appeared as the moiety of the Telamni had a large washing hand made these rubbing movements. basket set out between the spectators; their The doctors sang "hela lmo hal hal hal" messengers gathered the bereaved who were to b (breathed heavily) as they did this, and a washed. These people gave the messengers t crowd of boys who had been standing on each money for their chiefs (to compensate for the side and who carried poles with handkerchiefs- baskets which the chiefs provided?). The Wowo attached, Joined in the "Ha! ha! ha!" and waved chiefs, a Tokelyuwich and a Nutuwich, had with their poles. them new clothes for the mourners. They or The doctors, who were dressed in the usual their wives washed the faces of first, the ceremonial costume, had otter (naha'at), chief of that moiety, then those of the mourn- weasel (po hat), or beaver (?) (waki'as) skins ers, taking-the more important persons first. fastened at their wrists. (Seal [te'psk) could The new clothing was donned, and the washers not be used for this purpose; if it were, every- received the washing baskets. The changing of one present would have pains and sickness.) clothes was called kasa ossl. A chief of the These animals, which were talismans of a sort, washers said to the bereaved, "They burned. caught opponents' shots in their mouths. The Now you will forget and be happy" ("m'm tulun. doctor could extract such shot, put it on his hi 'na ma hi nasu muntn"t). own tray, and return it to its sender. The Then the messengers went about shouting shot was propelled by the usual method of bang- everyone to play games. Any kind of game mig ing the tray violently on the ground face down- be played, but the hand game was most popular ward. as it had been tabu during the preceding days. When a doctor was struck he staggered The messengers said there would be dancing at about and fell down; his winatum placed a night. basket beside him and everyone put in a little The pleasure dance (hatim) or doctor's money. At the same time the contestants shift- dance (kam) was danced by men and women all ed their position 90 degrees, i.e., to the next night. Some people who had special super- sides of an imaginary square. natural powers might dance also. Oto ki'at The doctor in the center was never [sic] (Tillie Wilcox), a Telamni, was one of the be known to fall. It was he who must begin re- singers and dancers, but she was not tspni, so viving the fallen, for only a doctor who sent a far as J.A. knows, "though nobody can tell." shot could extract it. At mourning ceremonies Such dancing was done merely to entertain. At at Pisras it was always $apagai who took the dawn everyone went to bathe. Then people center position; up at Ciau (Kingston) J.A. lingered about visiting or sleeping or return saw Kosewa in the middle. The contesting to their homes. doctors were all supposed to be benevolent, J.A. saw two large mourning ceremonies i i.e., to be willing and able to revive their her childhood. The last "big fandango" in the victims, because they were working for display valley was made by Joaqu?n, a Telamni chief a purposes at the request of chiefs, who paid Pisras. He was Tokelyuwich and was washed by them for their services.108 Charlie Thomas, a Nutuwich Wowol chief, and The fifth day (nowadays, Saturday) people his family. One woman of Thomas' family wash spent in preparation for the big cry (ma"tek Joaquin and his wife. The Wowol were the pa 'hat) that night. At the dance place wina- Telamni's gi'i. tums had a large fire built which was lighted At Drum Valley, J.A. attended a mourning at dusk. The members of the mourning families ceremony given by Co'o'po (Bill Osborn), Wak- paraded around the fire twice during the night. sachi, Otoki'at's (Tillie Wilcox's) first Some of them carried "dOlls" dressed in clothes husband. She thinks they were mourning for and draped with beads [money) on long poles; Sono lenmn. Their son was crying. Some Wuk- others carried baskets, feather ornaments, or chumni did the washing, but J.A. cannot identi other valuable objects. When these were fy them. The Waksachi called the Wukchuxnni finally thrown ththe flre, which was seemingly gi'i. No moieties were involved, of course. ___________ ~ ~ Buffalo Bill's wife, Lottie, gave J.A. a baske 108But see anecdotal material from this and other in- and a red bead necklace for her help in making formants in Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiers and Shamans. a cross which was taken to the grave. i GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 45 .Although Pohasa was an important captain, The singer accompanists wore their usual per mourning ceremony for him was made ceremonial regalia: feather headdress and t enough people were left." For several skirt, and many talisman necklaces. Their sole aberrant, rather private, ceremonies have instrument was the elderberry clapper (tawatwsl). held, but recently Tachi of the chiefly J.A. recalled only one song, "Hai 'na'naoni e have refused to attempt any ceremonial na na ni ," whose nonsense syllables she in- rng observances. terprets as meaning "I am going to be some- Gifford states in his notes on Tachi thing -- a crow, snake, stick, frog, water, or Fles: anything." The dance itself, called soto twi kam (going around or circling dance) and al8o r In mourning ceremonies (bahatya) the hi "'tht twi kam (to drag the feet dance) by ta chief washes the faces of the toxelyu- the Chunut, was a circular clockwise progres- urners, while the toxelyuwis chief does ame for the nutuwuts mourners. Each chief sion. When, each night, the dance was being sisted by three women. At such a mourning performed for the last time, the participants ny everyone cries and wails. circled once to the right and then to the left (clockwise) three times. Some people joined hands, but women who were carrying cradles held their hands behind their backs to steady the GHOST DANCE OF 1870 basket and infant occupant. The dance ended at break of day. Then J.A. said she did not remember much about everyone went swimming. They ran to the water Ghost Dance, it was "Just like a dream." as fast as possible, men and women together. was a little girl when they were living at On the way back they picked up wood for their a and someone came and told her uncle breakfast fires. There were no food tabus. lie (the chief, Tipwatswat] that everyone Eshom Bill [Bob Osborn's father, Co'opoJ sold go up to Eshom Valley. This messenger steer meat until it was all consumed; there- the Tachi, Wowol, and Tule River people after there was a great food shortage. same thing: no one was to stay behind. On the last day of the Ghost Dance a believed they were going to see dead special rite called the Horse Dance was per- le, that all their relatlves were coming formed. Owners rode their animals around within the ring of dancers "Just like a circus." Old When they arrived in Eshom Valley they horses were led around and were rejuvenated by told not to sleep.. J.A. was too little to the spiritual power (ttpni) of the dance. One e so she hung about with two girl cousins, of the songs for this seemed to be: le children like themselves might sleep, one big girl "died" because she slept. near the fire, she remained unconscious ya a ya e hai ya kawai yo about an hour. Everyone went to look at I? ?I horse, caballo No one attempted to revive her: she t woke .up." Then word that the white settlers were Everyone was exhorted to dance, with the coming to kill them ended the affair and sent *t that they would die if they did not the Indians in flight. Rumors of terrible icipate. A few people "died and came to torture from the whites flew about. On their again." One girl "died fighting her way back to Pisras, J.A. and her relatives er ; she returned to life but was mentally traveled under cover of darkness, hiding during ed thereafter. the day. To keep J.A. quiet, her grandmother Shamans did not participate but reclined threatened her with warnings that if the white r shades and reported occasionally on what men found her they would kill her, cut her open, heard from the supernatural world. They and pull out her intestines. not dance, even with solo performances. Later on some singers came down to Pisras One man, a Telamni, went around telling to sing for them at a local Ghost Dance. They he had heard. Such a person was called were still afraid of the white people. They na; other tribes [the valley people] had one or two such dances, but one ended in a ed a man like that hiletsts, a great talker. drunken brawl. YOKUTS: SOUTHERN VALLEY PALEUYAMI Martha Altau's paternal grandfather, look back for your family." Then they fill Owo tono, was chief at the Paleuyami village of in the earth. They were paid for this work, Altau. Her father, a Paleuyami, lived at Fort and cleansed themselves by bathing. Tejon, then moved up to Tule (Yao "wttsani), The spirits of the dead went toward the where M.A. was born. A man named Mo lpi was sunset, where the red clouds are seen as the chief there. Her mother, Cowi 'ytt, was red paint. The chief there is Tspt knLts; h yo wekad, "from near Visalia," which I inter- is like a person and is prayed to. His preted as Yokud. When M.A. was about fifteen daughters, who wear rattlesnake dresses, hel years old they all moved up to the present people cross the dangerous bridge to the aft reservation. M.A.'s information is not, then, world-""' strictly Paleuyami, but refers to the mixed When the Annual Mourning Ceremony took culture, which was nevertheless essentially place, the buriers had, a special dance Southern Valley, manifest at Tule, a reservation (to 'onci "ma) which they performed very early near the present site of Porterville. every morning. The winatum went around and The house types she recalls at Tule are woke everyone, saying that it was time for t those of adobe or boards. dance to start. The dancers wore a costume Pottery she had seen, but never saw any- bones "all tied together," false hair of shr one make it. Her mother made only baskets. One ded willow bark which hung down the back, an woman, named Insi 'cn (Jennie), a Wakastmina false ears made of Jackrabbit tails. They (Waksachi), once brought a piece down to Tule. carried digging sticks in their right hands, and each had a burden basket on his back. T four performers stood in a row, while the BURIAL corpse-carrier led their singing. They kept time with their canes. The mourners who cam At death the corpse was washed with cold to Join in the singing brought food (seeds o water and a piece of old deerskin. The hair torn in th i ng ght tod (sers a was washed with soaproot, dried, brushed, and acorn meal) which they gave to the buriers a arranged. All the best clothing and ornaments the end of the performance. The recipients were put on it, and it was laid on deerskins in snatched it and threw it over their shoulder the entr o thehoues ehid th fieplce, into their baskets; if they did not accept i the center of the house, behind the fireplace, instantlY when offered, it was thrown in the with the head toward the west or northwest faces. (most houses faced south). The corpse was All of the buriers were called tonosm, flexed, tied, and wrapped in deerskins at this but not all were tranivestiter The apparen time, and left in the same place and position. women uually were, but the men, like Wilihar Anyone who wished might visit it and Join in dressed and occupied themselves normally.112 the wailing which was carried on all night. The transvestites dressed as women and went After the corpse was removed for burialy the seed-gathering with them. M.A. did not know house was burned. In the new house where they what determined such a changed life, but was' went to live, Jimsonweed and a plant called certain there was no special dream force beh golpo pi109 were burned to repel the spirit of it. t the deceased. M.A. added that when visitors arrived f Meanwhile two men and two women (the a mourning ceremony, they were lined up by a latter transvestites, tono Csm) had dug the- winatum and paid a little money. This was d grave, using digging sticks and baskets. If, for everyone regardless of whether he brought while digging, they came upon another burial, food to contribute. it was necessary that they crush the skull, re- move the brains and taste a bit of them, other- SHAMANISM wise they would die. The following morning at dawn, the strong- M.A.'s father was a rattlesnake doctor. est of the four buriers110 carried the corpse He could make rattlesnakes appear at any time in a net on his back to the grave. He walked and at any place; he "made them come down fr around the grave three times before lowering the sun." When M.A. was little, her father his burden. Then he addressed the deceased, 111G t d N 19 l saying, "You're going where you're going; don' I12t is possible that such men were not transvestites 9~Thls plant "smelled strong and had lots of' balls on ito but were in homosexual relation with those who assumed t Suha carrier was WLli'hana, whom M.A. recalls. female role. (If61 GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 47 place a rattlesnake around her neck when and lost continuously. People teased him un- ied;. the snake rattled and she ceased duly and he became very angry. The following day he called on all his powers (ai'ntc) to Rattlesnake (te 'ed) was her father's make a storm that would destroy the houses of totm Hecured people who had been those who had twitted him.- A terrible hail- *b totem. Hesnake by who h from storm came out of a clear sky.414 M.A. and her k by a rattlesnake by rubbing earth from sister had gone to the riyer for water. They pr's mound into the wound. He could ran up a hill and crouched under some rocks for t persons from being bitten, but M.A. shelter. The storm continued unabated for an not know how he accomplished this. She hour and many houses were washed away. with great positiveness that he never participated in any ritual, or indulged This rain-maker was known to Powers, who e-handling." (It is doubtful that the states that in 1870 he traveled as far north |Ritual was indigenous to the Southern belo.) H didno oher as Kings River offering to make rain for pay. culture. See The following year, another one of drought, he LA. herself, with Rattlesnake as her made a second pilgrimage, was paid abundantly, M.A. herself , with Rattlesnake as her had some special association with the and caused rain to fall.i115 When she was a little -girl , her A reference to Hopodno by Kroeber may be a 's cousin, Solo ,pono (a snake-handler), reverberation of M.A.'s anecdote. Speaking of a rattlesnake which he could not control. rain-makers he says, "The famous Hopodno at 0was called, and the child passed her hand Tejon, who was half Yauelmani and half Sho- shonean Kawaiisu, staked the rain in a game, Kin the air above it; immediately it in thenair abov it;oimmedate it and when he lost promptly delivered it to the Kd and quietened. Then Solopono put it in winners."l6 ttleneck basket and took it to a Rattle- winers 6 Ritl ual . When white hairs first appeared on M.A.'s ' , she dreamed Rattlesnake came to her and CEREMONIES that "she was going to be like him with spots on her head." (M.A.'s hair is all Rattlesnake Ritual -white now.) M.A. remembers only one Rattlesnake Ritual ,of supernatural power M.A. could or would at Tule, the one to which Solopono took the Ipeak fluently: all her information was li,zed. She did not "pay attention" to snake she had pacified. At this ceremony he picked the snake up by the tail and made it bms until after she was married. Then bite his back and wrist; then he fell over. A jwam three times during the night for three ts in succession. She was successful in doctor named Ci cen revived him. Solopono was "used her dreams to help her a Yaudanchi; another snake-handler there was ,stand" Po slili, a Wukchumni (sic, undoubtedly Ien t; but the nature of her power is not d edren"; bu the natureof sher poerais onot Pusl'lsn, the Choinimni); all the others were leh strangers: there were six of these men who A dream is one's heart traveling around at danced with snakes. t. Once long ago when M.A. was out at t sht met a spirit, but she "knew what it Jimsonweed Ritual d was not afraid." (It was impossible to ver whether this "out at night" was an M.A. saw Jimsonweed drinking at Tule; al- lity or dreamed.) though she did not partake herself, her mother The most powerful curing doctor, but a no, was Wati sti, according to M.A. She did. Her mother was sick and wanted to dis- cover the cause: she saw that the cause of her 'he was a Bankalachi. He sent pains to sickness was up at Woodlake (she was a Yokod). e; by this means he killed women who re- Most people took it "to see the future." id him. Other doctors tried to cure his him Oedts iThe ritual was held in the spring. It was [8but this was futile. He killed Wu ni, 8 but this was futile. He killed Wu ni, always conducted by the same man, Wilihana. :~a5t Yaudanchi tiya, whose relatives The leader of the ritual was called taniai *tts; ed his death by killing Watisti.113 rai shaman,from Tejon, Hopo , 'no, was rehe prepared and administered the decoction. Both sexes drank together. Each person had his for his abilities, but M.A. never knew fonr the wealither, for pAy. Sheve knew own drinking basket which was dipped into a to control the weather for pay. She ted the following. "'Just after this incident was related, heavy raindrops suddenly fell on us from a single cloud in a sunny blue When M.A. was a young girl, Hopo'no was at sky. Both informnant and interpreter laughed heartily and .He gambled at night with several others said, "That must be him now." 3ee F.M.s account of this in Gayton, Yokuts-Mono llPowers, 372. a and Shamans, 398. '16Handbook, 518; see also Gayton and Newman, 104. 48 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS central basket by the leader, sprinkled with GHOST DANCE OF 1870 eagle down, and returned to the drinker. When each drinker had his basket in hand, the leader called prayerfully upon "god" (ts pntm; super- M.A. was a little girl, still living at natural power), not upoh the Jimsonweed, saying, Tule, when a Chonotachi (Chunut) came to tell "You gave us this. Now these people are going them about the big dance, that they all must to drink it for you. Give them a good life; to Eshom Valley; for if they did not, they let them see everything." would "turn to ashes, a coyote, or something. There was no race. The drinking was done M.A.'s uncle was very reluctant, but went be- in the late afternoon. The participants fell cause he was afraid. M.A. knows she must hav asleep at once and toward morning began'talking. gone to Eshom Valley but remembers little abo A twelve-day tabu on meat preceded, and followed it save that the dead people were supposed to the rite. come back. She thinks that two dances were Jimsonweed and golpopi were burned in held in Eshom Valley, one at Tule, one at houses to repel hovering spirits of deceased Kolpopo afterwards, but probably none at Tejo persons. Jimsonweed is "very old"; it was here in the prehuman era. KOYETI The following fragmentary notes were ob- One of Maiyemai's songs is given by tained from Dick Francisco (Yao wi). At the Kroeber: 118 time of my visit some personal difficulties of D.F.'s made him refuse to use any interpreter but his daughter, who proved hopelessly in- lanaka nan-a adequate for her task. D.F. was born at a rancheria on Deer Creek; mayemai his father and mother were both Koyeti -- [name of the composer of the song] "everybody who lived there was." They moved to notu na keu Fort Tejon when he was very young; then after east I there the first Ghost Dance they moved up to Tule [the older reservation where Porterville is now]. teicin-e wehe They were at Tejon during a big earthquake shall-emerge wehe [1872]. While they lived at Tule there was a % great flood which caused people to run to the we mukulau hills. we [turning] The Koyeti and Bankalachi were close and hi sonolo w%eh%e friendly neighbors. hi hand-feather-ornament wehe The houses on Deer Creek were mostly made of the large grass (?) rather than of tules. Another important doctor, not a Koyeti, D.F. does not remember the name of his jas Sapagai of Tejon. Another doctor, named Koyeti village, or of any chief.117 He thinks asapagaieofSTejoni Anothe dt named there was "Just one captain." But a powerful Ciucn, killed Sapagai because he failed to doctor, Maiye"mai (Manuel) was a well-known somerem Koyeti. His power may have been from Eagle; he About ceremonies little could be obtain was "a good doctor and never killed anyone." from D.F. He knew the Doctors' Contest but He once cured Luisa Francisco, who was suffer- doubted that it was ever made by the Koyeti a ing from severe pains in her head. When he any time. came to the house, he saw a "devil" (h'twaiWiya: Hne huna was danced (?) by a Yaudanchi man malevlent host,staning b the o ornamed Camsu "sa, (a nickname meaning "many malevolent ghost, "devil") whiskers"). This man performed at Tejon and "and he knew that was what scared her." To Tule. D.F. claims he did not dance: "Just a effect the cure he did not cut, but fanned her tried to find money."sl9 The costume was not with an eagle feather and "puffed." However, intelligibly described, but D.F. thought Maiyemai cured other types of sickness by Huhuna's face was covered. He "ran around by cutting and sucking. 118The Yokuts Language, 367; given to Kroeber by Peter Chrisatman, a Yaudanchi informant . '17Another informant, B. J .A., from Fort Tejon claims that '19D.F. may have meant that he did not dance as in the Dick Francisco was a winatum there. kam or do conventional dance steps. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 49 tf and was shot at the end." The doctor was done on three successive days [sic]. It suscitated huhuna was Toi 'issk, but D.F. was taken "for long life and to see everything," E not know if he was the one who "killed" and the experience might be repeated as often as a person wished. D.F. had never taken Jim- D.F. saw jimsonweed (ta"nai) taken at Fort sonweed. this was done in the early spring. The Ghost Dance (soto twi ha 'tm) was Jimsonweed roots were steeped in water first seen in Koyeti territory on Deer Creek. be decoction was drunk after about eight D.F. does not know who introduced it "unless fast. It was taken by members of both it was Wacila la," a Gawia. How far the dance who were at least sixteen years old. But spread beyond Fort Tejon, D.F. has no idea. women did not drink it together. There They came up from Fort Tejon to see it. Some "retreat" during the fast; the drinking people made it there when they went back. TULAMNI A unique though brief account of native villages the natives live in the winter in very e in the extreme south of the San Joaquin large squares, the families divided from each ey is preserved in the records of Pedro other, and outside they have very large houses soldier, explorer, and eventually govern- in the form of hemispheres where they keep psodie., xplrer an evntullygovrn-their seeds and utensils. n Spanish California.12 He was the first ean known to have entered the San Joaquin y officially when, in the fall of 1772, he ed the head of the valley from Grapevine Utensils.--A metatelike stone mortar, westward toward San Luis Obispo. Although "Jars of the same material" (probably steatite ?bal names are mentioned in Fages' account, vessels), and pattern baskets are mentioned. e basis of his routing we may assume that Skins were used for bedding. escriptions derive from the Tulamni and Foods.--Fages speaks at length of the ps the Hometwali and Yauelmani. The animal and vegetable foods available, and, like Wing notes are a condensation of his ac- all early travelers in the region, dwells on t. their abundance. Of water birds he mentions Dress.--Men wore a cloak which reached to white, black, and brown geese, ducks, cranes, vaist; some cloaks were made of grouse and white pelicans. He remarks on grouse, They bound their hair with strings of "multitudes of quail ... more savory than those into which such articles as the antelope- of Spain," and many small birds such as tobacco container might be thrust. That swallows and larks. Eagles measuring "fifteen tobaco ctheir heads in the form of the spans from tip to tip" were seen; eaglets were * with white mud," may mean that a mud raised and domesticated but were not eaten. Of t like that of the Mohave was in vogue, or land animals, wild sheep, antelope, elk, and y refer to a mere mark. To the chiefs deer abounded, and "across the river" [in the attributes "cloaks adorned with feathers" Sierra Nevada foothills on the east side of the la great coiffure of false hair folded valley ?I were "buffaloes [sic] , bears, wild- upon their own." One suspects a mis- cats, wolves [sic], coyotes, ferrets and foxes"; Mretation of office here: they were in the Santa Lucia range there were panthers bly ceremonial figures, but because of [cougar ?). elaborate dress were thought to be chiefs. Of fish there was "an abundance of all men dressed like those of San Luis species." Seals and otters occurred "as far as ,121 which probably means they wore deer- one hundred and fifty leagues [sic] upstream in )aprons as well as grass ones. Their hair the Rio de San Francisco [San Joaquin River and ed (toupe) and braided. Babies were sloughs]." in pelican skins. Several familiar vegetable foods are men- ouses.--Dwellings were arranged "like a tioned. Three varieties of oak produced acorns, (in rows) with storehouses for food and which were prepared by the usual processes of ents in front of each. But Fages states drying, grinding, and leaching. Soaproot, used ewhat differently in his diary of 1772: for washing, was also eaten roasted, as were other tuberous roots and bulbs. Cattail roots All this plain is very thickly settled were made into flour, and the blossoms into a Fmany and large villages ............. .In their yellow bread. We can guess that manzanita cider is meant by the "very refreshing drink, seBolton, In the San Joaquin ahead Or Garces; Fages, somewhat acid" made by soaking the pulp of the 76 fruit of a certain shrub in water. Reeds were age,s,49. dried so that the crystallized Juice [sic] 50 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS could be shaken off [as sugar].122 A sugar was disheveled hair hanging down over the face." made from the compressed pulp of a shrub fruit. [Possibly Fages mistook the winatum and his Many other food plants mentioned by Fages would functions for those of a chiefly official.] doubtless be identifiable by a botanist ac- Games.--Two dice games, and hoop and pol quainted with the flora of the region. are recorded by Fages. Lhe first, for women Two meals were taken, one at sunrise, the only, was played with dice of snail shells other in the midafternoon. filled with tar, thrown on a basketry tray. String.--It appears that both hemp and count was based on "the number of shells whic nettle were used for making string, for, of the stop mouth up, whether they are fewer, an eq two plants, Fages says one grows in a moist number, or more than those which stop mouth soil and appears much like true hemp, the other, down." The play passed from one to another, growing in dry soil, has "leaves like the "each one wagering some little article approp walnut, ashy colored and downy, with a white ate to woman's use." flower." Men played at stick dice of which there Tobacco.--The plant was gathered in were ten, marked on one face with cross lines abundance and, ground with lime, was made into The sticks were tossed at a "wooden tube, thr a paste and formed into "cones or small loaves" spans long and one in width." They all had t which were wrapped in tule leaves and hung in fall mark outward [upward?] in order to win. the house to dry. It was taken after supper, A successful player continued until he failed and one could subsist on it "for three days when the next player took up the sticks. without nourishment." The tossed hoop and pole game he de- Men kept their smoking tobacco, wrapped in scribes as played on a smooth space some 10 leaves, in an antelope horn which they carried yards long and wide enotigh for two runners, a in their headbands. A most un-Yokuts-like enclosed with a fence of brush and grass practice is described: after supper "they set slightly over a span high. There were two themselves to smoking tobacco, one after the players, with pointed poles 4 yards [as trans other, from a great stone pipe";123 that is, lated] long, and "a little wheel made of stro smoking after supper is Yokuts, the single straps fastened together so as to leave in th great stone pipe is not. This indeed may be a center a hole about the size of a real [the truly southern Yokuts feature. size of a dime, tr.]." As the hoop was throw Chieftainship.--Like Powers, Fages attrib- in the air, both men hurled their poles at it utes district chiefs to the Yokuts; one might "8so as to catch the wheel or thread it upon t have four or five villages, each with its own stake before it falls to the ground." chief, under the authority of a superior Signals.--Fages states that during all- "district" chief. The chief is said to be night celebrations watchmen were posted "who monogamous, to receive tribute in "seeds, fruit, give signals between themselves and for the e game, and fish," to counsel on punishments with tire village by whistling or by strumming the the advice of his constituents. The lesser cords of their bows, thereby giving notice chiefs kept their superior informned of events that the enemy is approaching, that a house i in their villages, of civil offences, and burning, or that there is some other accident turned offender's over to him for reprimand. in the silence of the night." Estudillo saw "During such an act of reprimand the culprit, signal fires in use throughout the valley.124 whether man or woman, remains standing with BANKALACHI: YOKUTS-SHOSHONEAN Frank Manuel was born at Soto tlo, a large member.125 His father (name "not recalled") village of about twenty families, on Deer Creek was a chief's winatum: Dove was his lineage where both Bankalachi and Pitanisha (TUbatula- totem, Cougar his dream helper. He died when bal) lived. His maternal grandfather, 6oxo'no, F.M. was about ten years old. F.M. says he t was a Pitanisha chief there. There were two was a chief's winatum: he took Eagle as his other chiefs whose names F.M. does not re- family totem because of his chiefly descent his mother's side, and Coyote was his dream helper. F.M.'s father had one sister who, he 322See Voegelin, TUbatulabal Ethnography, 19. says, had no children. F.M. 's full brother w l&See Vogln Uauaa tngah,1.killed in "a big fight" at Kernville when the 23Store pipes occur in archaeological remains from the informant was about twelve years old. A half southern valley but were not used within the memory off in- brother, Esteban Miranda, who had a Pitanisha formants; they may also have come by trade from the Chumash (see ~ ~ KobrHadok56) 2This informant was one of the few who observed name 12Gayton, Estudillo, 83. tabus on the dead. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 51 r and is older than F.M., now lives up at no door, the doorway being merely an opening 126 between the rafters [there probably was a door- J4yemai, the shaman, lived at Sototlo; way frame of some sort]. The fire was in front -was another one whose name is not re- of the center post. Firewood was kept in two 0 Poi 'in, the shaman mother of Watisti, piles,one on each side of the entrance; men h Bankalachi. sitting next to these put wood on the fire. .The village broke up during the summer, Men did not indulge in sweats until they milies combining in groups of twos and were twenty-five to thirty years old. Evening s for summer camps in the mountains. [late afternoon?] was the most popular time for e circular brush corrals were built for a sweat, after which they would swim and return er. They remained out one or two months home to sleep. While in the sweat house men the women gathered seeds. usually "Just lay around." Sometimes, merely 'When F.M. was about eighteen years old to entertain others or to practice, a man would moved up to Tule and later, with others, dance the ha tsm (the "piston-rod step" of e present reservation. Powers) if someone would sing for him. For F.M. named a few sites, the location of such a performance there was no costume; it had 3 I was unable fully to determine. Sototlo no ritual significance. No games were played age, on Deer Creek, he locates six miles in the sweat house, nor was smoking indulged of Tule River Junction, which places both in -- "it was too strong *in there." another Bankalachi village, 6ena wu in nuwad territory if we follow Kroeber's 12 Another village, Cnuwao, was east of MISCELLANEOUS DATA Tonocim (transvestite) is the name of ttle hill just above F.M's house on the Games.--Women played hucu'wts8, the walnut- ent Tule River Reservation. The rock shell dice game, in the daytime only. . near the Monachi Golf Club, is at a Pottery.--Pottery was made at Sototlo by called Toi yo, which F.M. says refers to women. The pounding of the clay paste, the es' nests that were there. The first coiling process were the only details remem- ation, called Tule by all the Indians who bered. r to it, was at what is now Houghton's Money.--The small disc money of clamshells zer on the eastern outskirts of Porterville. was measured by doubling a strand and then slipping it into a series of chain-stitch loops. A "rope" long enough to reach from the wrist to STRUCTURES the shoulder, was worth $2.00 in "American money." Such a strand was exchanged for an Houses at Sototlo were conical, never eagle's leg with the down still intact. ed. There was no ring at the apex, as in Blankets.--F.M. did not know how "woven" cal houses farthep north: the smoke "Just skin blankets were made, save that strips of tout where the brush came together at the rabbitskin or wildcatskin were used in them. When tule (pu "muk) was obtainable, sewn Calendar.--A calendrical system of months for covering were made of it. Usually based on moons was used in the old days. The e grasslike "brush" called kana "s'ts was only name he remembers was that for the month ed into mats some 3 to 4 feet long and roughly coincident with February: kala "sa, lt 3 feet deep: the rows of twining were meaning "blows it all away" or "cleaned up," t 12 inches apart. It took six to eight because it was a period of high winds, trees ?to cover a house. The fire was in the were bare, and the leaves all blown away. er; the fireplace had no special name. The Hair nets.--These were used "everywhere" sh" house was called ya wtl ti 'i; that for the basis of feather head ornaments. A red with tule, pumuk ti"i. 12b single hairpin (tsama ni) held the ornament in The sweat house was a single-post affair. place. Neither the net nor hairpin was used earth was excavated for about two feet. No for ordinary dress, nor by women. walls were attempted.29 The radiating Yellowhammer strips.--Ornamental bands of poles were tied to the top of the center sewn yellowhammer feathers (paiya man) were *. After interstices were filled with known but rarely used.130 A doctor who owned oh," earth was thrown over all. There was one would wear it for the dancing on the night of celebration following a mourning ceremony. ee Voegelin, 7. It was never used when the doctor was dressed o 47. F.M. claimed ignorance of any people for curing; it was "Just to look pretty." The dbook, p1. band was worn around the head with the ends @8 Bolcninuwad. bana wn ank. hanging down the back. sh%hi inormant, like most dwellers at the Tule River Musical instruments. --The flute (utoi 'i) wation, speales Yauelmani. was made of elderwood; number of holes not "r. neighboring southern California sweat houses *ber,Handbook, pls. 56 and 60). '30f. Koso specimen (ibid., p1. 58). 52 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS known. The clapper (tawa"twLl) and cocoon the sap was chewed for a cold, but it was ex- rattle (sa nac) were used. The musical bow was tremely bitter. The interpreter, S.G., bit o known to the Southern Yokuts, Choinimni Yokuts, a little piece Qf tanal in my pr.esence, made a and probably northward throughout the foothills excruciating face, spat it out, and said he as it is reported from Western Mono, Miwok, and "guessed he'd wait till he had a bad cold." Maidu. 131 Moiety.--The words Nutuwich and Tokelyu- Hunting.--F.M.'s father was a fine hunter; wich greatly puzzled F.M., who said he had Cougar was his dream helper. When F.M. was never heard about those peopl-e "and guessed about fifteen years old, his father took him those tribes were all gone." A description of hunting. Sinew-backed bows were bought from the moiety as it functions amongst northern Pitanisha (TUbatulabal) living near Kernville. lake Yokuts tribes merely elicited the state- But plain bows of elderwood [? he claimed] were ment that "people down here didn't act that w made at Sototlo. Arrows were of button willow tipped with a white-oak point, or of obsidian if for deer. CEREMONIES The deer disguise was made of the complete head, antlers, and skin. The head was stuffed Snake ritual.--This F.M. has seen at Tule with grass. The wearer leaned on two sticks to but it was not made at Sototlo. imitate the animal, and with them would crash Bear Dance.--This was "never done down about in underbrush to simulate fighting deer. this way; they had it up toward Kaweah River." Bears were lured out of their caves by a Huhuna Dance.--This was not seen until fast runner, and shot by two or three good after F.M. had settled at Tule, where it was hunters waiting in ambush. introduced by people from the north. After the killing of an especially large Shamans' Contest.--There were not enough deer or bear, the animal's head was sprinkled doctors at Sototlo for contests to be held, bu with eagle down. F.M. never heard of selling these were given later at Tule where Poi'in, bear paws or skin to someone with a bear totem. the woman shaman, participated. He thinks bear was not a totem animal for any Eagle purchase.--A man who killed an eagl one at Sototlo. would go from house to house, and at each he In dividing up a carcass, the man who took would be given a bit of money. Then he went t the skin did not receive any meat. Men did the chief who gave him a larger sum of money tanning of hides. and received the carcass. Then the chief The pigeon booth from which birds were called the people together. After removing th snared is probably native to this region, as skin and shinbones, they buried the carcass wi well as northward along the foothills, although some ceremony; money was always placed with it that seen and illustrated by Holmes was on the An old man would get up and make a speech.133 Tule River Reservation.132 There was a tabu on meat for three days after Tobacco.--Tobacco (so gon) was drunk with the ceremony. lime. The preparation was like that elsewhere: Eagle down, thus obtained by the chief, the cakes of dried leaves were pounded with a was sold by him. The old price was one small mortar (koi 'was) and pestle (pa lwi), [double ?I string of disc beads the length of crushed shells (ta sap) were added, and water one's arm; later $2.00 per leg was charged. Th was stirred in. It was taken in the evening by down was scattered when any act of importance persons of either sex who were at least twenty was undertaken. When praying, no matter to years of age; the purpose was to aid dreaming. whom the prayer was addressed, or when travel- Crushed tobacco was smoked in a cane pipe ing, one sprinkled down on a hilltop or in a (ha la) or an elderwood pipe (wi'se'ta, elder- gap between two hills. The sanctity of eagle wood). Tobacco was made in the usual two cake down was evinced by its peculiar ability to forms, so'gon and politsi na, but of the latter "stick anywhere on anything"; it sticks to the F.M. could only say that it was stronger and fingers, and when cast on the ground it does molded in the usual cylindrical shape. not blow away. Tinder. --Oak balls contained a shreddy, corklike substance called yeCska, which was Jimsonweed Ritual used as tinder in making fires and lighting pipes. Jimsonweed (ta nai) was taken about Febru Medicine.--Redwood sap (ta'nal) was shaved ary; the rite was held every two or three year up in a pot of hot water. A person with a Only men took Jimsonweed; indulgence was not wound which bled profusely steamed himself with compulsory; it was taken only once ceremoniall this under a blanket; a woman who had given but might be used frequently for medicinal birth also used it in this way. A little of purposes. 1311bid., 419, 542; Barrett and Gifford, 250; Wobonuch '33F.M. could not remember what this was about, and said Western Mono, herein, Pt . II . he "couldn 't tell it anyway because my language is too l3'Anthropological Studies, pls . 31, 32. short. " GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 53 If some boys wanted to take Jimsonweed, saw the cause of sickness and with feathers would announce the fact in early winter would brush the sickness off a patient. A ut December), and then abstain from meat shaman's supernatural helper might be seen and grease for the next two months. During recognized, whereupon the shaman would implore a period they remained quietly about home, the seer not to take that helper as his own. ther hunting, playing, nor participating in This request was formally restricted to one ial affairs. About two weeks before the petition. All that was seen in the visions had ing, a doctor would retire with the boys to be told. No lost or stolen articles were a private camp, where he instructed them in discovered by this means. rtment, how to address Jimsonweed when Medicinally, Jimsonweed was drunk for the ing. Boys who participated were about six- setting of broken bones; while this painful and, according to F.M., were expected to work was done during the coma, the healing, in continent for about three years. The which was said to take place in twelve days, eat lasted two or three days, and on was attributed to the power of the jimsonweed. ging, they set the day for the drinking Poultices of mashed roots were applied to lve days in advance, fractures and wounds during the winter. Any Each boy had a sponsor whose duty it was use of jimsonweed was tabu from about April to prepare the drink for him. These were men October. "knew how to do it and had taken Jimson- A special method of curing was used for themselves." When one was digging up syphilitic sores and other sores which would onweed, a prayer was made, and eagle down not heal. A bit of matter from the sore was d be sprinkled on the plant in order to taken up on the end of a small smooth stick or in a large root. The size of the root does bone. This was taken to a growing datura plant. correspond at all to the size of the plant, The plant's root was exposed, a small cut was the ground might be hard, or stones might made in it and the matter inserted; then the fere: the prayer and down obviated all root was replaced. Anyone who wished could do se uncertainties. A man always went to the this; there was no prayer; it was "a sure cure." spot to obtain the roots. The roots were ed, added to water, and boiled a little. The boys and spectators gathered in the SHAMANISM y morning. Each boy was provided with a e coiled basket which held about one to two F.M. knew but little about the acquisition ts. The basket was made by the boy's of supernatural power. His few statements con- er or, if necessary, bought, as it had to form to the general picture of Yokuts super- 1f fine workmanship. It was received as a naturalism. Power was not restricted to pro- -payment by the sponsor, and after the fessional lineages or inherited powers: "any- ony could be used for any purpose. The body could get a dream that wanted to take the sor held the basket to the boy's lips; the trouble." If the dream (ana twal) came, must not touch it; he must finish it all at nothing was eaten on the following day. The draught .134 person "talked" to his dream, scattered eagle A man who was in charge of the ceremony down,and prayed. Tobacco was eaten to produce one prayer for all the participants. nausea and induce dreaming. F.M.'s statement her F.M. nor S.G., the interpreter, could that both men and women took tobacco this way, e what this was, save that he "called on as well as the record of two female shamans Eagle, Cougar, and all those big ones" to from the southern valleys suggest at least the drinkers good life and protection. some participation by women in the shamanistic hile several good runners and a "loud profession as nothing unusual in this region. ter" were assembled, and these, with the There was no secrecy about the acquisition of ater leading, and the drinkers ran three power and one friend might ask another if he e around a specified circuit If a drinker had dreamed (na'nak ma ana talhin). before the laps were completed, his life Of dream helpers, weasel (pohoi'&t) was Id be shortened by so much. the best for doctors. When dancing or contest- When the drinkers became unconscious they ing, shamans wore weasel skins on their wrists. laid on deerskins or tule mats with a Curing of patients was determined by the r at the head and feet of each. By evening relative powers of the doctor causing the sick- coma began to wear off, and the women sang ness and the curer. The curing shaman was to rouse the boys. Toward morning they helpless unless his supernatural assistants e voluble and made their revelations: were more powerful than those of the instigator. le assembled to watch and listen. The The shaman's "airshot" is described in ers could see people who were far away, terms used for "poison" elsewhere, which fits could see, too, who was traveling. They with the general Yokuts belief that "poison" _> ~~~~~~~~~emanated from this8 region. The "shot" was said Although the basket might hold as much as 2 quarts, to be made from the smoke of a fire; while it was umt drun was not speciried by F.M. being made, the intended victim's name must be 54 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS mentioned.'35 The "bullets" may be placed any- gently over S.G.'s head and body, working dow where, as on a tree, and "they go off by them- ward, and blew on his skin while it was still selves," or they are put in the mouth and spat damp. Her curing paraphernalia she kept in a little net sack. out. When the Shamans' Contest was made at Tule there was a "center position." In the last one GHOST DANCE OF 1870 held there the female shaman, Poi'"n, held this, and was blinded as a result during the contest. At the time of the Ghost Dance F.M. was Poi'&n's father, who was a Bankalachi, was living at Tule rancheria. Along with everyon not known as a professional shaman: "he might else, he walked up to Eshom Valley for the have had some power." She was the only woman great dance there. A Yaudanchi winatum, doctor known to F.M. and S.G., save one now Ino lya, told them to go up there because the living on the south fork of Kern River; she was dead were going to return. The messenger wen known to the Chunut, J.A., as Sukottts. She on with his news to Sototlo, on southward to "thought about power ?tspniJ day and night un- Bakersfield, and up Poso Creek. til she dreamt." She married Cece 's, who was At Eshom Valley, F.M. learned that the Wati/sti's father; but F.M. knows nothing about news had been brought from Dunlap. Of the him. Her supernatural helper was not known to singers who were there only Samson Dick is no F.M.; she did not "handle" snakes. She taught alive; they did not teach their songs to anyo Watisti all she knew; when he became a pro- else Esic]. fessional doctor she accompanied him, danced When they returned to Tule they had a and sang, and received part of his payment. She dance of their own which lasted six days; thi was known as a "good doctor," was never sus- was the largest ever held in the southern par pected of killing anyone. Her son, however, of the valley. They circled to the left; the achieved a bad reputation and, after her death, were no prayers, "Just songs." People paint was finally killed in vengeance for the death their faces: popular patterns were, for men, of Wu ni, a Yaudanchi chief.136 two parallel horizontal lines of black and She once visited Wukchumni at Lemon Cove, white across the upper cheek, and for women, two or three vertical rows of black, white, where she cured S.G. red dots below the eyes. Body painting was n done. They danced all night, swam at daybrea He was "poorly"; he had no specific pains, and rested during the day while the singers but his nose bled constantly and he had to stay practised. in bed. Poi'"n was visiting there; she came to No dance was held at Sototlo, "it was to cure him. She did not cut, merely rubbed. She small a place." But 'everyone' in the southe "called on all the big hills asking for their e tall ey camerto th e aTule help." She had a "chicken" hawk's head and end of the valley came to this dance at Tule. eagle-down string as talismans. These she Many people, especially those of Fort Tejon, dipped in a basket of water on which eagle down came to live there permanently after the Ghos had been sprinkled. Then she rubbed them Dance episode. 135This may be a reason for the reluctance about name- mention encountered here, but not elsewhere among Yokcuts informants . '36See Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans, 398.l YOKUTS: CENTRAL FOOTHILLS WUKC HUMNI LOCALITY AND INTERTRIBAL RELATIONS dicularly up, until its spiral peaks are capped with the eternal snows that shine with dazzling The territory in which the Wukchumni lived brightness from the rays of the rising sun. rised beautiful, oak-studded, foothill Yonder, far in the plain, rise tall spiral ry on both sides of the Kaweah River. Situ- cones of long, slim, rocks, whose bristling on the edge of the valley plain yet within tops look like piles of spears stacked by tonthetedge of the hills,lhey befinets obthi giants of another age... Here on the green plain, ..helter of the hills, the benefits of both from which the Buttes rise can be seen here and theirs. No section of the valley was more there the brcad, l w-spreading branches of the than that watered by the Kaweah River and evergreen oaks. The stillness ~of nature around hfingerlike delta of creeks between the foot- is broken only by the thunder of the waters of s and the lake. An almost ecstatic descrip- the Francis River as they come through the hasd been lakef usAb anmosteaystatitor,s p r,cky gorges of the mountain passes: but, here has been left us by an early visitor, at our feet, their white foam has died away, B H. Carson, who saw the couhtry in 1852, and in this crystal lake, where fish of a years after Lt. Derby's tour and the same thousand species sport, they seem to stop and in which Jeff Mayfield arrived in the San rest before they hurry on to their destination. in Valley.137 Now let us turn and look westward. -- The oaks, in their majesty, thickly cover the plain for miles around, and stretch away to the shore of The Four Creeks are the next waters met the Tulare Lake. Amongst them and through high h. These deep and rapid streams are formed green grass, meander the Four Creeks. To the One river [the Kaweah River]. Lieut. G.H. right, at the distance of 25 miles, runs the y of the U.S. Topographical Engineers, who belt of timber, marking the course of King's the first surveys of this portion of Cali- River to the lake. On the left is seen at the ia, in May, 1830, named this the Francis distance of twenty miles, the broad body of er. It is larger than the San Joaquin or timber that marks the course of Tule river. The of its tributaries where it leaves the body of land, thus bounded, is the best in the nthin. stream can be heard when youhave valley -- well timbered and watered, and cover- This stream can be heard when you have ed with the finest grass in California. Stretch- e a few miles in among the Buttes at its en- ing beyond this to the west lie the placid blue ce on the plain, thundering from the rocky waters of the Tulare lake, whose ripples wash ghts of the snowcapped Nevada. Its waters, the foot of the low hills of the Coast range -- Aff tired of their task, seem to stop to rest the blue tops of which set a boundary to the a beautiful small lake, formed amongst the scene. ical hills.- These hills divide the waters of Francis yeah] River at the foot of the Lake into the Trade streams known to the traveller on the Ins as the Four Creeks. These creeks meand- The limits of Wukchumni land are indefi- thro' heavily timbered and beautiful country, nite, for all so-called boundaries were twenty-five miles, where they empty their trespassed by hunting and seed-gathering groups tr into Tule [Tulare] Lake. on all sides, yet limits were recognized 'at Allow me here to digress for a few moments certain points by common consent. On the north mthe tenor of these sketches, and you who chumni terrisory touched On Anth ire the beauties of nature, untouched by the Wukchumni territory touched Waksachi in Ante- s of man, accompany me to the top of the lope Valley, which was occupied by Wukchumni ical hill138 that rises its head near the families. On the east, up the Kaweah River at tain _- far above the rest that surround it- the modern hamlet of Three Rivers, a mixed there view the fancy pencillings of the Wukchumni-Patwisha village marked the begin- er of the unseen Hand that formed from nings of Patwisha holdings. On the south the .s this the most lovely spot in California.-- Wukchumni roamed as far as Yokol, the Yokod from its top we see arcund us a hundred ical hills rising from the plain, smooth and nuclear village (the present railway station of rammatically shaped, as if done by the Yokohl), and on the west as far as Woodlake sel of the artist. Here, too, the Sierra where Gawia land began. The small lake there ada rises abruptly from the plains -- its was regarded as joint property of Wukchumni, 1-like, rugged sides running almost perpen- Gawia, and Yokod for fishing, waterfowl-hunting, - and shellfish-gathering. Telamni, Choinuk, ~CarBon, Life in California, 64-66. and Wolasi sometimes came there too. mPrbably the hill called dai'a'pnus (Local Map B, no. The Gawia, M.L. said, lived along the by the Wukchumni and regarded by them as their "home river west of the Wukchumni and had special Pt or traditional primordial locale . -- A .H.G . campsites at springs near Haditao and Sokodao, [ t~~~~~~~~~~~~~55] 56 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS although their main village was Yeitao (Local Yokuts baskets in exchange. There was an Map B, nos. 5, 2, and 1). They had another current of hostility between the Monachi an village near the modern hamlet of Klink. They the Yokuts and these traders were often ac- would come onto Wukchumni land to gather companied by Waksachi or Patwisha as an ass berries and redbud. There is evidence from ance.of cordial reception. They never went historic accounts that the Gawia were once a farther west than to the Gawia and Yokod, powerful tribe. The Yokod came no farther four days to a week would be the extent of north than Lindcove. their stay. Women as well as men came on t The Waksachi lived in Eshom Valley and trading trips, and occasionally one would s claimed territory as far west as Aukland, the winter, acquire a man if she could, but according to M.L. They also came down to the turn to the eastern side of the mountains t edge of the plains in Wukchumni territory to following year.'39 The Wukchumni and other gather seeds and trade (see Waksachi account, hill Yokuts did not go across the Sierra Ne Pt. II). On the other hand, the Wukchumni went to trade. After the intrusion of white set up to Eshom Valley for the specially fine tlers the eastern side of the mountains waa acorns of the black oak. used as a refuge by Yokuts in flight from w To the east the Wukchumni went into Pat- persecution. wisha territory, above Three Rivers, to snare The Western Mono tribes northeast of t wild pigeons. They took tule house mats with Waksachi, the Entimbich and Wobonuch, were them to make shelters, then sold them to the merely called "easterners" or "uplanders" Patwisha,who lacked tule. (nuta') by the Wukchumni, while the Wechi The Wukchumni went onto Chunut land to the Choinimni, and others on Kings River were southwest, where magnificent groves of oak called "northerners" (hoisa 'ima). All tri abounded, to get acorns when there was a short- south of the Yaudanchi, i.e., at Tule River age in their own area. No payments were made southward, were called "southerners" (huntt for these friendly forays among any of the above-mentioned tribes. The Tachi from the lake bought burden Wukchumni Villages baskets, coiled baskets, and pottery vessels from the Wukchumni, for all their containers I was not able to secure anything com- were made of twined tule in aboriginal times parable to a census for any Wukchumni villa (according to M.L. and M.G.). They in turn as only a remnant population was left even made the finest of tule mato which they sold to the childhood of my informants. Certain f the Wukchumni and others of the foothills. The lies and persons are well remembered and re Tachi and others of the lake tribes were the peatedly referred to by all informants. Su manufacturers of shell money; they boughc the data as I have follow. That given by J.B. raw materials, unworked shells, from the coast serve as an example of all such seed-gather tribes. Thus the movement of money was east- expeditions. ward, of commodities westward. There were three major Wukchumni settl Very little that is definite can be ments: Diapnu'sa, Gutsnumi, and Hoganu, in learned of the Patwisha, the Western Mono tribe order of their respective importance (Local to the east of the Wukchumni. The informant Map B, nos. 33, 19, and 29). The most pro J.P. was half Patwisha in his maternal line. nent chief about 1870-1890 was Muto nii4?who He was born and raised at Hotnunyu, a village headquarters at Diapnusa, but who had a me' where people of Yokuts and Western Mono blood at Hoganu where his son Bise 'ti and daughte mixed and were bilingual in speech. The Pat- Wa ohat were born and raised. One of the wisha had the Bear Dance, Shamans' Contest, a winatums at Diapnusa was Po koi, J.B.'s fat village organization with chiefs and winatums, When late spring (ko 'toi tisa'myu) came, pe and entered into all ceremonial affairs with thought of going to gather seeds. This wou the Yokuts tribes, as did the Waksachi. The be about May after the Snake Ritual had bee general impression from J.P. and other in- held. The chief decided when to move; he w formants was that the Patwisha were a small call Pokoi and tell him to announce the mov group of Western Mono on the way to complete It was not necessary that all families go a absorption by their more numerous and cultural- exactly the same time, nor did they have to ly richer Yokuts neighbors and that they dis- wait until the chief himself set out.. But appeared entirely during the flux and pressure of white encroachment. While M.L. spoke scornfully of these lingerers, Tfwhlte Eastenrohnt. Mono,calledMonaibyt denied that they were prostitutes. Casual cohabitation The Eastern Mono, called Mona cvi by the a commonplace of Yokuts culture: men came and went,e Wukchumni, were well known to them as traders. ing temporary domesticity. In the late summer, when the mountain passes were open, they came over bringing sinew-backed l4Consistently pronounced matsu'nli by J.B. bows, moccasins, rock salt, pine nuts (wa 'tat), l*lIn two myths recorded by Dr. Newman a description Jerked deer meat, and pine wood "hot-rock this seed-gathering move serves as a prologue (ct., Ga lifters," to sell. They wanted money and fine and N~eman, 1, 89) . GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 57 families in Diapnusa would move within It is to be noted that the infamous shaman two weeks of each other. They went in Watisti and his mother were among those at s: some were related families, others giyedu. J.B. said "they danced the kam bound by friendship. Infirm people did [watiyod] there whenever they wanted to make o, being left with food and occasionally money or the tia'a asked them to." Bill- Gar- ted. The summer encampment lasted until field sang for them. (See "Pleasure Dances" summer or early fall (wusa o), the for an account of this entertainment.) No ers returning in time to prepare for the other dance or ritual was ever given at summer 1 Mourning Ceremony. Following on that camps. J.B. said that they all returned to the season of acorn gathering. Diapnusa for the big mourning ceremony, that J.B.'s family went with a group of other there visitors could be accommodated and the lies to Siye du, a seed-gathering camp near location was secluded from encroaching whites. present site of Moffett (no. 39), a dis- Even in J.B. 's time at giyedu "there was no * of about four miles. It was near Yokod place to pasture horses; all the land was taken itory. The original source of the water up by whites." now, unless a spring, was not known to Of the village of Hoganu, J.B. could re- , for even in his childhood an irrigation call only three families. The chief there was hflowed near by. Referring to their own 1Bise'ti, who was Mutonii's son by a woman named * there, J.B. said his "father put up the Uyu tskulu. He later married M.L. but the Fwhile [his] mother made and tied on the couple continued to live with Biseti's mother s skirt. No one helped with this; every- because "his father had gone to live with an- made his own house." Necessary and other woman." In another house lived an old ble belongings were taken along. The man named 6u and his Wukchumni-Patwisha wife, .of the camp kept mortars buried there as gu'pac. edrock was available. A daughter of Mutoini, Lottie, by yet an- > There were six houses at giyedu, all of other woman (a Waksachi and half-sister of conical, grass-thatched type, of sound con- B.O.; she had eagle posa like Mutonfi) also uction so that they were merely repaired lived at Hoganu. L. said that another named year to year. Two of them later were Gacu 'na was a contemporary chief with Mutoni. ently occupied by two men who worked on a The winatum at Hoganu was a Gawia named Wa 'lai; hboring ranch [Hangton's?I. There was no his wife too was a winatum, a Yaudanchi named ial arrangement in the location of the Omo. L. said they had no children "because llings. Omo ate too much meat." (L. herself moved up The house occupants were: to Dunlap when she married an Entimbich; her second husband was a Pitanisha [TUbatulabal].) In Antelope Valley lived a chief named 1. The chief, Mutonii (J.B.'s father's Sodo nto, who married J.P.'s grandmother. An- ter's husband); Waohat (Mutofi's daughter) other chief, Ke w c (John Davis) lived there, her husband Ya ni (J.B. 's half-brother ugh marriage [does he mean brother-in-law and in a third house were relatives of Jim ause it is a cousin's husband ?]). Yani and Wilcox. This little hamlet was called Wo kano. hat later lived there permanently. Later Walai moved out there; and this chief 2. The winatum, Pokoi (J.B.'s father), Sodonto may indeed be the chief Sodono who pre- wife Mo muc (J-B's mother), To ptno (J.B. viously lived at Diapnusa. elf), and Kiwi ya (J.B.'s half-brother) At Gutsnumi M.L.'s mother, mother's sister, en he wasn't working." female parallel cousin (called elder sister), 3. Ka osas (J.B.'s mother's sister s son) lerparallel.cusn (ed elderasister) his wife Po'o tso (a Yaudanchi, Camcvusan's her older brother, and her maternal grandmother hter). They had no children. all lived in one house. When her father was 4. Pono to (Bill Garfield), his wife alive, her parents, brother, and self lived in sa"na, and their son Wi alece (Sam Garfield)-a house of their own. Her father's mother, er children not known to J.B. These people father's brother, and father's sisters all not related to any of the families men- lived at Gutsnumi too, in various establish- ned above. ments. M.L. said that often "uncles, brothers, 5. Ittmwi 'iyu (a Wukchumni-Patwisha) and ment sM said that ten "unes brothers, Patwisha wife (name not recalled). or cousins, would build their houses close to- 6. Wati sti a Bankalachi shaman), his gether." M..L. said that they lived at Gutsnumi her Poi 'qitnl42 (also Bankalachi), his Yaud- during the winter, but in summer went on seed- iwife (name not recalled), and her son gathering trips towards the plains. They would uma (Charlie, of a Yaudanchi father). stop at Hoganu end Yokol. "Families did not have special places to hunt food, anyone went J.B. said that for all there were only with anyone else Just as they wished." [A se six families at iyedu in his youth, in slight exaggeration; M.L. herself said that rather's time there were many, many more. women quarreled over their claims to berry and seed patches.] The Gawia did not care if the Wukchumni camne down for seeds, and they would IConBistently pronounced Bo 'wiyan by J.B. gO Up Wukchuxnni way for other kinds of seeds CHUKAIMINA C9 Soo et IS?? (3S RIV E\\l A P5oo_ -r- TELAMNI _ < - wss' 31 32 3334 3- _( WLL C 4s,~~~"I 44 ~ ~ v'''t'l 46,2 48/// CO-ZNC C 'I ar Q X~~~~~~~~~~~IA -34 ! A- [sULARX 43~~~CAKL - 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ma4 .LclMpB:,khmladnigbrn ertr VALt'9' ~BlueR3f 0 o 44 0~~~~~-jo \ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- -~~ Blue Af,'- '=& ~pe M [L~OVE0SJ " 9A,/0 o0l~~~~~~~~~~4i~0 64 Z~~4 TE A N ljfleL , zi.r [VISAGAWAA YOKOD N C H U N U T ') 4Mp3.LclMp:Wuhunannegbrnteroy GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 59 zanita berries. The Wukchumni also went 24. patwi sa: westernmost Patwisha lake and Dry Creek for fish and fresh- village; there was a painted rockthere from which oysters. The Wukchumni felt they had a women copied basket patterns 143 sedge on the claims to Woodlake. Red 25. bai'o ma: Mineral King peak in the salt was got at Mencken Flat. During high Sierra Nevada ummertrip oldpeopl staed bhind26. s'adama `0: a sharp peak 1summer trips old people stayed behind 27. usta nyu: hill east of Lemon Cove supply of food, and relatives would re- 28. guta"o casionally to see them. An aged person 29. ho ganu: Wukchumni village; location :s on the brink of death would not be left called "Iron Bridge" (across river) in English a close relative (mother, sister, or 30. coiyo r) would remain. When the people came 31. saiwLta'o they all built new storehouses for their 32. dai a pnus: hill west of Lemon Cove 33. dai'apnu sa: Wukchumni village; eas. M.L. said that while she and her present site of Lemon Cove relatives gathered seeds, her brother 34. pada o at every day to kill squirrels and 35. pupuna o s. These he skinned and dried to add to 36. kudinpida o: called "dog road," nter food supply; the skins were cured reason for name not known; a Wukchumni seed- e into blankets, gathering site 37. sanianhintao: meaning "someone killed," the hill above Goodale ranch 38. mucu'npida"o: trail between the hills umni, Gawia, Yokod, and Neighboring Sites west of Lemon Cove ij, Gawia -, Yokod and Neighboring Sites 39. siye"du: summer seed-gathering camp - of people from no. 33; present site of Moffett Te following sites are shown on Local 40. Yoaikoku mnyu [map 3); the information is from M.L., 42 kahasanaYokod village i M.P., J.P., Tm.W., and S.O. Overlapping 43. cunita'o: recent Chunut rancheria, c?hi territory in the Lime Kiln Creek about 1890-1910; not definitely located is shown in another map in Part II. 44. yuna'pyu: Drum Valley 45. waca mao: Bowman Ranch 46. wa una o: Button Willow Peak (2269 2. sokoda 'ito: Gawia centrampsil e ft.), above Drum Valley schoolhouse 2. sokodapo: Gawia campsite 47. nauwi sLnyu: Corn Jack Peak (2000 ft.), <3. cedepwi sta: Redbank, so called be- hill south of Drum Valley schoolhouse of its red earth; also called cida pwts 48. pac6iktna o: rock with pictographs on 4. poanai yu: Gawia campsite Cutler Ranch; a shaman's cache 5. hadsta o: Gawia camped there in 49. cohominavo: Bear Mountain east of fl , Aukland . pa 'asi: Woodlake; the word for any or large pool; regarded as Joint property Locations indefinite: caste sa (no. 8), chumni, Gawia, and Yokod not positive; gutao (no. 35), Ed Morris [Morse?] 7. hal yuhao Ranch; duda'dyu, Arthur Ragle's C?] place, an 8. case sa: rocky hill east of no. 7 old Wukchumni campsite; cihoi li, Stokes Flat positive) i?); dono3wiyu; cai 'oc; pupu na (a quarry on -9. waipau cu Lime Kiln Creek called "shoot rocks"; an onamato.. 10. topo no: meaning "buckeye tree," a poetic name?) lte Wukchumni campsite; present homesite .P. 11. suka 'yu: another campsite presentE of "Willow Gate" to J.P.'s placeSHLE,DS,BOIYRNMT 12. dapa o: meaning "cottonwood place" 13. wo kano: Antelope Valley, little Structures et there 14. gutscu m: Lime Kiln Creek The Central Foothill culture included 15. aiyangu: a small sharp peak structures of both mountain and valley types. 16. opo nyu: Mencken Flat, a salt- The sweat house was practically without varia- ering campsite tion, but dwellings were of bark-slab type, 17. moi yak: painted rock near no. 29 brush or grass thatch, or covered with tule 18. sono: a flat near the Kaweah River mats, according to the availability of these 19. gutsnu mi: Terminus Beach; Wukchumni materials. The type of storehouse built was ge site governedwbylthe were ofsidrk-slab The, 20. toino "nasu by thetsam con erao thetl oo , a fr was much used even in the mountains. Lean-to' 21. coisin yu: Bell Bluff; meaning "dog were built only at campsites, where even per- e," given also as coi stu; believed to be of a shaman's cache, name refers to magic manent house frames were often established. guardian .22. sanukwa ot: a Wukchumni hamlet ________t T rm 23. hotnu i nyu: a mixed Wukchumni-Patwisha 1w3Perhaps one of the localsites referred to in Latta age California Indian Folklore, 75-79. 60 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The sweat house.--The sweat house (mos) states that men slept there regularly during was first obtained from Bear.144 the winter months.146 Women entered the swea house only when it was empty of men, as it at mealtimes, or when the majority of men w Bear always had a sweat house and that is occupied elsewhere with their duties. It wa where people first got it. People saw it and chief durnghery cold ther that thw wanted one like it. Eagle, the chief, sent chiefly during very cold weather that they Dove to ask Bear about his sweat house. It in to warm themselves, and they left instant took the messenger a day to reach his place. when they heard men approaching.147 Sometim Bear received him and agreed to come the next women sat just outside to listen, if the men morning. When Dove started to go, Bear de- within were singing especially well, but ran tained him. "If you can beat me to that gap in off when the inmates were about to emerge. the hills down there, you may go." Dove ran Sweats were often held twice a day, som off. If Bear had caught him before he reached thU spot, he would have killed him. But to times one in the morning, and invariably one Bear's astonishment Dove got there first and the late afternoon. Though it was the wina- continued on his trip home. tum's duty to keep the sweat house provided The next morning Bear came. He asked the with some wood, the major portion of the sup people where they wanted their sweat house. was brought by the individuals who were goi They said, "Close to the water." He went out to sweat themselves. Men sitting next to th and cut a lot of long poles. He dug out a pit woodpiles -- there was a pile on each side o in the ground. He built the sweat house just the door cast sticks on the fire as they like his own. No one helped him, yet he had thedo cs t s o fire- as the the structure completed by sundown. were needed: there was no fire-tender's off The chief sent for all the people to pay An intensive sweat seems to have been the Bear. Bear told them not to start a big fire vogue. Many informants speak of participant in the sweat house yet, to have just a little staggering as though drunk when they left th one for the first day. Then Bear received his sweat house. After the sweat there. was a pay and went home. general rush to the river for a swim. The m The people got brush and made a fire, then lay down near it. They wondered who should then returned to the sweat house to sleep or sing; they decided that a man with Bear as his lounge in the warm interior until sundown, w lineage totem had better do it. So a Bear man the evening meal was ready. sang: hoyoho" na'a, hoyoho na'a, ho' ho' ho' A village of any size had at least two (hoyoho, Bear, hoyoho Bear). He repeated this sweat houses. Sometimes a small one would b over and over and kept time by slapping his built by a group of friends, though there wa thighs (J.P.). no sense of exclusiveness or private ownersh involved. If the number of men in a village Now it is nearly always a Bear or Eagle was reduced, a smaller sweat house was more man who sings in the sweat house, although any appropriate to their needs; especially was i man may do so if he wishes or is asked to. Ac- more easily heated. When one burned down, a cording to Kroeber, men sometimes divided them- they occasionally did, or the supporting selves in two groups, singing songs and com- timbers of an old structure weakened beyond peting with each other in enduring extreme heat. pair, steps were taken toward building a new Such a sweat was followed by bathing and a one. Men would talk among themselves about sound sleep. Another swim was taken in the then the chief was consulted. *While his per morning .145 mission was not absolutely necessary, he us The flute was frequently played there. ly directed, by means of his winatum, the co But no dancing of any type took place within struction of a new sweat house. Three or fo the sweat house in the Central Foothill region. men whose skill was recognized were selected Any man who wished to might go in the undertake the Job. They were paid for their sweat house. On rare occasions boys went in services by the chief, who received contribu while a sweat was in progress. But a lad was tions for the purpose from the men of the not allowed to take a severe sweat until he was village. Apparently there was no fixed fee: fifteen or sixteen years old, as the physical informants said each man "would give a litti strain was too great. Boys of eight or so on- bit," or that occasionally workers were not ward were permitted to sleep there at night; paid "because they wanted the new sweat hous especially were they sent there when the home too." was crowded. Young men and single men slept The area of a sweat house floor was ex- there the year around. Married men occasion- cavated about two feet. Digging sticks were ally stayed there for social pleasure and used to loosen the soil which was piled into during a wife's tabu period after childbirth, according to my informants; whereas Kroeber 146Ibid. Fages in the 1770's found that men of the San Luis Obispo region (Chumash) slept away from home in wh- l4The Walapai held a similar belief (Kroeber, Walapai were probably sweat houses, although he (or the translat Ethnography, 118). Also mentioned in a myth (Gayton and construes them as "great subterranean caves" (p. 48). Newman, 89). '~~~~~~~~~~7This would modify Kroeber's statement that women 45Kroeber, Handbook, 523. never entered the sweat house (Handbook, 523).| GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 61 skets with the hands. The baskets were one each side of the entrance. Manzanita wood 44 or dragged out by helping men and boys. about one inch thick was preferred, as its sometimes helped at this, but the service smoke was believed to be less irritating to the garded as somewhat of a joke by all con- eyes than that of other woods.149 About the The excavated earth was heaped in one edges of the room lay such tule mats as various for later use in covering the structure. individuals brought in for their own comfort. terior diameter of an average sweat house A flute-player might habitually thrust his bout 15 to 20 feet. The shape was some- flute up into some little cranny at the roof's elliptical if it were a large house with edge (J.P., S.G.). enter posts, circular if smaller and with Kroeber's unlocalized description of the single center post. Not more than two Yokuts sweat house agrees in general with the r posts were ever used in this region; above.150 cal side walls were not known.'48 The r posts, placed 6 to 8 feet apart and ex- Lng above ground some 4 or 5 feet, were The sweat house, mosh or mos is a true and supported a center beam. These sudatory, oblong, dug down several feet, with .and spoeacnea ridge log resting on two posts at the ends, were usually of oak. The roofing poles, and dirt covered. It was small, not over 15 rably of alder, were some 4 to 6 inches in feet in length, and in no sense a dance house ter and of a length sufficient to project or assembly chamber.... The door faced the hes beyond the center beam and 1 foot be- creek, or south, and was sometimes sheltered by the excavated side wall. The bark was not parallel wind-breaks. ed. The poles were laid as close together asible, alternate poles f rom opposing The single-post sweat house differed from ?projecting on the center beam. Toward the larger form only in size and in the rela- 'end of the beam the grounded ends of the tion of roof poles to center post. The center were spread out slightly. The ends of post was forked and supported a few radiating use were covered by poles laid into the roof poles laid into its crotch. Others were ,other poles were laid over these and the laid against these, and the resulting bunch of ed ends fanned out to form rounded ends pole ends were lashed together and about the dwellynthe same stunctre asper thendtwo s post with coarse rope. The interstices were dweing).oar Thpe bunched uper ends wee filled with slender rods, and the whole covered with carselaida ropei(hoo) t move tahis znda like the larger form. No door frame was made, roof o was laderasmlaer but millor hphazad the doorway being merely a narrow opening be- hfigleme of sle indersalder . orwillowpoles tween poles spaced apart for the purpose (J.P., ~hfilled in the interstices. SG A doorway was left by spreading the poles S.G.). The Yaudanchi sweat house was a two-post ofetend.o(Informantswdisagreeduon,theeposi affair. The floor was excavated about two feet. ofe tde dor ofd Threetwo- lleposts,whether Then a frame of sticks radiating from a center the side or end.) Three parallel posts were beam to the ground was lashed in place, a upright, inside at the bottom but project- willow roof laid over it, and the whole thing outs-ide, on either side of the opening left covered with mud. The doorway was about 4 feet een the roof poles. Upon these uprights set two crosspieces: one lay flat, the by 4 feet, which seems excessively wide. The outward one rested above it. Together fire was just within the entrance. About ten men were accommodated. Any man was free to formed an angled brace against which the enter and sweat, but youths did not attempt it s of short roof poles rested. There was no until about twenty years old. Usually there ure for the doorway. were two singers who sang during the evening * The roof was now ready to be covered with sweat. yer of brush and long grass upon which the Dwellings.--The construction of a house vated earth was spread. was a family affair; friends helped each other The doorway was about 3 feet high, the in- only when assistance was a physical necessity Ir of the house slightly less than a mans to the builder. Some men might build a little ht. In a two-post house 20 feet in diame- house for an old woman who had no relatives, sixteen men could sit comfortably. The but more often such a person would take up was always directly opposite and Just residence in an abandoned house or vacant store- n the doorway: heat within forced the house. The work of house-building was divided. to push through the low door while the The man of the family obtained the poles and itself prevented too great a draft from heavy withes for the framework, dug out the ring. The firewood was placed in two piles, floor space, and set up the framework. In the bid., 596 , p1f. 60s, shows a southern Californianc ans uthfmok I h thouse identical with the Yokuts type Of side con- 149The Wintu also preferred manzanita wood (Du Bois, tion. The exterior of the small Yokuts sweat house Wintu, 122). bly resembled that of the Koso (cf. ibid., 590, pl.56). l5"Handbook, 522, 523. 62 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r~ Fig. 5. Yokuts and Western Mono conical houses. a, b, Central Foothill type with inner ring at smoke vent and mat door. c, d, Chukchansi type with smoke vent and rain shed over door (after Rogers). GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 63 > e the cover, whether thatch or mat, was be three or four, above it. The topmost band ed by the wife and other female relatives was actually a small ring about 18 inches in d a personal interest in the dwelling. diameter inside the pole tops which were spread ower layers of covering were tied on by apart by it: it served as a smoke hole as no , but the upper layers, which could be covering was placed above it (fig. 5, a, b). ed only by climbing on the frame, were The thatch covering was made by twining ed by the man. together in long sections small bunches of fine The size of the house depended upon the willow or long fine grass. The grasses were of the family, that is, the number of placed head downward the better to shed water. ris in the household and the amount of en- These skirtlike sections were held in place by lning to be done. A chief, though perhaps long willow strips running around outside of a small family, would always have a and parallel to the inner horizontal frame dwelling because he was frequently bands. The exterior band and thatch were ed. If decrepit relatives crowded a home, bound to the interior band with ho'. An upper 11 house, which was often little more than layer of thatch overlapped its lower neighbor vel, would be built for them near by. (The by about one foot. When a house leaked, which ent mother-in-law of one informant was was claimed to be only in prolonged rainstorms ng in such circumstances.) which soaked the grasses, a bundle of thatch or In the Central Foothill section houses a tule mat was f4stened over the weak spot.'53 a conical framework predominated. A house A panel door was made by tying a specially y type was called ti', those covered with made mat of tule or willow to a framework of h, ti yao wtl (yao wtl,brush or tall grass), willow or young alder. Normally this leaned e covered with tule, pu 'muk tround tule) against the house at one side of the doorway, me of the bark house was not obtained: but in bad weather, the only occasion for its ber gives it as samish.151 Among the Gawia use, it was tied over the door from the inside. Yokod the tule-covered house predominated. Skins were not hung over the doorway. Store- Wukchumni house was commonly brush- and houses were supplied with little doors tied on a-thatched, though tule was preferred when from the outside. inable, as at Gutsnumi. For them, the bark The fireplace was always in a small hollow e was rare, whereas the tule house was rare in the center of the house. In the summer, the Patwisha, who used brush and bark however, domestic fires were most frequently rings about equally. Kroeber states that built outside under the ramada. The floor was common Yaudanchi house, called te, had a covered with tule mats, several of which were cal framework and sewed tule mat covering, piled together to make comfortable sleeping ough the ridged house, with a fireplace and places. Baskets, articles in frequent use, and at either end, was also known to them. valuables were stored around the outer edges of made use of a special species of tule the room. Cooking stones, stone-lifters, and led shuyo growing in the vicinity.152 mush-stirrer remained by the fireplace. Over- The first step in building a house was head one or more rods, whose ends rested on the lining its circular area on the site horizontal frame bands, served as a place to ected. There is a difference of opinion hang articles; a special kind of hanging basket ig nformants as to the hollowing of the was made for this use. Small valuables were r: perhaps this feature varied with each often hidden in the upper thatch or between lder's preference. Certainly the floor was mats. (M.L., J.P., S.G.) The most desirable or lowered more than a foot, but at least a place for sitting during the daytime was Just ht cavity was made to brace the frame poles. inside the door. At night, and when sleeping, the conical house three oak poles were tied a guest was placed at the center back. ether near their tips and set up as a tripod. Mats were rarely used on a conical frame poles were closer to each other than to the as they were not readily adaptable to its shape. rd; these became the door frame, while the They were twined of fine willow or tule, was opposite, at the back of the house. varied from 2 to 4 feet in width, and were r poles were then leaned into the crotch at about 6 feet long. Four or five mats were apex; they were spaced 18 inches to 2 feet needed to cover a house of average size; they rt. The length of the poles depended upon were tied on with milkweed string. Such mats diameter of the house, which in the coni- could be removed from one house to another and fonn was some 6 to 9 fept. The butts of were convenient to roll up and take to summer poles were embedded in the ground at the camp. One informant (M.L.) stated that tule es of.the floor cavity. They were held in house mats were sewed, not twined, a method ce by horizontal bands of pliable willow Id on with ho'. The first was about a foototu ro w ye th rud tes f hc hr ih ized but poorly built grass thatch houses, which had been l~Ibid., 522. made for show purposes, were seen by the recorder at Squaw [ ' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Valley in 1927. They had been built by Chukaimina living 5'Ibid. there. 64 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS which Kroeber mentions for Yaudanchi and the then brush thatch added, and the whole held lake peoples.-1 fast by bands of pliable poles or withes tie The oval house was also frequently built around. in the lower foothills. Most of the houses at the Wukchumni village of Gutsnumi were of this The bark lean-to, with which Wukchumnni form, as were those of the Gawia and Yokod Patwisha were familiar, was used by them at though they did not reach the extreme dimen- summer camps in the higher hills where cedar sions of the lake region long houses. and pine bark were obtainable. The structur To start construction two forked posts was started by setting in the ground a forke were erected and a ridgepole laid between them. post 4 or 5 feet high. Into its crotch were' Side and end poles with pliable tips were laid pbles which radiated in a half-circle. braced in the ground at the periphery of the Spaces were filled in with more slender pole floor area and bent toward the ridgepole to and against the whole were leaned overlappi which their tips were lashed with ho'. As with slabs of bark stripped from fallen or decayil the conical house, horizontal side braces were trees. Earth was piled against the base bot lashed on. The oblong house was never thatched outside and inside to keep the pole and slab but was covered with twined or sewed tule mats. butts in place. (M.L., J.P.) a b Fig. 6. Wukchumni woman at bedrock mortar with seasonal shade. a, pounding acorns. b, sifting off coarse particlea. (After photograph.) These were tied to the framework and, in ex- The brush lean-to, particularly used by pectation of stormy weather, were bound down by women at seed-gathering camps, was semi-dome a lashed on, outside withe. No smoke hole was shaped in form. The earth was dug away sligh left, the smoke merely escaping through the from a half-circle. Two pliable poles were rough slotlike aperture along the ridgepole. down in holes at the points of the half-circ The oval house of the Central Foothills was not Their tips were drawn together, overlapped, usually divided into compartments as it was in bound in place. Two or three other poles we the lake region. set up along the curve, bent forward, and tit The bark house was of necessity smaller in to the arc. Loose scraggy brush was piled u size than the thatched or mat-covered type. against this crude frame, and, if a tule mat, Kroeber's unlocalized description of the bark had been brought along, it would be tied over house may serve here, as this structure was not the top. Such a lean-to served not as a well known to Wukchumni informants.155 shelter, but as a shade. Women had such sha often completely hemispherical, built over A bark house of similar type [conical) is their bedrock mortars (fig. 6)-.156 (M.L., M. called samish. Sometimes bark is first leaned againstthe fraework a a partal coveing, 1The type off shelter depic ted by GitTord ( NorthCbrk 15~~Handbook, 21 22 ~~~~Mono, p1. 3, b) may or may not be off similar constructio 5?Hndbok,52, 52. but the ffinished effect is likse that described by my 155Ibid., 522. informants. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 65 .The ramada or shade, ce' niu (Kroeber, ably it was of wildcat skin which was not split. u), was constructed of four or more posts In donning the garment, it was folded over the - parallel rows. Beams were laid between belt at the back, the belt being pulled tight W the whole covered with more cross poles, and tied in front. As the clout hung thus at inally masses of tule or willow brush were the back, the inner flap was about two-thirds n top.'1l The ramada was not always in the length of the outer. The outer, longer of the dwelling house, but in the Central length (the clout proper, so to say) was pulled lls was as often at the side. This forward between the legs and forced up under ture, so simple and so necessary in the the tied belt. There was sufficient length for r heat of the region, has been adopted by the front end to hang in a flap of about 6 to settlers throughout the San Joaquin 10 inches. Wildcat skins did not allow for so py. long an inner length at the back, though this 3torehouses and bins.--A prosperous family always had to come well under the buttocks or erage size had at least one storehouse the clout would loosen and pull out at the back ed close to their home. This was a small when the wearer stooped or sat. Powers states ica of the conical dwelling, save that it that the breechclout was not removed during a floor of logs raised off the ground to bathing, but none of my informants made any nt moisture from settling in it. This such claims to modesty.'59 .of storehouse is not to be confused with Men's dress.--It was not unusual for men "s11 acorn storage bins or "granaries." to go entirely naked at any time. A loincloth k were kept baskets, pottery, and the of deerskin (sep) is mentioned by Kroeber;160 les of dried meat, dried fish, seeds, my informants-spoke of its use on dress oc- led acorns, and other foods in immediate casions but not as a daily garment. The belt was of milkweed string woven There were various methods of storing the ("sewn") in the same manner as the burden band portions of the acorn crop. Sometimes (fig. 13, c-f). This belt was 35 to 40 inches in rocks were filled with acorns and a long, which allowed some 6 inches to hang down 1 conical, grass-thatched shelter was after it was knotted. A belt for special dress Sd over them. Or if nothing better could had small beads (koi koi) inserted in its ntrived, acorns were stored in hollow strands and was called koikoi - 'c (fig. 13, g). * The best and commonest method of stor- Today all such belts are woven on the bow loom sasin a barrel-shaped "granary" set upon a which was perhaps diffused through Spanish in- * water-shedding rock. Four to six up- fluence. A belt of milkweed fibre and red wool, u were held in place with horizontal split woven on the bow loom but old style in effect, w bands.'58 This was lined with a tule or was worn by a Chukchansi informant. ,brush mat, and the.bottom, i.e., the rock A sandal (daki c) of thick hide, deer Ce, packed with fine grass. When the bin neck or bearskin, was worn by men during very illed with acorns, a grass or tule thatch hot weather or when making a long journey. und around it, and a kind of conical Several layers of hide were cut to the foot of the same material was set atop. Such pattern, then slit at proper points, and bind- were usually large: a woman would have to ing thongs were inserted. Then the bottom or on the horizontal bindings in order to "sole" layer was added and all sewed together into them. When the supply within became with sinew. Holes were punched along the edges to the point of inconvenience, the with a fine, sharp, deer bone awl. The sewing would tear a hole in the bottom and re- was around the outside. Informants disagree on the acorns through it. (M.L.) the position of the binding thongs. 'Food was rarely, if ever, stolen from Sandals were not worn by women. No type granaries. Should a family run short of of fibre sandal was known. Powers mentions sionns, more acorns would be bought from sandals but does not describe them beyond say- ne who had plenty or, were the family ing that they were "very rude" and that elkhide y poor, the chief would see to it that was preferred. Kroeber speaks of "rude sandals were fed. of bear fur" which were used in winter. The statement by a knowledgeable pioneer that no Dress foot covering of any sort was worn and that there was no Yokuts word for such an object is The breechclout was worn by both men and unquestionably an overstatement; yet it serves a Usually it was of deerskin, but prefer- to emphasize the scarcity of footgear.161 Moccasins were bought from the Eastern m excellent picture of a shade of similar type is ono. The attempts by informants to describe by Kelly (Ethnography of Surprise Valley Paiute, }8, c). 159Powers, 382. *h Miwok "granary" shown by Kroeber (Handbook, 16"Handbook, 519. })has a frame work of similar type, but the Yokuts * or at least the Central Foothill region, lacked the 161Powers, 375; Kroeber, Handbook, 519; Latta, Uncle post and raised conical bottom. Jeff's Story, 38. 66 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS their construction were all unintelligible. tip of the chin. This piece was grasped wit M.L., now blind, said that the Wukchumni and the teeth, while the end at the back was puL Patwisha, but not the Gawia, had a moccasin from each side around the hanging hair and, cal'led wonika"da. It had two seams and a "piece closing the hair, twisted into a long roll. up the front" (a tongue?). The Yaudanchi Twisted as tightly as possible, the roll wa bought ready-made moccasins from the Eastern pulled up over the left ear and forward ac Mono. These had a seam up the toe-front and the peak of the forehead, around the right tied in front at the ankle; they were called and the end of the roll, which was net rath a 'ktt (M.S. did not know their Mono name). than hair, was pinned in place with a bone Men ordinarily wore the hair long and wooden skewer. The hanging flap in front w parted in the middle; they did not wear bangs. raised and tucked in over and back of the When it proved a nuisance at work, it was tied over the forehead (fig. 7, d). Ornaments w at the nape of the neck with a length of string fastened to this.with skewers. The Wukch or leather thong. Yaudanchi men, on dress oc- seem to be the southern limit for the hair casions, tied their hair in a "club" at the the Yaudanchi did not use it (M.S.; S.G.), a nape of the neck with an eagle-down string though tribes to the north, including the (ca'yi); this arrangement was called a"pati. Miwok, did. In hunting, the hair was knotted and held in It is said that in old times every man place with wooden skewers. at least one ear lobe pierced. On ordinary A hair net was not used on ordinary oc- casions a little wooden or cane pipe was casions, but as a foundation for feather head carried there. For dress an elaborate ear ornaments with ceremonial dress. It was not ornament called po', made of quail crests a used by women. Of fairly fine mesh, 1 to 2 single hawk feather bound to a slender stic inches to a taut loop, it was rectangular, or cane, was thrust in the lobe with the qui roughly 12 to 15 inches wide and 30 to 40 pointing forward. Sometimes Just a quill wa inches long. There was a definite way of worn, especially a greased quill when the ho putting it on (fig. 7). With the hanging hair had first been made; this, too, was calledp pushed into a cluster at the back of the neck, (M.P.). Women also used these ornaments. the net was laid lengthwise over the head so In the Central Foothill region all men that the front end hung over the face to the had drunk Jimsonweed, and many others as wel had the nasal septum pierced. A tubular bea (huma 'na) some three inches long was worn in on dress occasions (J.P.). This does not a with Kroeber's information, that only women the nasal septum pierced.162 An article of dress worn most frequent. -~ "> \- i t8{} > Ak by messengers but also used by other men was NCt tt \ % 7\'long pouch made of a whole ground-squirrel s with fur left on, or sometimes of a small fo 4xe ' v t\ 4 \ \ > j k skin. It was worn at the left side-back wit the neck or open end pulled up and hanging o over the belt. A messenger carried money in an ordinary man his small talismans or trink a b of value. It was put under the neck at nigh as a pillow and for its protection. Women's dress.--Women also wore a bucks - "'y'~'~'> breechclout. There was no distinction in th cut save that a woman's might be somewhat ;jzz '; / > & +\longer; it was held in place with a similar, belt. The clout was not necessarily donned '5'?0 ^ \ (-z 78Yftil first menses, although most girls approa ing puberty wore the "grass" aprons. Over the breechclout women wore a back front apron of shredded fibres, the back one longer and coarser (cu`nis, Wukchumni; to hol Yaudanchi). The inner bark of willow, cut, c d ~~~~~~~dried, and pounded as for string, was used bj Wukchumni, Gawia, Telamni, and Yaudanchi .163 The Wukchumni, Gawia, and Telamni, like the Fig. 7. Method of donning hair net. a, lake people, made aprons of tule fibre if net laid on with flap over face. b, flap ______ gripped in teeth, hair and net twisted together. 162Handbook 519 c, twist wrapped around head. d, end tucked in and flap rolled back over twist. l63yaudanchi, from Kroeber, ibid. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 67 ble. Large tules were pulled into strips; encompass the head, and tied with strings at land whole small tules were pounded with a the back of the head. These strings were some- stick on rock (usually the bedrock times wound around the hair which had been where good working space was provided) pulled into a bunch at the nape. softened and pliable. Any of these Personal care.--Both sexes brushed the jals, when made into aprons, was twined hair daily with a soaproot brush. Men would do one edge with willowbark string (sa'). this in the morning if they had no immediate w of twining held the fibres together; a work. Women more often brushed and arranged below the first, included the bent-over their hair in the early afternoon after return- which had been turned down on the outside. ing from seed-gathering, pounding acorns, or rows of twining continued into a twisted other arduous work. For washing hair, chips of trand belt. When asked why two aprons dried soaproot were put in a large basket of made rather than one continuous skirt, M.L. warm water. This was done at the creekside if the back "wore out too fast"; hence the possible and the hair was rinsed in running ceable sections. water. Normally the hair was not washed while On dress occasions aprons of deerskin swimming. sp) were worn, sometimes put on over the Both sexes took care in the disposal of aprons (fig. 8, b). The front apron of hair which, if found by a malicious shaman or kin was edged with deer hoofs which by an evil person who would take it to a shaman, ed prettily. Not all women could afford could be used for contagious magic. (How this . M.L. spoke proudly of having such an was accomplished M.L. could not say.) Women which her mother had made for her first hid their hair combings until a large bunch had y ceremony. Women whose husbands were collected, then took this to a spring of water hunters or had other vocations bought where it was buried under a stone. To do this kin and hoofs for themselves. not only ensured safety from magic but aided The basket cap (waki niuts) was always the hair on the head by causing it to grow d, of a shape similar to the small in- more luxuriantly. Combings were not burned be- dual mush basket. It was used only when cause this would cause the living hair to fall ng a heavy load with the tumpline (M.P.). out prematurely. Menstruants scratched the *the cap is said to have been invariably head with a stick; otherwise the hairs would e, a museum specimen (U.C. 1/2958; no split and fall out. nience other than Yokuts) is a small,di- Spittle was covered over to protect it lly twined "bowl" (7-1/2"x 8" diameter at from shamans. 4-3/4" deep), palpably old and undoubtedly Nail "parings" (if any) were not protected. p. Its rim is bound with buckskin and is Some people tore off nails but most kept them *ed with buckskin at a point where a ground down by rubbing them on a small water- line would have worn it. It is patterned rolled stone. A woman, particularly an old a wide band of double zigzag at the edge one, might let a left thumb- or big-toenail a band of single zigzag near the base. grow excessively. This served as an instrument is no other piece like it in the Yokuts in shelling nuts, seeds, splitting basket ma- ection and it is presumably introduced from terials, or even as a personal weapon. When utside source, possibly Miwok or Pomo. The such a nail broke off, it was left anywhere. pt to preserve it by repair even suggests M.L. recounted the following of her ma- it might have been valued because or its ternal grandmother who had a long toenail. ty among the Yokuts. Ear ornaments (po') were differentiated One of Ju'ulnes' daughters had married a men's only by having two long strands of man who was a reckless gambler. He lost every- s added; they were then called yau wakan. thing. Then he played the chip and pole game Women's hair was long save during the with a man, bet his wife as the stake, and lost od of active mourning, when it was singed her. The men became angry and began to fight. e to the head if grief were deep, to the The old woman, looking on, was very mad at her son-in-law whom she already despised as worth- iders for a lesser bereavement. Like men' less. She grabbed some ropes of cva and [pre- a parted in the middle and, at work,was sumably with the help of the man's opponent] at the nape of the neck, but the front succeeded in tying up the culprit.. Then was usually singed off to form bangs. Both Ju'ulnesv picked up some stones and hit him. As s washed the hair with soaproot suds and he fell she kicked him and cut his penis with hed it with soaproot brushes. her long toenail. She was so pleased with her On special occasions eagle down was stuck success that she kept her nail long thereafter. he bangs and fore hair with soaproot glue. rnamental headband (hoci "n) worn by women Ceremonial dress.--The fundamental parts woven of fine milkweed string by the usual of ceremonial regalia, usually worn by shamans ing" technique for belts and had beads in- when engaged in public dances or rituals, were uced to form a diagonal pattern. The band the feather headdress and feather skirt. Ad- 2 to 3 inches wide, long enough almost to ditional ornaments of feathers, skins, beads, 68 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS w * a c d Fig. 8. Yokuts and Western Mono ceremonial dress. a, Waksachi male dancer at naming ceremony. b, woman dressed for any ceremony. c, Hi4iuna costume. d, shaman in full regalia. (Reconstructed from descriptions, photographs, and museum specimens.) GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 69 li added to the effect.16 Such dress (hoso sa, J.B.; hoso htt, M.L.; white color, 'exclusively a shaman's but might be cau dad, J.B.) was made of pulverized shells. any person who had need of it, for All paints were mixed with grease for applica- e, a singer. Men borrowed shirts and tion. n participating in dances or ceremonies. Differences in the use of paint by men and h feather skirt was called co nisi (M. women lay only in the method of application. P.), like the woman's fibre apron.'65 The same patterns were used by both, but the s composed of strands of string into solid line of pigment used by men was broken up *1 down had been twisted. Each strand into a line of dots by women. Red paint was with a flicker (sipoi tts) feather. smeared lightly over the face when a woman was rt had a belt of its own from which the going to end the meat tabu after pregnancy or were suspended, but over this was worn bereavement. Any woman taking part in a dance belt with beads woven into it (koikoi). might put on red paint this way and then add a e headdress had two parts. The central horizontal row of white dots on each cheek. was an upright bunch of magpie tail Both sexes used red and white paint, but black s, surrounded at its base with white owl paint was associated with doctoring. Men with rs; and, next, a thickset buttress of Crow totem used it, as did Bear and Coyote black crow wing feathers. The second totemites on occasion. A doctor, when at- se ma) was a fat fluffy crown of black or tired for a pleasure dance or display, covered owl breast feathers. The one pictured his face with black paint and his body with pure white and brushed lightly with red short white diagonal stripes. Wukchumni patterns are shown in figure 4. n the ear lobes were worn falcon quills Paint was not used as insignia by chiefs, 'surrounded with quail crests. messengers, singers, or, in fact, by anyone. eklaces (walat) of small disc beads, the It was assumed only for dance, ritual, or gala * na beads, and abalone pendants were occasion (J.B., M.L.). Tattooing.--Many women used tattooing as a bandoleer of koikoi carried eagle- permanent form of personal decoration. It was r pendants. Such little bunches of done of their own volition, usually in young rs, eagle or flicker, would hang from the womanhood but before marriage. The only or down the back, -or swing from the wrists motivation, other than vanity, was the belief per arms of a doctor in full dress. A that it prevented one from getting old and eer of flicker quills was a rare prized wrinkled. (M.P.). Young girls who were close friends often had themselves tattooed at the Around each wrist were weaselskin bands same time. Only one form of tattooing had st). These carried special supernatural religious significance; this was a small Weaselskin bands or bunches of feathers pattern placed on the inside of the right fore- ften fastened below each knee. There arm just above the wrist. Only a few examples no ankle ornaments, and the feet were of this type were observed, on two Yokuts women and two Western Mono men. This spot is said to Ornament Paint --Three colors of paint were used by chumni and Gawia, as among other Yokuts. A paint (ho ytn, J.B., M.L.; red color, n, J.B.) was an earth obtained at between Badger and Aukland. It turned n burned (possibly yellow ocher or cin- a Red paint was not newly introduced at ost Dance (as claimed by Powers) (J.B.). E paint (kadi an) was a grey earth which black when burned. It was used as a for sore eyes and rectum. White paint following description and reconstruction in _ d, are based on a photograph of M.P.'s uncle which b e t permitted to have copied. M.P. described each the costume as she recalled it. eber gives chohun; see Handbook, 508, p1. 42. ecalso, ibid., 508, fig. 44k; and Holmes, p1. 35, Fig. 9. Women's tattoo marks. a, c, in is shown a shaman's head net, feather headpieces, Wukchuinni (M.L.) . b, d, Telamni (T.W. ). e, aents, hairpin, and shell-trimmed bandoleer. Wukchuxnni (M.P .) . 70 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS be the localization of, or point of permeation Deer meat was never sold, always given away. of, one's supernatural power. The Wukchumni, When men provided venison for public gather M.P., said her pattern represented dove's feet they were paid foF their trouble (services)*' because she had Dove totem (fig. 9, d); the Doctors, says S.G., were given the best par Telamni, T.W., said hers represented "a cross There are reasons for this respect for because I belong to the Catlick," a tactful deer. evasion (fig. 9, e). M.L.'s forearm had bars on the upper side (fig. 9, c). Face patterns are shown in figure 9, a, b. In the first world Deer was a quiet m M.P. said favorite Wukchumni patterns were two who never went any place, and didn't talk. stripes downward from each corner of the mouth to him, "All your body will be worth someth or one horizontally from each corner of the It isn't everybody who will be able to kill nose. (No example of the latter was seen by you." The next morning Deer ran out of his' the recorder.) Tattooing was sometimes done on house. He made a big cave to live in. The the thighs, and M.P. once saw an old woman who next day there were thousands of deer in th had several stripes on her chin which con- On the third day three hunters came to kill Deer; they were Cougar, Elk, and Spotted Ca tinued onto her neck and thence into zigzag Coyote came along and interfered; he caught lines on her chest, breasts, and thorax. Men deer. The deer got mad and all ran away. to the north (Hoshima) were known to use facial Finally Cougar succeeded in killing some de tattooing, but "none down this way." Kroeber he is the best hunter. shows several tattoo designs.k67 Now this Deer Emets hoil lives back in The tattooing was usually done by some old this cave somewhere. Whenever a deer is ki woman. The pattern was marked on the person it returns there. The "big" Deer has an ar with the charred end of a fine-pointed stick. which he puts up in the cave. When "the ri Thelins wre henabrdedwit a inepoitedkind of person kills a deer" [treats it wit The lines were then abraded with a fine-pointed respect] the arrow remains in place, but if small arrowhead, and a paste of grease and char- the hunter is careless with his game, the a coal was rubbed in lightly. There was no "will fall in less than a month and kill hi actual cutting, and no person seen with tattoo- A killed deer does not return to this world; ing showed any welting or scarring as a result. the supply of deer continues by natural The color was dark blue-grey. breeding. Neither cougar nor bear was given any HUNTING AND FISHING of veneration when it was killed, said-S.G. Cougar "was a bad one," men who dreamed of Hunting "got too much power." Bear was "not a kill he only killed when he had to and then kill A Wukchumni, J.B., says that his Patwisha men." father-in-law,Ha inhas, was a fine hunter. Deer Great respect was shown eagles, in fac was his dream helper. He always supplied deer only a chief could order one killed. He pa meat for large gatherings and was paid for this $3.00 to $5.00 for one. A man or woman wou service. He ate deer meat, but abstained from be asked to pluck and skin it, and would be it for three days after killing a deer. When paid for the task. The large feathers were about to kill an animal he spoke to it: "I am plucked off, the down left on the skin whic going to kill you. These people are going to was cased. Nothing of the eagle was ever eat you. I kill you every year." When killing thrown away; if it were, the hunter would d a bear he addressed it in the same way "so the The feathers, down, leg bones, and tallow w bear wouldn't hurt him." (J.B. claimed he had later sold by the chief to those who wanted never heard of anyone transforming himself into them. An eagle leg was said to be worth ab a bear.) $2.50. Feathers having been plucked from i Great respect was shown deer when they the down-covered skin of the leg was cased, were killed, according to S.G. A hunter would cleaned, dried, and then made pliable with tell the deer "that he wanted him to rise in tallow. In this way it served as a little three days." A plain man,without special tainer from which the down could be pulled dream aid, would Just tell the deer he was needed. The bone of the upper leg was made sorry he had to kill him. to a whistle. Tallow was used as a salve, In the old days when a hunter killed a as a binder for face paint. deer, he laid it on a pile of brush while he was skinning it. After it had been quartered and the viscera removed, the parts that re- 168Transformation to animals, and coming of human be mained, the ribs and the shoulder blades, were vide Gayton and Newman, abstract 137 and notes. laid up in a tree. Dog~s must never be allowed 19h aao mn te etr rbs eiv to~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~1h touch deer meat orhe theer carcass remnants. to touh dee meat r thecarcas8 remants. a killed deer returns "home" to report on its treatmeni - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~if' not satisfactory, the hunter is stricken with iline l6THandbook, 520, 521, figs. 4+5, h-l, 1+6, m-o. or death (Hill, Agricultural and Hunting Methods, 98). GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 71 The eagle's carcass was returned to the hind crotch to the chin. The skin was turned er who killed it. He put it in the river, inside out as it was worked off and the antlers letely immersed. removed with it. For the costume, the cut under the throat was sewed up and the head and Eagle lived over the water before the neck stuffed with shredded tule; the head d was changed.'70 It is the only place he rested on the man's head, the skin hanging [be buried. He rises in three days and goes down his back, said S.G. J.B.'s assertion that to his home which is way back east some- the hunter looked out through the eye-holes, re At that place there is one main one with the skin tied under his chin, does not s to htl) who says to the risen bird, "Who s p ical. Therbow andnarrows t ed you?" Eagle tells what has happened to tound practicalt The bow and arrows were tied and if he has been treated properly the to the.body with a belt, in such a way that the Eagle says, "He was the right kind of man; weapons pushed the skin up at the back making ill live to be an old man." If the report a more natural appearance. mhe hunter leaned not good, then the man would die right away. on two short sticks to assist the four-legged eagle who had been killed never again re- pose as he walked. These he cracked together ed to earth, but kept flying in the oppo- to suggest fighting deer. With the disguise a direction, upward, higher and higher man could approach within twenty feet of grazing. animals. If one deer fell victim to the silent arrow shot, others ran up to in- Three "eagles" designated by S.G. proved vestigate and were killed also. be condor (wets), "who lived high in the Three men would engage in a deer drive, etains, the bald eagle (wonts), and grey two to scare up the deer and one to kill by e (Iohnl), who was "the only real tiya waiting in ambush on the deer trail. eli and the only one that knew anything." S.G. has never heard of "charming" eagle took "the power" from the other two animals, or of smoking oneself and weapons. they are carrion as a result. Once S.G. J.P. said hunters gathered to eat tobacco and an eagle that had been in a coyote trap lime and to vomit the night before hunting. days. It did not move as he approached, They rose early, bathed, ate only acorn gruel, directly he released it, it flew off home. and departed in the morning. The only tabu was J.P. said that when a man went out to kill on saying where one was going, "if you told, deer, or eagle, and sometimes rabbit ause he [rabbit] was a little bit mean too," you would never see any deer." Neither has he not squirrels or birds, he would keep talk- heard of any quarrels over hunting territory or to them about what he was going to do. When claims on special places since game was so as near his prey he would say, "tundi ta plentiful nobody cared where anybody else ta ma tup' 'nita," (? ? you go-up) so went." Not every hunter was skillful enough to it would not be offended. When hunting get deer, but a hunter would often take another same animal or its companions, the hunter man along to help him, and this man received d be agreeable to it. He would tell it some meat in return. S.G. believes that every- the would "fix up" its body so that it body ate deer meat, but some people do not like d go up, ti ptni. "A mean animal is one bear meat. J.B. said he did not eat cougar runs after people, or hurts them, or runs flesh although many people did. so as not to be killed. In old days a J.P. said "there were five animals Just would run after people and kill them. A like deer, everybody ate them" (i.e., they were man would go out in the night and prayer- not totemic) These were. so koi, elk, ly ask Bear not to keep people from getting wandered east of the swamps in the valley; r food" Cchasing them when they were hunt- soi yod, a goat with straight horns, belongs ,gathering acorns or clover, etc.]. in the valley, seen near the foothills at Deer hunting.--When stalking deer or Hadiodst; duwe sbp, mountain sheep, had curved lope the hunter wore a horned disguise of horns and belonged in the mountains; weckno, er animal, though it was said that the most antelope, in the foothill valleys, especially led hunters did not resort to this. in Antelope Valley (Local Map B, no. 13); and The Wukchumni deer-stalking disguise was hoi, deer. of the entire skin and antlers. In skin- Bear hunting. --Bears were not ordinarily an animal the legs were cut lengthwise on shot at in the open, and were rarely sought as inside, and a ventral cut was made from the game The meat was not eaten by many people and the animal was held in considerable awe. In the prehuman era, before the birds and animals When deliberately sought to be killed, the fomed themselves into their present forms. However, creature was roused during hibernation, forced his instance S.G. 's explanation is, I think, a ration- to run out into the open, and shot from ambush. ation. Water is "immnnortal " and revival by plac ing in r is the common Yokuts belief, as expressed verbally Thsknpa,orcws eerdemdb ' ~~~~~members of the Bear lineage, certain members of in their myths. ~~~which would use these parts in the Bear Dance. The Navajo believe that "killed eagles go way up in As an illustration of the hunting method and sky and live there" (Hill, op. cit., 98). its attendant dangers, J.P. told the following: 72 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Holo'ansi, J.P.'s maternal grandfather Of the ten plain Yokuts bows in the Mu-. [great uncle ?I was a very fine hunter and was seum of Anthropology, University of Californ frequently out with his weapons. One morning four still have the bark on the inner side. he saw a bear with two cubs; he went home and None shows much recurving, and they are no told his friends about it. The next morning doubt the basis for Kroeber's comment that twelve men, each with bow and arrows, started Yokuts common bows for small game were litt for the bear's cave. 'c172 "Who is going to run?" they said. more than a shaped stick...."172 Plain bows Holo'ansi offered to as he was a good runner, strings of cid&k twine. but another man wanted to, too: they argued a bit. Meanwhile the others arranged a semi- circle of stakes, driving them into the ground in front of the cave. They took up shooting positions behind these. Holo'ansi went to the cave entrance to lure the bear, but the bear a rushed at him before he could draw his bow. He was forced to run toward the circle of stakes with the bear clawing at his heels. The second runner jumped in to draw the bear's attention, and another man succeeded in shooting her in the shoulder. She continued to pursue the second runner. Holo'ansi dashed in the cave to grab the cubs, but the mother saw him and went after him. Now, Lizard was the dream helper of Holo'ansi and he came to his rescue. He gave uui,=- _ that man power to climb right up the side of C the cave and whisk up and out of the entrance Just out of the bear's grasp. But outside Holo'ansi was forced to run, and the bear still chased him. Holo'ansi tried to climb a high rock pile but at that moment the bear caught him, clawing and biting him. The other men were all too frightened to do anything, save the second runner who came up and shot the bear d e f g three times as she turned toward her cave again. The men carried Holo'ansi back to camp. They put his eyes back and all his skin in place. They covered him entirely with eagle / down and dosed him with jimsonweed. He began to get better at once, but some bad doctor saw that this was his chance to do away with Holo'ansi. He shot' "poison" at him, and the old man died the next day. Weapons---The plain bow (ta 'dup) and h sinew-backed bow (tap) were used by the Wukchumni. S.G. claimed that both were made of elderwood (wuse 'ta). He said few men knew how to make a sinew-backed bow, but any man could and did make the plain kind -- as follows. When the length had been chosen and cut, and j the bark peeled off, the stick was set with one end in a crotch and the other end pulled until it split down its entire length. If it split properly, two bows could be made from the two halves. Thereafter shaping was done with a large obsidian blade. No grip was cut on the plain bow. mo aid flexibility occasional k gashes were cut on the inside curve, which was the bark side of the wood, i.e., the core of Fig. 10. Hunting and fishing equipment the wood was on the outside. The bow was a, rodent hook. b, sinew-backed bow (about 4f heated over glowing coals and pulled around the feet). c, self-bow (about 3 feet, unstrung). knee to form the center curve. The end re- d, bird-arrow tip. e, obsidian tip of deer u curvature, which was slight in the plain bow, arrow. f, same showing fastening. g, flint was made by fixing the end in a vicelike crotch tip of war arrow. h, bow grasp with arrow f and pulling it until the desired effect was rest. i, arrow release. J, k, double a'nd obtained. The shaping progressed bit by bit single harpoons.| and was not accomplished in less than three to siX days. '72Handbook, 530. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 73 the best instrument of this group, Then the Indian takes a quantity of deer's 3943 was selected for description. It sinew, splits it up with flint into small a 3 feet, 7-3/4 inches in over-all fibers, and glues them on the outside or flat vand is 1-3/8 inches in width at center. back of the weapon until it becomes semi- curvature is slight, and only one end cylindrical in shape. These strings of sinew, .curvature is slight, and only one end being lapped around the end of the bow and -recurved. The ends differ, one having doubled back a little way, impart to it its ection to carry the permanent fastening wonderful strength and elasticity. The glue is bowstring, the other hooked (fig. 10, c), made by boiling the joints of various animals ring being hooked and unhooked over this and combining the product with pitch. his weapon differed from the others of I saw a bow thus carefully made in the up in having a hand grasp 7-1/2 inches hands of an aged chief and it was truly a s skin thong wound around the bow at the magnificent weapon. It was about five feet long, smooth and shining -- for when it be- The wrappings were exactly parallel, comes a little soiled the fastidious savage ing but never overlapping. The wrapping scrapes it slightly with fltnt, then anoints it arted by laying one end along the outside afresh with marrow -- and of such great turning the wrapping over this end. On strength that it would require a giant to bend ck about 6 inches above the grasp was it in battle. For lack of skins the owner a red-headed woodpecker's scalp. It is carried it in a calico case. The string, com- le that this was a hunter's talisman. posed of twisted sinew, was probably equal in strength to a sea-grass rope of three times its lese sinew-backed bow (fig. 10, bJ was diameter. When not used the bow was unstrung, less made of mountain cedar [Juniper] as and the string tied around the left limb of the *r states, as was true for the neighboring bow, and to prevent the slightest lesion of 'from whom, in fact, most Yokuts bows were either the bow or the string the former had a ed.173 The sinew used was that taken from section of fur from some animal's tail, about ong back muscles of deer; it was fastened four inches long, slipped onto it. * back of the bow with glue made of boiled brains. The string was of sinew (pik&t). Arrows (toiyus) according to S.G., were Kroeber states: about 2 feet long for deer, a bit less than 2 feet for bear-killing, as not more than 2 inches of the arrow extended beyond the bow The commonest type [of bow] , primarily for when it was drawn. For small game a 4-foot, ut, was nearly as long as a man, of about one-piece, arrow of willow (kai wan) was used. ngers' width and the thickness of one. T ds were recurved, probably through a curl- The cane arrow (hi'ked) had a foreshaft of oak ck of the thickened sinew. Bows made sprout, which, when shaped to a point, was 'ically for fighting were shorter, broader, ground down on a rock and then heated over latter, and pinched in the middle. Except coals for hardening. Deer arrows were of cane ing unpainted and probably not quite so with an obsidian tip (fig. 10, e, f) on the e in form, this type appears to have been foreshaft. All arrows had three feathers, same as the northern California one.174 preferably "squirrel" hawk (so hup) wing feathers. The top of each split feather was Powers describes Yokuts bows as he saw fastened first, each one being inserted under rs75 a separate turn of the binding sinew. When the bottoms of the feathers were fastened down, they were laid a trifle out of line to give a As to their implements and weapons, there slight spiraling of the feathers, "to make the some interesting particulars to be noted. arrow fly straight." The feathers had to be as everywhere on the Sacramento and ft in plains, the Indians make no bows [sic-- ethwing feathers, as only one half of each mew-backed bows], but purchase them all feather was used, and these were always laid the mountaineers. This is because they on with the "right side" (outside) toward the no cedar. This wood is extremely brittle worker.'76 S.G. did not know how the obsidian dry, and is then the poorest possible points were made. He says a natural obsidian rial for bows; but by anointing it every was obtained from the lake people: if his with deer's marrow while It is drying the statement is correct they must, in turn, have an overcomes this quality and renders it bst. The bow is taken from the white or gotten it from Coast Range people. wood, the outside of the tree being also Arrows were kept in a quiver made of a Eoutside of the bow. It is scraped and whole fox skin with fur left on. It was called shed down with wonderful painstaking, so a`oJa timaiiya (fox sack) and was hung on the it may bend evenly, and the ends are gen- right shoulder. ly carved so as to point back slightly. Of Yaudanchi arrows Kroeber states:177 *lpton o makng te slew-bckedbow s ln 1761 neglected to inquire lif a left-handed a.rrowmaker onuc dscrition of. maIngtesne-akd.osi used right wing feathers which, it seems, would be re- Voonc seto,*t I q-uired. Possibly such a man would insert the feathers with THndbook, 530. the wrong side toward himself. ?S*373. 17THandbook, 530. 74 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The arrow, shikid, generically, had three pushing motion. Willow arrows were straighl forms among the Yaudanchi, known as t'uyosh, ened by the same method. dJibaku, and wuk'ud. The war arrow had no Bird hunting.--Kroeber attributes the foreshaft, but a rather long wooden point, pigeon booth to the Yaudanchi and describesl notched. It measured from the finger tip near- similar method by which they captured eagle ly to the opposite shoulder or a trifle more than the possible pull of the bow.... The ordi- nary hunting arrow had a long sharpened fore- The hunter lay in a concealed hut of b shaft, but no real head. The deer arrow had He did not look at his quarry until it was foreshaft and flint head, but the foreshaft was caught, fearing that it flee his glance. 0 socketed without glue or tie, so that the main side were placed a stuffed animal skin as b shaft would disengage after hitting. and a live hawk as decoy. The trap was a n fastened to a bent-over pole sprung from a Powers saw two types of arrows:178 trigger. Before the eagle was killed by be, trod on, it was addressed: "Do not think I shall harm you. You will have a new body. Of arrows, the Indians living on the turn your head to the north and lie flat!" plains made some for themselves of button- men who knew this prayer and the necessary willow, straight twigs of the buckeye, and observances undertook to kill eagles. canes, but the most durable came from the mountains. There are two kinds, war-arrows and The Wukchumni went up the Kaweah River game-arrows; the former furnished with flint into Patwisha territory to get wild pigeons heads, the latter not. The shaft of the war- into Patwishaerrio toet owildopigeon arrow consists of a single piece, but that of (so"own). They had their own booths up the game-arrow is frequently composed of three there. They took with them house mats for pieces, furnished with sockets so adjusted as temporary shelter, and these they sold to t to fit into each other snugly. When the hunter, Patwisha when returning. lurking behind the covert, sees the quarry ap- proaching, he measures quickly with his eye the probable length of shot he will have to make, i \ and if it is a long one he couches his arrow N' with three pieces; but if a short one, with ex- traordinary quickness he twitches it apart, takes out the middle section, claps the two end sections together again, and fires. An arrow made of what we should call the frailest of all woods, the tender shoot of a buckeye,, and pointed with flint, has carried death to many a savage in battle. I have seen an Indian couch a game-arrow, which was pointed only with I a section of arrow-wood, and drive it a full half-inch into the hardest oak! 1 The arrow straightener used by all Yokuts has been described and illustrated by Kroeber:179 The prevailing arrow straightener among the Yokuts is the Southern California form: a well-shaped rectangular block of stone, often b rounded or ridged on top, and invariably with a polished transverse groove. This implement is Wy;\S\f\\'a\ \\ a undoubtedly associated with the employment of cane for arrows: the Yokuts are known to have C used the plant, though not exclusively. The I"' 1 ill' joints were warmed in the groove and bent by hand or on the ridge after the stone had been heated; the groove was also used for smoothing. / The holed straightener of wood or horn for // i I \ wooden shafts, as employed all over northern California, has not been reported from the Yokuts .18o Cane arrows were realigned before and after each usage. The cane shaft, with fore- it shaft removed, was grasped at each end and drawn across the hot groove with a rolling, 178P. 374. Fig. 11. Wukchumni hunting and fishing 79Handbook, 530, p1. 49, c* blind, a, log float. b, end view. c, sewn tule screens in place. 18?Latta (Uncle Jeff 's Story, 20) recently reports that a perrorated stone disc was so used by the Choinimni. A.H.G. '84{andbook, 529, 524, p1. 43. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 75 A floating hunting blind, described by depths of water. The handle (hoist) was of was used by Wukchumni and Gawia on quiet elderwood. According to one informant (J.P.) re, particularly on Woodlake. Two logs the handle Emore probably a part of the handle] t 6 feet long were tied together about a could be detached entirely if one was working from each end with willow-root withes. under bushes, but this does not agree with zontally along each side, just at the other information. Two hollow shafts of deer er, was a long rod held in place by the tibia (to 'koi) were lashed on one end, and into bindings. Into the long slot between these were fitted bone points (pi ce tu 'h'na) rod and the side of the log to which it about 2 inches long. A cord with about 2 feet fastened, were inserted the butt ends of of "play" leashed the point to the main handle. round tules, about 4 to 6 feet tall1 The point was essentially a toggle when freed lously twined together at the butts. The from its housing, the attaching cord usually of these were drawn together forming an being fastened to it by wrapping and sealing over the narrow raft. If the shelter with pitch or asphalt.182 well made, the tule tops would be sewed A separate harpoon point in the University ther with string (6ittk) on a wooden of California Museum of Anthropology (1-10422) le, but if poorly made the tops were tied has a cord 28 inches long, is of bone, and is ther in small bunches (see fig. 11. This 3-3/4 inches in length. Another (no. 1-3954) ting shelter was used chiefly for duck is a one-piece togglehead, slightly over 3 ing with bow and arrows. It was poled inches long (79 mm.) of iron or steel; is per- t, usually by men who worked in pairs, one haps a tine from a rake. A 2-ply cord is laid le, the other to shoot. against the middle of this and probably lashed Small game.--S.G. described two traps for around several times and then is fastened to 1 animals. The first, intended for rodents, the metal by a dark substance which may be merely one large flat rock propped above asphalt or pitch. It has in it grains of some her by means of a small stick. The bottom mineral substance which looks like feldspar the stick rested on the bait -- usually a from decomposed granite. (These might be. a by- ted acorn -- and gave way when the bait product from the melting of the gum.) The nibbled. The second was a spring trap set length of the free string is about 21 inches.l83 on the trails of quail, cottontail rabbits, Both specimens are from the Chukchansi Yokuts. a, or geese. A small supple limb was set Weirs of willow were set across rivers or he earth if none grew naturally at the streams at suitable places. The willows used lred spot. To its tip was fastened a noose were about finger thickness and 3 feet long. Btring (cittk), the cord of which was tied They were interwoven with willowbark rope. Into ahorizontal bar pegged about six inches off the weir and facing upstream were set cylindri- sground. Any creature caught in the noose cal baskets 6 to 10 feet long and 12 to 18 led sufficiently to release the hori- inches in diameter; as many as three of these al bar, and animal and bowed limb flew might be used. If fish were needed in a hurry, men, women, and children would wade downstream Of small animals the following were driving fish ahead of them into the basket ped: ground squirrels (po 'hot), tree traps. Ordinarily the baskets were left over- rrels (sa'nFsaniwide'Ut), gophers (hu ,nhad) night, when sufficient fish would have ac- chipmunk (aho 'o'6t). cutiulated in them by morning. Smoking out, with aid of the feather A favorite method of catching fish in fan, was the most common method of catch- pools was by stupefaction. Two plants were round squirrels (see Michahai-Waksachi, used. One, ta dad, was a plant which grew II). near streams. It was mashed fine, put in sift- A flexible stick with hooked end was used ing baskets, and shaken out over the surface of pulling rodents from their burrows or the water. This "made the fish crazy"; as ri places. Ground squirrels were forced they jumped about near the surface they were .or stupefied by smoking. Entries to their grabbed in the hands and scooped up in large ws were plugged with grass which was fired openwork baskets. The other plant, ya oha, kept burning by drafts from a feather fire "grows on the mountains." It was soaked in As the animals attempted to escape or get water and mashed with a stick, and the mass put at openings they were dragged out with the in the fishing hole. The person who performed s,seized, and their necks broken. A hooked this service was facetiously referred to as a k of this type in the University of Cali- doctor (anitu). Kroeber mentions two other ia collections (No. 1-4036) is 49 inches approximately 1/4 inch in diameter _ _ o10, a). iS2One informant claimed the point was drilled and the cord tied through the hole. This seems unlikely as no such Fishing attachment is reported from any other Yokuts or neighboring The fishing harpoons were 7 to 12 feet tribe . W;different lengths were used for different 183Description, kindness of Dr. A.L. Kroeber. 76 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS poisons: buckeye nuts ground with earth, and Deer meat was usually cut into hunks wi crushed nademe leaves.184 As the large fish be- an obsidian blade and boiled in a clay pot came stupefied, men "gigged" them, while the salt (tus), according to S.G. But the addit women secured the smaller fish in baskets.185 of salt in cooking was denied as aboriginal Diving for fish was an indulgence of an M.L. and M.P., who agreed that in old times able swimmer. Such a man (J.P. was said by all salt was only eaten in tiny pinches, usually who knew him to be an expert at this) would accompany vegetable foods, particularly gre swim down under water fifteen to twenty feet However, all agreed that deer meat was more and seize an unwary fish in his hand. If possi- often roasted than boiled, and that this was ble a handful of sand was taken along or done by men. grabbed off the bottom to aid in holding the Ground squirrels and other rodents had slippery fish, but an expert thrust his thumb tails broken off, were singed thoroughly on under the gills. It took much practice to do coals, and then were roasted in a hole kept this, and the skill is better regarded as a such purposes close under the fireplace. pleasurable stunt than as a fishing method. Fish were sometimes boiled, but more o were split ventrally and laid on coals whic had been pulled from the fire and covered w FOODS, UTENSILS, MEDICINES a layer of sand and grass. In turn, coals laid atop the fish after they had been pro- Meals and Foods tected with another layer of grass and sand. Fish from Lime Kiln Creek, Kaweah Rive Three meals a day, breakfast (wa 'ad), and its several sloughlike branchings, and lunch (cu ka), and supper (do ntau) were desig- lake were abundant for Wukehumni and Gawia. nated by M.L., but other informants (M. and M.L. described thirteen kinds. The rainbow J.P., S.G., etc.) say there were only two. "lake" trout (e ps); minnows [?) (ta'ktc), Certainly two fit the general aboriginal little fish about 5 inches long; suckers pattern better, as known here and elsewhere. (podhoi); another tiny fish "which never g Breakfast consisted of hot acorn mush and a any larger (sadhui); a black fish with a little meat. Everyone of any character was up short head, a large dorsal fin, and few bon before sunrise, the breakfast was eaten at (tu kmu); perch, a small flat fish (tapo aps about that time. The evening meal was much a trout "with a swallowtail" (caduodu); a s larger and had added to the staple mush and fish with lateral fins that "looked like pi meat such extras as the day provided--"greens," (cu'khiu); a large oval fish about fifteen fish, pigeons, seed cakes, and so on. The inches long, with a large mouth and "one bi evening meal was taken Just before sundown. back bone" (ta tu); a similar fish but smal Both men and women had "snacks" during the day; (ko po); a fish which resembled a catfish y children ate as often as they pleased; this may lacked whiskers (ni'e tcc); the "greaser" f be a continuance of the unregulated nursing which "has too many bones" (ta wts); and th pattern. catfish (c'a dut). Eels were not seen in W Generalizing about food habits, M.L. said chumni territory nor did salmon reach the that the Tachi did not like deer meat, that the Kaweah River, M.L. claimed; she added that Wukchumni did not eat larvae although "people of the old varieties of fish were available up north" (Hoshima) did, and that the Waksachi Deer meat to be Jerked was cut in late all ate bear.186 Coyote and fox were not eaten strips from an initial cut down the backbon but wildcat and raccoon were considered very The back sinews were first removed as they good, as were squirrels, woodrats, quail, doves, the most valued The meat was rubbed with and pigeons. Some persons, amongst those whose salt which was in strong solution or pulver totemic tabus permitted it, ate bear and cougar, The strips of flesh were hung over tree but most people looked askance at bear meat. branches where they were not in too hot sun For instance, S.G., having no prohibitions to and turned daily until dry. prevent it, once ate bear meat which was cooked Fish were split ventrally and, unsalt rather rare. Directly he ate it, he felt were hung along .a slender pole set up on nauseated and vomited the food; he maintained forked sticks in a river bottom. Fish were that this would never have happened with any hung by their gills only when being carried other kind of meat. As for cougar meat, chiefs YellowJaokets' larvae (ka'wa) were a never touched it because this animal had been favorite accompaniment to manzanita berries a chief in the mythical prehuman era. The entrance holes to the yellowjackets' n were watched at sundown; often three or fo '"Handbook, 529. were located near each other when the ret '85Fish were never put in burden baskets as the moisture 187The seeds added as flavoring to manzanita cider w softened the soaproot stiffening. also called ka'wa. Analogical naming, perhaps a form c 16Deer neat was scarce for the lake people; other in- nicknaming, was a favorite Yokuts trick; in this case' formants show that the Wukchumni did eat larvae; and cer- cannot be sure whether seeds or larvae are the origina tamn Waksachi would have died rather than eat bear meat. "kawa." GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 77 ot were seen flying into them. Next morn- salt and acorn mush. The Yokuts habit of going fore they were aroused by light,-a fire out to clover patches in the spring and there lut over the nest and the smoke driven directly eating the lush tender clover growth athe entrance with a fire fan. When the led to their ridicule by early settlers who Ses were stupefied, the entire nest was referred to them as being like animals turned t as a whole and carried carefully to a out to graze. There is a reference to this fire. When the nest was dried out, the practice as the favorite opening of a certain ,e were shaken out onto a tray, washed, and myth in versions from the Wukchumni, Yaudanchi, n a basket to boil. They were later Yauelmani, and the TUbatulabal.189 ed and eaten with acorn gruel (te ptn) or Two other green plants named by M.L. were with whole manzanita berries. (This ac- ida ma to "mod, "Just like cabbage," and from M.L., who earlier claimed the Wuk- cide 'dtk, "something like cauliflower"; both i did not eat "grubs.") were eaten cooked. The roblar composed of valley oaks (a According to M.P., any kind of green o oak, Q. lobata Nee) supplied an abundance vegetable food was called tomod, which literal- corns for the Wukchumni and their neighbors. ly meant "greens" just as we use the word in or, the acorns from a certain black oak of English. She too mentioned kattk and "cidedtk. Valley (probably Q. Kelloggii) were most Another plant, mane c'a tomod, was boiled and ,and are still preferred even today. The eaten when young and green. Later on the sweet ey oak was called tao 'wihst; the acorns ripened berries were eaten with salt grass all oaks were called pu 'utuz, save those which had been chopped fine. Eshom Valley which were known by their No'cai 'yu was washed, boiled, washed again achi name, o "i sn. in hot water, and then eaten. Mariposa lily bulbs (kama'ya) were plenti- Mustard which is gathered, cooked, and and a favorite dis1i. They were dug with a eaten today, was not eaten at all in old times, ing stick while the plants were in bloom said M.P. Its use is a white introduction. 11 and May). They were rubbed across an Wasa wai, a wild sunflower, was valued for -twined basket to remove the outer skin and its seeds. boiled. Ka sytn, the seeds of redmaid (a Calandri- A plant which was probably arrowhead (a nia), were greatly enjoyed; they were sweet and ttaria), called ta'a'na, was a boiled root oily and when crushed could be pressed into "Just like potatoes when it was cooked and small balls, in which form they were eaten. all over in wet places." Ka wa is a tiny brown seed, very hard to Metski'la (mesquite?) was not identified. get: "you couldn't get a cupful in a month." 8 "leaves like parsley and yellow flowers"; Parched and ground, they were added to manza- roots were dug and boiled. nita cider. (Kawa was also given as the word A small variety of soaproot, called for yellowjacket larvae by M.L.) hgc, was cooked on hot coals. A layer of A'ptu (manzanita berries) were used only t-smelling flowers (ca 'wan, "something like for cider, although a few might be tasted "Just eed") was first laid on a layer of coals in for fun." When the berries were nearly ripe t.18' Then the bulbs, then another layer of and ready to fall, women went out and cleared ers were laid on and all covered with hot the ground under the shrubs of twigs, leaves, s. More wood was laid on to burn as coals etc. Then while one or two women held forth the whole left over night. This dish was wide-mouthed seed-beaters or sifting trays, tly relished and was always prepared in another would shake the bushes to dislodge the e quantities for a general feast. The cook- ripe berries. These came down in a shower was a man's task; when an especially large "Just like hail." A high percentage fell on tity was wanted, men would help the women the ground and these were picked and scraped er the bulbs. The cooked bulbs and flowers up; a woman who had to work alone might shake not eaten together but separated and eaten all the fruit to the ground rather than try wo dishes. Both sexes partook. to catch it. Asked why they did not pick off The general word for clover was ci'tat, the berries, M.P. said that that method was too five kinds were distinguished: po to citat, tedious and that only berries ripe enough to a'si citat, hodo 'm citat, caka ma citat, fall made really tasty cider. Taken home in ka ' tik citat. These were usually eaten raw the burden basket, the fruit was freed as much were a favorite accompaniment for acorn as possible of foreign bits, twigs, leaves, , as was pu sta, another green, though not cobwebs, or bird lime. The fruit was not over, which was cooked. The clover desig- rinsed in water "because that would wash the as hodom had red and white blossoms; taste away." Ie still young and tender it was eaten raw Then the berries were put on an old win- was a favorite accompaniment for salt-grass nowing tray and mashed lightly with a hand stone; some women "Just squeezed them hard." Armustrong states that these bulbs were cooked in pits t he Pomo (Field Book of 'Jestern Wild Flowers, 12). lS9Gayton and Newman, 68, abstract 57, note 2. 78 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The mass of crushed fruit was placed in a sieve Salt basket over a large watertight coiled basket and water was slowly poured through. When Modern "American" salt is called kuyu. sufficient liquor resulted, it was poured out old times two kinds of salt were available. of the under receptacle and again put through Rock salt (tus) was bought from the Monachi the berries; this might be repeated two or (Eastern Mono), who said it "came from a who three times.'90 If kawa seeds were to be added, hill of salt that looked like snow." Before this was done after the liquor had been drained was used this salt was heated on hot coals, for the last time. The drink was greatly en- which caused it to crumble. The other and joyed, particularly as it was available during common salt (adtt) was derived from marsh the hottest summer weather. Usually it soured grass, and was called in English "red salt" in twelve hours; in colder weather it might cause "it looked red all over the grass." keep up to forty-eight but, as M.P. said, this seldom happened, "people drank it up too fast." Once M.L. and her stepmother, who was a It was always made up fresh as the soured Gawia, went over to Haditao for salt. The o liquor was not considered fit to drink. women dug up the grass that grew there. She got some wood and made a fire. At sundown s put the grass on the fire which had burned d Firewood to coals. M.L. went to sleep but her step- mother stayed up until the grass was reduced Trees and limbs for firewood, as well as ashes. Then shet ltyedown fora lttleook close for house poles and ramadas, were felled and at the fire, nor would she herself eat anyth severed by firing. A hole was dug around the She worked all the next day piling up more base of the selected tree and filled with dry grass. At sundown she ate a little bit but grass and chips. Oak sticks were kindled as would not drink, explaining that if she ate torches and applied to the base of the chosen much or drank water there would be nothing i. tree while the fire surrounding it was burning, the fire when she finished. When the ashes Several of these torches were used, and as the were brushed away there were lumps of salt i Seveal f tese orces ereused an asthe the bottom of the fire. The old woman lifte tree began to burn they were pushed and wedged these out and freed them from the ashes by into the burning trunk. The flames were beaten shaking them in an open-twined basket. back from the upper trunk. -Usually two men worked together, a man and his son often under- taking the job, one to rekindle the sticks as In 1925 M.L. had some grass-salt which they went out, as they often did, the other to she prized. It was greyish pink in color, h adjust those at the tree trunk and to knock the texture of coarse sugar and the taste of away charred parts of the tree. The workers mild vinegar. took care not to look up the tree; if they did, m roeber makes a somewhat diff'erent stat the fire would creep up the trunk. When the ment about grass-salt.191 tree finally collapsed, the main branches were severed by the same means, as were other parts The Yaudanchi, ... with other southern that could not be broken into portable lengths. tribes, gathered a salty grass known as alit Felling or severing limbs by fire was best and. beat it on stones to extract the juice; done on dead or already fallen trees, but since which was particularly favored with green these were not always obtainable, live trees clover. were attacked in winter when they were drier and there was less danger of brush and grass This was a grass growing in alkaline fire. Old trees were easier to fire than young ground which was abundant in the tular- ones. Both men and women packed wood, but only men did the firing. The load of wood was held on the back by Woman's Household Equipment means of a tumpline. This passed over the upper forehead -- if a woman was the carrier, A Wukchumni woman's housekeeping equips across the chest, if a man -- and extended down comprised one or more digging sticks, a soap the back under the wood and out and back over root brush, hot-rock lifters, and a "set" of the load, each end returning over each shoulder baskets. The digging stick (6a'poi, lit., to be grasped in the hand (fig. 13, vignettes), mountain ash) was made of manzanita, if obta Long poles were dragged home with ropes of wil- ble, or of young white oak. The length vari low fibre (ho') by men. Ordinarily each familY according to the owner's preference. The ti, provided its own firewood; a felled tree be- was charred and rubbed down on rough stone longed to the men doing the work. At the time which gave a heat-hardened point; the point of a big gathering the messengers got wood in reworked by the same method when it became tC the same way. blunt. Sometimes a woman who liked a short 190The Mlwok used a similar method but evidently added stc (aotfufetln)wldotrv no flavoring seeds (Barrett and Gifford, 161-162). 191Handbook, 530.| GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 79 by upper end by capping it with boiled soap- the soluble stiffening nothing wet was ever put and tying over this a piece of buckskin. in it. The apex of the basket was protected hts were never added. with a piece of buckskin sewed on like a patch. The soaproot brush (cLne'8sl) varied in Loops to which a tumpline was attached usually from small ones some 4 inches long to hung from the inside about one-third of the way e ones of 9 inches.192 They were used down the sides; sometimes they were on the out- ously for brushing up meal when preparing side. The burden basket was used primarily for stuffs, or for brushing the hair. Hair- collecting seeds and acorns or other vegetable hes were large and made of coarse fibres materials and was kept very clean. Joints of ch have hook-like tips. One in a family was meat, dirty roots, fagots, or pottery clay icient. The root to make a brush was dug (wrapped in buckskin) were carried in the carry- er the flower had faded when the fibres ing net. (The carrying net was primarily a d the root had reached a maximum toughness. man's possession. They were made by men and plant's top was torn off and the fibres sold to women. Women could make them and also efully removed from around the bulb. The were free to use them when available.) A kind b was boiled in water until it became a of companion piece to the burden basket was the tic cream-colored mass. The fibres having seed-beater (yama'ki). This was a handled arranged as a brush and so tied, the bulb scoop of fine openwork twine. When used as a was pressed and shaped over the end as a beater the burden basket was held beneath the le and tied in place with several wrappings beaten plant tops to catch the seeds; another tring. The liquid from the bulb was method, preferred when possible, was to keep cous and was applied to burden baskets and the burden basket on the back, knock plant les, where it dried as a practically color- heads or seeds into the scoop-shaped beater * stiffener. which was then cast back over the left shoulder The set of rock lifters consisted of a so the seeds fell in the burden basket. An- r of straight sticks and a looped one. The other type of collecting basket was a large, ped lifter, commonly called mushstirrer be- oval, very openwork twine scoop (a pot) for e one must necessarily stir about in the carrying fish; smaller ones of the same con- to find the cooking stones, was made of a struction were used to catch fish in the water. led withelike stick, heated over coals and Two baskets used in the preparation of food bent around the foot to form a loop. The were the coiled winnowing tray (koyo to) and ble handle thus formed was tied with a milk- the sieve (ta'myuk) which was of fine openwork string or with a thong (see p1. 1, right twining; it was very like the seed-beater but icals). Wild grapevine withes were used lacked a handle. The cooking basket (pota na) a light type of lifter which was peeled, was invariably of twined weave, coarse and ped, and tied while still green and flexible. close, and had four horizontal bands of redbud sticks from Drum Valley are made of bent worked in a plain or herringbone pattern. All oak and, according to the collector's these baskets were essential. Naturally, more es, are tied with the inner bark of oakJ'93 than one, and varieties of size or coarseness, bough these looped sticks were used to ex- were desired even among these six types. An- ct cooking stones from food which was being other basket for food was a large flaring led, the hot stones were lifted in with a basket (kaca o) of coiled technique in which of pine sticks flattened out at one end. cooked mush was stored, or other cooked foods; 1these were often charred they were not it was also watertight so that water for cook- owed to touch the food, and hot rocks to ing or washing might be put in it. Small oh ashes clung were dipped in water on their coiled serving baskets (also called kacao) with into the food. The best hot-rock lifters flat bottoms and flaring sides were used as in- of pine and were bought from the Eastern dividual eating baskets for each member of the swho made them for trade. A medium-sized family. et (8 to 12 inches in diameter) of simple Additional baskets, which every woman ing type was considered a suitable payment might not own, were the coiled basket cap return. (waki 'ntts) used only under the tumpline, the The "set" of baskets comprised six types large, flat, handsomely patterned coiled *ntial for food-gathering, preparation, and gambling tray (tai `iwan), and the shouldered ng. (See figs. 2 and 3.) The large coni- ornamental basket (a 'ma) which was used by both burden basket (a 'nag) was of split willow. sexes for the storing of treasures and was diagonally twined, of close work, and cherished as a treasure in itself. stiffened with soaproot liquor. Because of Not every woman owned pottery cooking vessels (ki 'wtc) but all did who could make or Those collected by Dr. Barrett and now in the Uni- afford them among the Central Foothill tribes. ilty of California Museu of Anthropology. Most housewives wanted two large ones for boil- bniversity of California, Museu of Anthropology, ing meat and fish and a few smaller dishes for .1-1084~6, 1-1084f8; Dr. S.A. Barrett, collector; cf. keeping or serving food. Children were not tber, Handbook, fig. 38. allowed to eat from pottery dishes. 80 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Deer bone awls (poa 'uk, M.L.; ap '-'up,.M.P.) eyelids or to the rectum when irritated by were wanted by all women who made baskets and, diarrhea. as there was no tabu on their use for any con- Sa 'apas roots were used for a sore mou venient purpose, others owned them as well. they were mashed and held in the mouth. If About three sizes were wanted, ranging from 3 baby had a sore mouth, it was attributed to to 6 inches.l94 They were made by men from deer mother's having eaten yellowjacket larvae (ar fibulae (see p1. 1, floor center). extension of the meat tabu, because yellow- An assortment of obsidian blades, also Jackets eat meat). To cure the infant, drie made by and bought from men, was wanted for yellowjacket larvae were pounded up with cutting meat, scraping foodstuffs and basketry sa' apesx- and the baby's mouth swabbed out with materials., and cutting hide. the mixture. Women came by these possessions in a var- Pineapple weed (Matricaria suavolens) wi iety of ways. When a boy's family approached made into a tea and drunk for fever or crampi a girl's family with betrothal gifts, a and was a favorite remedy of old people, said burden basket was frequently included as this M.P., who showed me the plant but could not was an object of value and a type which a young give the native name for it. girl could not make for herself. By the time Taka ti, a small, sour, round red berry she was betrothed, however, a girl usually had which grows on a low bush, was mashed and eat already made herself smaller twined and coiled uncooked as a purgative. ware of the seed-beater, winnowing tray, and To"pino, a root, was mashed and clenched sieve types. Her mother or aunts (of either between the teeth for severe toothache. side of family) would make her additional Ka'watopa had a yellow flower (possibly baskets, particularly the twined cooking basket. yarrow). Its roots were "strong" and,mashed, Girls or women inherited from their mothers were also used for toothache. Tired feet we many of these household utensils; but it was soaked in a decoction of the boiled roots. said that "there weren't so many of these" Ta"m'k was cooked and put on the abdome (M.L.) by the time a few things had been put as a poultice for intestinal pains. with the corpse and the rest were divided be- Te semui'sa (a Chamaenerion ?) looks li tween daughters and claimed by the mother's a willow leaf, grows in river bottoms. The sisters. Again it was impossible to formulate leaves were chewed for pleasure; they were a rule whereby these objects were gotten or in- bitter at first, then turned sweet. To dis- herited. Women bought utensils and tools from courage coughing one chewed a leaf and then each other and also from men. A woman's drank a swallow of water. husband was expected to supply her with meat Lip't has a big leaf, is a low bush wit and skins. The latter included deerskin for white blossoms. Only the roots were used the dress apron and, if the man were a poor which, when boiled, turned red. The reaulti hunter and could not procure them himself, he drink was strong, "tastes like pepper." A might even buy the deerhoofs used as a decora- cupful was drunk three times a day when one tive fringe on the apron. "ached all over." Medicines CRAFTS AND MANUFACTURES The two plants used for poisoning fish Pottery (yaoha and tadad) were also used medicinally. The first, for chills or headache, was mashed Pottery was made and used by Wukchumni, in a poultice; the second was boiled for use Gawia, Yokod, and Yaudanchi Yokuts of the as a steam bath for chills or to soothe the Central Foothills. The complete process of vaginal tract after childbirth.'95 Neither manufacture has been previously described.1N plant was actively poisonous as fish stupefied The important points are these. The clay was by them did not need any special treatment be- selected on the basis of the amount of natur fore being eaten. sand temper which it carried. First dried Black paint (ka'di'an) was mixed with pulverized, it was wetted again and pounded grease as a salve. It was applied to sore thoroughly while wet to increase its viscosit Pots were built up by the coiling process whi 194Thirteen awls collected by Dr. Barrett from Michahai, proceeded in a clockwise direction. After Choinimni, and Chukchansi territory, now In the University thorough drying by sunlight, the pots were of California, Museum of Anthropology, range in size from heated by the fireside. Firing was done in a 3 inches (1-10839) to 7 inches (1-3997). Three unfinished pit in which oak bark and oak wood had been awls from Drum Valley (probably Chukaimina or Michahai) burning for several hours and lasted from are 5 3/8, 5 1/2, and 7 3/It inches (1-10850, 1-10838, twenty-four to forty-eight hours. While stil 195The Miwok used vinegar weed (Trichostema lanceolatum ho,tept-eecae nieadotwt Benth.) as a steam treatment for "uterine trouble" (Barrett and Gi fford, 174) . 'ffGayton, Yokuts and Western Mono Pottery-Making. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 81 n acorn mush to produce a hard, nonabsorbent the outer wrapping around a baby while strapped face. in its cradle. (M.L.) Two standardized shapes for cooking Much the same process was used for deer- oses -- and Yokuts pots were used for skin, which was dehaired with a strong solution ttle else -- were a flat-bottomed, conical of deer brains. Some men were better tanners t, often with two lugs, and a serving dish than others; while most men got enough deer th flat bottom and flaring sides.197 These brains in the course of their hunting to keep e roughly comparable in shape to the deep, themselves supplied, dried brains could be ned cooking basket and individual food bought from expert hunters who had more than ket. Shapes were not differentiated by they needed. The brains they mashed into flat e. cakes which they dried on warm rocks, then Pipes of pottery were made. These are des- stored. J.P. said only deer brains were used: bed and illustrated in the sources mentioned. he pronounced cougar and bear brains "dangerous" when asked about them. Hides were pegged out on sand, fur side down, for about a week. When dry they were Tanning folded by being stepped on and put in a store- house, unless they were to be tanned at once,in Deer, wildcat, cougar, and bear hides were which case the skin was not folded but was ed. The first two, with fur removed, were turned over and again pegged out, this time ebest skins for breechclouts and aprons. over damp sand or earth. A strong solution of Ear and bear hides were used as fur bed deer brains, which had been soaking overnight, vers or were folded for seats of important was worked into the fur. This was left for My impression is that cougar hide was twenty-four to thirty-six hours and, if the t much used. The cougar was difficult to brainy ointment had dried out meanwhile, the roach within range for a deadly arrow shot; dry places were remoistened. When the skin was was, within that range, highly dangerous and ready, a scraper of deer rib bone was used all feared for its physical as well as super- over the hide to scrape off the fur; finishing tural power. Only fine hunters dared kill was done by careful plucking with the fingers. animal and, since many expert hunters had On the inner side all adhering tissue was ar as their supernatural dream helper, they scraped off with a dull obsidian blade. The id not kill it. skin was then rinsed thoroughly in water and Men did tanning, although occasionally wrung out. A man alone would wring it by en finished wildcat skins for their infants bunching it lengthwise and looping it around a rabbitskins for blankets. ramada post or near-by strong sapling and twist- When a woman wanted a wildcat skin with ing the ends. Two men would wring a hide by on for her baby, she pegged it fur side having one hold the two ends while the other on dry ground or sand in a spot where dry turned a stick thrust through the loop. After but not direct sunshine would play on it. as much water as possible had been pressed out, winter, direct sunlight would not be too the skin was pulled out, stretched, and rubbed. ng. After all the adhering tissue had been At this stage care was taken not to get dirt on ped off with a dull obsidian scraper, she the clean damp skin, the work being done on sened the pegs so that the delicate skin tule mats or grassy ground. When ready for d not tear as it shrank in drying. It was final drying the skin was hung lengthwise over left until' dry, twenty-four to forty-eight a horizontal pole in the shade (today wire s. Then deer brains which had been soaked fences serve this purpose). To soften the skin water were rubbed over the skin; when the later it was folded twice and pounded lightly n was quite wet it was taken up and the with a round hand stone, then pulled and rubbed ins worked into the skin with the hands. until poft. (J.P., S.G.) a was, a softening process, and only a bland ution of brains was used as it was not de- to loosen any of the hair on the reverse Rabbitskin Blankets e. Again the skin was pegged out loosely left. After a day or two the skin was The skins of rabbits were invariably saved en up, rinsed off in water, and any remain- for blankets. Their only other use, according ightl withptheehands andnrubbedtunti to M.P., was as warm padding to be laid around lightly with the hands and rubbed until baisothcrdeor.Suhknswe t. It was then hung on a pole to dry in the babies on the cradle board Such skins were e. Later it was again pulled, rubbed to split ventrally, after skinning; they were tten and stretch the skin, and was shaken usually skins already mutilated. The normal erously to fluff out the fur. "This made a method was to cut the skin under the throat and Ce little blanket," and was used carefully as around the head in front of the ears. The four paws were cut off Just above the toe Joints. Then casing was commenced by pulling on the 191bld., pla. 99-102; Kroeber, Handbook, p1. 51. ears; when the skin was pulled back over the 82 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS shoulders and off the forelegs, the ears were long, was kept in a hank of folds about four cut off at their base. The skins were dried inches long held in the right or left hand as reversed, and adhering tissue was gently need be. Work commenced at the top right. Th scraped off with a small rib bone; an obsidian weft was passed through the adjacent twists a knife was "too sharp." When ready, the skin described above. When the bottom was reached was converted into one long strip by cutting the loose ends of the warp were tied together around it spirally, beginning at the neck. This The loops at the top were slipped off the pol was done with an obsidian blade against a were given a couple of twists, and were sewed smooth flat stone. across as elsewhere in the blanket. These strips were tied together into about The frames were set up outdoors, and twenty-foot lengths (four to six skins). blankets were made when there was no danger o Doubled, the open ends were tied to something rain (April to November). There was no rule firm, often a ramada post. The worker then or belief that they should not be made at oth held the loop end taut with a hooked stick and seasons, the matter was controlled entirely b twisted it. When the tension was sufficient, the prospects of the weather. M.S. insisted the double rope was allowed to turn back on that only men made blankets. It is conceivab itself, making a rope of four strands in all. that this was so in her father's time, but t This informant (M.P.) insisted that no Mission influence led to women's weaving. loom was used for blankets, a point on which A third method of weaving rabbitskin there is much discrepancy among all informants. blankets was described by the elderly blind She said the doubly twisted ropes of skin were Wukchumni informant, M.L. She stated that th laid out parallel on the ground "Just to double twisted ropes of rabbitskin were tied measure them out nice." They were then picked together to form a long continuous rope. Thi up one by one, and a milkweed string in a split was wrapped round and round a two-pole uprigh wood needle was sewed through parallel twists. frame. The lower pole was held down by pegs The technique is the same as that used in which were loosened as the blanket grew more making packstraps, but, of course, a rectangle taut. The weft of string was "sewed" across some 3 by 5 feet was produced. While this in- through parallel twists as above. Back and formant is a relatively young woman, she never- front warps, caused by the breadth of the fr theless said she had made a blanket that way, poles, were pulled into a flat position besid and her motor actions of demonstration were each other. convincing. It is her generalizing statement that no frame was used which is dubious, not her description of the method she herself used. Tule Mats Probably there were different ways of making them. At least there is common agreement that The word t s ni was used for any sort of double twisted warps of rabbitskin were always mat; if one of tule were meant specifically, used, and that the weaving frame, if any, was it was called su 'iu ttfii. Those for houses not horizontal. were made of the large triangular tule (pumuk The skins of Jack rabbits and of cotton- These reeds were laid out closely side by sid tail rabbits were never combined in the same on the ground, with stem ends alternating, in blanket. Ground squirrel skins and duck skins an amount needed for a mat. The worker start were sometimes used for blankets of this type, at the left-hand corner nearest her and, and a particularly delicate little blanket for placing her right foot across the first three a baby was made of quail skins. M.P. says men or four reeds and kneeling on her left knee, made the skin strips and twisted them into ran a thread of wit'k string in a deer-bone ropes for use, but that women did the "sewing." needle through each successive stem. This Men sometimes "sewed" wildcat skins, cured with meant that the needle was held in the left fur, together to make a big blanket. This hand while the right hand forced the tules on "sewing" was with an awl and sinew thread. it (M.L.). (Unlike European sewing, the need The Yaudanchi informant (M.S.) gave a ;was a passive instrument when used in this different but equally circumstantial account. manner.) The sewer moved onto the tules as a Her father, a fine hunter, went out every day progressed, and started back from the opposit to shoot rabbits. They were wanted as food, end for the next row of stitching. The rows and for their skins. The skins were cut in were about a foot apart. strips and rolled on the thigh with two strands Sleeping mats ana rloor mats were made 0 of milkweed string. The finished ropes were the smaller round tules (gu"yu). The worker 8 to 10 feet long; they were then twisted sat in a favorite Yokuts woman's position, wi double [method?], making them half that length. left leg forward and knee slightly raised, t A pole resting on two forked sticks served as right leg doubled sharply At the knee, the f the frame for "weaving." The ropes were hun under the left thigh.'98 A pair of tules was from it by passing the loose ends through the 1"The posture when working at the bedrock mortar (see. looped end. The split wooden needle was not fig. 6, herein), or at leisure (the normal posture of M.6 used; the weft string, which was several feet and M.L., who always sat on the ground); cf. Holmes, p1. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 83 en up and tied in four places with long rocks without being allowed to dry, and pounded ands of string which were to be the twining with a stone, then rolled on the thigh into a ts. The tules were added in pairs. Twining two-ply cord (see Michahai-Waksachi, Pt. II, gressed over some 'six to ten tules in the for fuller account of method). Making of cord- at row before the string was tied in a age was a man's task throughout (M.L.). ngle knot; then twining was commenced on the A medium-weight cord was made of milkweed ond, third, and fourth rows and continued (sa'). It was used for wide carrying bands, the same manner. The manipulation is shown tying cords, fish and duck nets, trap strings. figure 12. While the first finger of the Its manufacture is described by Kroeber for the ott hand held down one string which was turned Yokuts generally.'99 ok over the last pair of tules, the second ndthird fingers held the pair Just being in- The commonest string material was milkweed, rted by the right hand. The next move was to Asclepias, called shah or chaka. The stems ing the loose string up over the latter pair, were collected in early winter, the bark or d have it replace the taut string which was covering peeled off, and shredded by rubbing leased to become the next binding element. between the hands. The thin epidermis was then well-finished mat would have a three-ply removed by drawihg the mass of fibers over a iad of fine tules sewed on all around the stick. The fibers were not separately disen- te. tangled, but loosely rolled together as they adhered. Two of these rolls were then twisted tight, on themselves as well as on each other, by rolling on the thigh with the spit-into hand, the other hand holding and feeding the loose ends. The exact process of adding further material is not known; it consisted probably of rubbing together the ends of a mass of fiber, perhaps with some twist. String was two-ply. - . < |Another and finest string (citLk) was made of hemp or dogbane. This was used for the ordinary narrow tumpline, carrying and head nets, belts, bead stringing. M.L. said ho' was ___ 55 S // g \ \ willow, sa', milkweed, and cittk, nettle. Neither the "hemp" nor "nettle" was identified _____ ~~~~~~~~by the recorder. The carrying net (wadak) and tumpline (su iidLc, any rope or band for carrying burdens) were always made of hemp (?) according to M.P. and J.P.; other informants (M.L. and S.G.) say Fig. 12. Wukchumni method of twining that the finer grades of milkweed twine were 11 mats. Left hand abo.ut to press down on used (fig. 13, a). Women always placed the ghtened wrapping, freeing right hand which tumpline across the upper forehead, occasional- ll place next two tules (dotted in position) ly wearing a coiled basket cap for protection. d pull under string up over them. Men placed the burden strap across the upper chest and deltoid muscles (see vignettes, The same technique was used for all house- fig. 13). Bundles were never carried on the id mats, babies' mattresses, casings for head and seldom in the hands. ather ornaments, etc. Women invariably sat Formerly the making of straps and nets mats when working outdoors in front of their was a man's work. A carrying net was begun by ies (M.L.). coiling a length of cord around the left hand Flat tule (kots, "cattails") were little four or five times and tying the ends together, Fed. forming a ring about four inches in diameter. (The dimensions herein are those of an ordinary carrying net owned by the informant, M.P.) Cordage and Nets This was fastened to a ramada post, a tree, or any convenient place at about the shoulder The strongest cord or rope (ho'), which height of the maker. The twines used were s employed for all heavy purposes, was made always of double thickness. That is, a length m the inner bark of the button willow. of twine was chosen and its center point thrust ees were ringed by means of an obsidian blade into the split end of a wooden needle: the two tintervals of three to five feet, depending dangling ends were rolled together on the thigh iwhether one or two sections could be gotten. to form a single length of twine. The open end e ringing and stripping were done in the fall- was fastened to the rope ring with a few half- leinside bark peeled off readily after it was_______ Foved from the tree. It was laid out on flat '99Handbook, 534. 84 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS b c d e ) f g Fig. 13. Wukchumni netting and weaving techniques, a, carrying net and tumpline. b, enlargement of simple netting knot. c, enlargement of tumpline weaving. d, weaving needle. e, tumpline with warps and wefts expanded. f', change from 4~ to 8 double-twisted warps. g, belt with shell discs inserted on weft between warps. Vignettes: manner of using tumpline. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 85 hes; then the netting stitch began. This was being formed. The process was continued a simple knot and the same throughout, as far as desired, say some 3 feet, bringing ly being reversed when work changed from the worked part to within about 2 feet of the t to left progression and vice versa. There ends. The very loose twisting there permitted no rule which way the worker should start. the 8 cords (of the 4 doubled warp cords) to be workers endeavored to keep the length of laid side by side, and the weft cord was drawn e with which they were working coiled in through the original turns in these two-ply right hand, others allowed it to dangle. cords, making a finer but equally broad textile s were made when a new cord joined on. (fig. 13, f). This continued for 6 or 8 inches; The loops at start and finish were about then the weft cord was broken off at a length nches deep, that is, the length of twine be- equal to that of the warp cords. There were n knottings was some 8 inches. As work then 9 strands which were grouped into threes, gressed toward the center of the net, the braided together to the end, and tied with a ps narrowed to 3 inches or 1-1/2 inches couple of final knots. bled, thus producing finer netting where At the opposite or closed end were the t needed; As each knot was drawn taut the loops which had been left in the cleft stick ers of the left hand were spread along the at the start. A weft cord was inserted a few of the loop next being formed, the adjust- turns below this, then worked up, turn by turn, t of the fingers determining the amount of until the beginning of the loop was reached. in the loop. No netting gauge was used. From here on the weft was carried through the knot was made into (i.e., around) the cord original turns in the 2-ply cord, as at the the loop above it save when widening and other end, until the loop was woven solid. wing the width of the net was desired. When finished, this loop was about 3/4 of an ning called for additional loops made into inch wide, the band itself about 1-1/2 inches. same host loop. Narrowing was done by The loop end was fastened to the carrying net ling two host loops together into one knot. by means of the cord rings, as mentioned above. the last row of loops was reached they The free end of the tumpline was tied to the e strung on a coil of cordage similar to opposite cord ring of the net and adjusted as t at the stalt. The coil passed through the need demanded. ed end of the tumpline. Headnets were made of fine milkweed twine, There were 18 rows of loops in the net presumably by the same technique as the coarser for demonstration. It measured about 3 carrying net. The only one seen was a Choinim- in length and 5 in breadth when pulled ni specimen made of grocer's string. in one direction or the other. Spread Belts were worn by both sexes for support- ily in both directions when in use, it ing the breechclout, a plain variety for ordi- ed a capacious and adaptable hammock-like nary use, a beaded form for gala dress. The tainer. technique was the same "sewing" process, but Tumplines, which appear to be woven or the looped end was cut open and the ends n twined since the longitudinal strands are grouped in threes and braided as at the loose Bted in pairs, were made by what is more end. The fancy belt was made of the finest ly a sewing process. (The same process was milkweed cord. The weft thread carried a clam- in making rabbitskin blankets, according shell disk bead at each point between the warp two informants; see above.) Four cords, (see fig. 13, g). Such a belt was called ut 12 to 15 feet long, were twisted indi- koikoi '&c,, in reference to the beads. lly and doubled on themselves, forming Sinew string (piktt) was made only by men. ely twisted two-strand cords about 6 feet Its most notable use was for bowstrings; other The closed ends which formed a loop uses were the feathering of arrows and fasten- inserted in the cleft of a split stick. ing of arrowpoints, the tying parts of fish were pushed close together and, as they spears and harpoons, wrapping feathers on ear- e practically identical and had been twisted plugs, sewing hide, tying the umbilicus stump. the same tension, the turns in each of the For the method of manufacture see Michahai- ble cords were in line with their neighbors Waksachi (Pt. II). *fig. 13, c-f). We will call these the rp cords. The loops of the warp cords forced open with the forefinger of the Basketry hand to a point about 4 inches below the ing stick, and here a cord ("weft") at- Practically no information on basketmaking hed to a split-stick needle (awoka) was was taken,since the art was in no danger of through to its end. From this point on extinction and it was hoped that some investi- weft cord was drawn back and forth, pro- gator would undertake its special study. Yokuts Bsing through each series of adjacent turns basketry technique was highly refined, and the ~the four warp cords (see fig. 13, c, e). Wukchumni today still produce some of the nthe weft was drawn tight, it disappeared finest examples. Some general remarks on eview save at the sides of the band which Yokuts basketry are made by Kroeber, and their 86 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS materials have been analyzed by Merrill?' In all coiled shapes save the flattish trays the present paper under the heading "Woman's working edge was that nearest the maker, w Household Equipment" is a description of basket was the outside of the basket. On the ope types; a comparative display of shapes and flat trays whose upper side was the seen o techniques is shown in figures 2 and 3, and "best" side, the work was done on the far plate 1 shows a typical collection of Yokuts of the basket, the work still progressing baskets. left to right. On a certain type of small. The informant M.L. said that not all flaring bowl, the inside and outside of wh women made baskets: "anyone could learn that were about equally visible, the work might wanted to but some were too lazy." done either way the maker preferred. The All Yokuts coiled baskets were made on a is that most Yokuts workmanship was so ski multiple-rod foundation, the favorite material that both sides of a basket were equally p being a grass called tosaakts. The wrapping fect. Split stitches were the mark of pool was usually a split root called ho pat, which workmanship; it was also claimed that the came in 4- to 6-foot lengths. The outer bark coiled stitches were never interlocked. was scraped off and the interior split into two Ornamental materials were split redbu parts by holding one half in the teeth and bark (a nap), which varied in color from a splitting the other away with the fingers. K.G. maroon red to a chestnut brown, and a blac started a coiled basket for demonstration. root (mono'ht6). When a pattern was to be To start a coiled basket a piece of the introduced, the plain wrapping was cut off' wrapping material about four inches long was fastened, and the colored wrappings replac shaved down to a point at one end. This end it. This method was always followed even I was rolled into a tiny coil, the loose end only one or two turns of the colored bindi projecting to the maker's right. Another short were needed. In other words, there was on piece of the same material and of fine grade one layer of wrapping. No double-wrapping, (i.e., split thin) was set with one end under overlay, or imbrication was used.. An espe the turn of the coil and held in place with the ly fancy ornamentation was that of quail t fingers of the left hand. The coil, with in- knot feathers applied at the edge of the serted binding, was of a size to fit securely shouldered or bottleneck basket. The quil within the worker's left thumb and forefinger. of the feather was inserted under the turn The right hand began the wrapping process. The the wrapping with its tip to the left where free end of the wrapping was poked repeatedly was held down with the thumb of the left h through the center hole of the coil with the while the binding stitch was drawn up. In aid of an awl until all the coil was wrapped way it slightly overlaid its predecessor and the center hole filled. By this time the did not project forward in the way of the first round of the coil had been made and the worker's fingers. next wrappings were passed around the turn of Kroeber shows eighteen basket designs' the foundation "rod" between the previous which I can add only one called "waves" whi stitches: a skilled basketmaker did not split is said to represent the billows of Tulare even these small beginning stitches. Now a Lake.z2l This may be seen in plate 1 in th transition was made from the single foundation feather-edged basket toward the lower left to the multiple-grass filler which would con- in a large flaring basket directly above i tinue throughout the rest of the basket. This The.pattern at the bottom is the more usual was done by inserting a few grasses under the rendition. end of the single "rod," and more and more were added as the coiling progressed until the de- sired foundation thickness was obtained. Cradles The loose ends of the foundation grasses, which jutted out to the right from 2 to 4 feet, In old times the cradle, with forked-s were kept under control by a small ring of the foundation and tule mattress, was used ex- wrapping material (nowadays more often a twist clusively in this region. The tule mattres of string) which could be slipped up and down which has been thought of as a separated the bundle of grass stems and through which cradle by ethnographers,202 functioned as 8U each new grass was inserted before its butt only on the borders of the lakes, where so was poked in under the last turn of wrapping. wood for frames was scarce. A permanent t Only one grass was added at a time and these tule mat was affixed to the frame, but anot at about three-inch intervals, depending, of larger one, was added with the baby when it course, on the dimensions and coarseness of the on the cradle. This larger mat was really basket under construction. mattress in which the baby slept at night, Work progressed from left to right (clock- still lashed in it. When put on the frame, wise) from the worker's point of view, and for ______ '?1Handbook, .533. A story of the origin Of basket d '00Kroeber, Handbook, 531-533; Merrill, Plants Used in is recorded by Latta, California Indian Folklore, 75-l Basketry. "o'Kroeber, Handbook, 534, p1.* 40, g.o GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 87 and mattress were both lashed to it by attached to them differ slightly from in- *of one set of cords. The cradle frame formant to informant (fig. 14, a, b). The cok, its permanent mat) was called a'ht "lac; the measurement around the hand, all informants parate mat (mattress), even when the in- agree, was equivalent to 5 cents. Other values slept in it, was still called mat (ttnii, were about as follows: 2-1/2 cok was called ual word for a tule mat). Such a cradle hista 'a and equaled 10 cents; 2 hista'a own by KroeberP3 equaled 20 cents. A single strand which If the cradle needed a hood, a broad band reached from the wrist around the elbow and les, vertically twined about every inch, back was valued at $2.00, but a continuously astened on as an addition. Apparently it half-hitched strand covering the same distance ot thought of as an integral part of a 1 cradle. The fan-shaped hood and lattice-twined e of willow are a recent introduction from ono. This information on cradles from Wukchumni, and M.S., Yaudanchi.) 1rr According to M.L. and K.G. the forked- cradle was lathed differently for girls oys; the boys' cradle had two crosspieces, irls' but one. The single crosspiece ement permitted a bulging of the soft o the baby girl's buttocks would not be ned and would grow large. It is to be K that no such arrangement is made in the 1 t twined-frame cradles. These, however, markings in accordapce with the sex of ac occupant, zigzag for boys and diamond for MONEY, NUMERAL SYSTEM The foothill people probably never manu- ured money, although the intermediate Gawia ddo so when they could obtain the raw rial -- unbroken clamshells. A few pieces be made out of the freshwater oyster ls available at Woodlake and in the slough on, but the greater part of the shell was to be "too rough." Clamshells and money from the Chumash, Salinan, and perhaps aoan peoples, passing through the hands he intervening lake and valley tribes who rn bought mountain and foothill products-- fire and digging sticks, salt, and fine ets. The various shell moneys were as ows: home'tLn (humna, humana, pl.), a long (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches) made from the e f eof large clamshells; koikoiL6, a short (1/2-inch) of white, probably also a *e" and used in ornamental belts; moo'o ko, small disc of clamshell which, in strings, the common currency. European beads have red Yokuts names: in Wukchumni, hoi "yo is 11 red glass bead 204 and tedi didus is a sbead with the surface planed to represent facets. The descriptions of the method of measur- strings of clamshell discs and the values lIbld., p1. 40, m; mattress, p1. 40O, m. Called in English 'pomegranate seeds" by M.P. : pome- Fig. 14. Bead money measurements. a, b, te trees are grown abundantly in the Visalia-Lemon d, Wukchumni. c, Kechayi. e, f, Waksachi. district. g, method of half-hitching beads together. 88 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS was $5.00 (fig. 14, d). This means half- 11. ti'uv yet 100. yet psc hitched or "chain-stitch" loops in the already 12. ti2uv ponioi etc. 1000. ti'uv ptc - strung length of discs, which nearly tripled 21. ponioi ti'uv yet the quantity of a plain length from wrist 22. ponoi ti'uv ponoi around elbow and back to wrist 05 A cylindri- etc cal bead called humna was worth twenty-five cents. TIMES, NATURE, DIRECTIONS, SEASONS The participants and singers in a ritual like the mourning ceremony or an ordinary Informants differ somewhat in their d pleasure dance would be given about 1/2 cok in nation of the day's phases and in the pronu payment by spectators. There was no fixed tion of words; such differences are indica amount: if a person really could not afford by the individual's initials. to give more than a few beads he was not Times of day.-- thought miserly. At times of display or for payment of individual performers, as at the sala lwidao: morning (M.L.); hiam [no death of Huhuna in the Huhuna Dance, long sala'dwidao: early morning (M.P.) strings of money were thrown down. te'yao cu ka: before noon (M.P.) A definite attempt to accumulate wealth cu'kao: noon, noon meal (M.L.); hiam was made by chiefs, shamans, and probably cu ka: noon, noon meal (M.P.) others who hoped to acquire prestige. Even wak,huu cu'ka: afternoon (M.P.) when money was not the medium of exchange, ne ewao: sundown (ML . ); nia wi ao: value for value was the expectancy, not, how- early evening (M.P.) ever, with the shrewd, mercenary motivation of htoiyuma: night, dark (M.L.); hiam receiving, but with the courteous, generous ta'l nsi: night dark (M.P.) motivation of giving, and maintaining moral status thereby.20 Kroeber, in a general reference to money,7 Designation of days.-- states that the unit of measurement in the north was the chok, one and a half times the o'piu: day, light (M.L.); u piu: day circumference of the hand. In the south the light (M.P.) - chok was somewhat shorter, and was reckoned as he 'ce u piu: today (M.P.) half the hista, twice the circumference of the sala dwidao: tomorrow [lit., morning] hand. (M.P.) Powers gives a somewhat different evalua- ati - opo do: short day as in winter (J. tion, which may have been the rate of his day. The days of the week have received na The usual shell-money is used among them, names which are based on the numbers 1 to 7' and a string of it reaching from the point of the middle finger to the elbow is valued at follows (J.B.): 25 cents. A section of bone (sic], very white and polished, about two and a half inches long, wuda o: Monday is sometimes strung on the string and rates at pu ne'uIsc: Tuesday twelve and one-half cents. supe'a 'ta: Wednesday hai 'obata: Thursday ytca o: Friday Numerals ca od&tpi: Saturday no mctn: Sunday 1. yet 6. tu dipi 2. ponoi 7. no mc&n Phases of sun and moon.-- 3. 50 ptn 8. mo'nus 4. ha'poi n 9. no ntp o piu: sun. The sun goes into the la 5. yu ts&nuk 10. ti'uv [Tulare; ocean?] every night and comes up o 205A half-hitched string with a bead on each loop was a te other side ev,ery morning (M.P.). method of bead-stringing exemplified in Pueblo II material opo da: sun (M.L., J.B.) from Nevada (vide Cody, Simply Strung). This method may ac- woi yo opo "do: solstice (lit., turn count for the "shingled" beads found with a bear burial in back sun) . The solstice was noted, and rec the San Joaquin Valley (Heizer and Hewes, Animal Ceremoni- nized as the turning point for the length alism, 589). days, but otherwise was without significano 206Taking small gifts of cigarettes or candy to old UmnB . Yokuts people presented a problem to the recorder because u m&sn: moon(M.L.); up (J.B.) oung haca m u"p&s: *niew moon (lit., yon of their quiet insistence upon a return of some kind; re- (J.B.). If the new moon in winter showed t fusal to accept a gift in exchange would be a subtle faint circle of its complete sphere, it was orfense. said to be "making its house," and was rega '07Handbook, it98. as a sign of rain 209 'P. 375. '09cf. Hopi (Beaglehole, Notes on Hopi Economic Life1| GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 89 ihiam mapt nsi u'pts: full moon (J.B.) po k&d: a spring of water h1am katai su u p&s: old moon (J.B.) hota o: rain (M.L.); hoto "o: rain 'pis tawi ci: waning moon [lit., dying (Tm.W., Yaudanchi) ,(M.L.); hiam tawi tLl: now dying, said hosyu`mai: a big rain after a thunder ing moon (M.P.) storm (Tm.W., Yaudanchi) lcmu'tu u pis: dark of moon [lit., taka"'a: thunder (Tm.W., Yaudanchi) ngmoon] (J.B.) komu da: thunder, another name, but not a- different kind (Tm.W., Yaudanchi) howo' a: hail Tm.W., Yaudanchi) kThat the moon served as a month or time tida'ga: wind M.L.) r was disclaimed by J.B. , which is not wi 'ti tida 'sa: a slight wind, breeze ble. In this connection he said there was (M.L.) .ld lady who told what kind of weather was wu hna tidaIVa: a hard wind (M.L.) she was just like an almanac." He had cedu ditu: a cessation of wind, "a wind ; sh wasJustlik an lmanc Hehad died down" (M.L.) tion of how she acquired this ability. wo'odkyed pa "'an: earthquake [lit., An eclipse was called by the entire phrase: trembles or shakes ground]. J.B. said "the old [or opo 'do] kai "'iyu doi'ye'di (moon [or folks were afraid of earthquakes," but he did ,Coyote eats). During an eclipse of either not know what caused them. Nothing was done t, people rushed out and shouted: am piI when they occurred, nor does he recall any t peonanu rnwa (not eat leave-ome please) damage done by them. He is of the opinion that 'lit Thenameu ia wnoteas renderedn Enliash earthquakes are a recent manifestation, "there .P "Leae sae isoea wswrenetrtufd ThEnls weren'It so many in the old days.-" One very JP.: "Leave me some sweet stuff!" The severe one he recalls from his youth, possibly other of M.L. had told her that it was so that of 1872. He never heard of successive for two or three days once that people had world creations and destructions. In this S.G. arry torches, in order to secure their wood, concurred, saying that "this is the first and a and water.210 only world," and that Eagle made it. Stars, constellations.-- Directions.--These are listed in the order voluntarily given. toi 'tis: any star (M.L.); co'tac: any (J.B.) da'tu: west, plainsward ,tawa ntt: morning star (M.L.); tawa'nsl: ho'imot: south rng star (J.B.). All men of character were husi m: south r time to. greet the morning star. The do 'mtoi: east, mountainwards cnhi, Tm.W., said that on his way for his ti'pLn: up Ing swim he would say to the star: "My a dLd: down brother comes now" (nipe cnLm hi am I). Other men or women made prayerful re- of the same sort. Some asked help of the The mountains to the east (the Sierra nd moon. To the sun TmhW. would say: I Nevada) were called du mtts; to go up into the to y,ou Sun, help me" (na man haiyo'd mountains, domta 'o; nuta wi was also given as a'mid ntm) . ni 'ye'ao evening star (J.B.) mountainwards by M.L.; to go toward the plains, goi yuma: Pleiades (lit., young women) da tu. People to the north were called hoso ma; .,J.B., M.P.). These always appeared in to the east, nutu'wt; to the west, tokclyu'w&c; tall when it was cool; they marked the be- to the south, humt 'ntn. rng of winter (M.L.). There is a popular ,localized by each tribe,. that these girls their husbands and flew to the sky .211 do mtu i-dtkao: upstream hoda otstd: Milky Way [lit., to race] da tu i dtkao: downstream ,). Falcon and a fast flying duck (ho dodo) there; Falcon won.-!2 Seasons.--Some informants followed the general Yokuts pattern of three seasons. The Nature.-- choice of three might be due to the influence of "ritual numbers" (3, 6, 12 for YokUts), but met i dtk: a large stream, such as seems attributable to the natural phases of the h River climate, a brief mild sunny season, spring; -a po cuc iduk: a small stream, such as long, hot sunny season, summer; a brief cold Kiln Creek rainy season, winter. The introduction of a pa 'asi: any pool or lake, such as Wood- fourth season ("autumn") seems due to European influence, yet may merely be a further refine- i%s might be a factual statemnt or hearsay derived ment like the "late spring" given by J.B. myths or Coyote 's race with the Sun and the subsequent 88B (Gayton and Newman, 83, abstract 96, note 3). *bid., 26, 65, abstracts kk-52. tisa'miu: spring (M.L., M.P., J.B.); ' ' ' ~~~~~~~February to April (J.B.). When the flowers Ibid., 67, abstract 5k. were in bloom; women began repairing their 90 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS seed-gathering baskets [for summer use]; three would not run if his companion made poor st kinds of clover and wild onions were eaten. A variant of the game, in which only c ko"toi tisa miu: late spring (J.B.); ball was used, necessitated opponents' figh May (J.Ba)adi: summer M.P., J.B.); for it all around the course. J.P. said t June to October or November (J.B.). The very form of the game was generally condemned as long season of "dried up" grass; people moved "too rough" and "no fun because there was to seed-gathering camps. Toward the end of fighting than running." this season the mourning ceremonies were held In the foothill region, where there we after people were back in their villages (M.L.). no moiety divisions, the composition of op wu so: autumn (M.P.); wu sao: autumn ing sides followed the will of the players (J.B.) , friends, co-villagers, or relatives might 3 tomo ksiu: winter (M.L., M.P., J.B.) (M.P. also gave nieao, perhaps from Spanish nevar, together or be opposed. In any case, the to snow); December to January (J.B.). The opposing side was called gu"i, as were the acorns were just down; there were fogs, and complementary sides in mourning ceremonies. later rain and frost. The mountains got white; Women played as well as men, and occasional about November to March (M.L.). even opposed them. There was no seasonal d crimination against the game save that bro about by excessive rain or disbanding for PLEASURES summer camping. Even during the week of th great mourning ceremony the game might be Games played, provided it was taken some distance from the scene of mourning and the shouting Shinn .--There were two forms of shinny not excessive. (J.P., S.G.) (kotdi w&S`), one played with a ball (o 'dod) and When a hoop was used instead of a ball one with a hoop (wuku'wtc). Both were essen- the field was marked with a stake at each e tially a race to see which of two opposing The hoop, about 18 inches in diameter, was sides could propel its ball or hoop over the peeled willow bound with leather strips. course, strike the turning post (kite "u), and stick, about 4 feet long, was bent at one e reach the goal hole (ko wes) first. The shinny The bent end of the stick was hooked under stick (ku"tet), slightly curved at one end, was hoop which was tossed through the air to a preferably made of mountain ash ("ca"poi). The partner. If the partner, holding up his st length of the playing field (kota'dw&su) de- could succeed in catching it on the fly, he pended somewhat on the number of players norm- could run with it to the turning stake, whe ally available. Since the ball or hoop was he would toss it by means of his stick to a struck from partner to partner, the more play- third partner, or to the first man if but t ers there were, the longer the course needed. were playing. A hoop which fell to the gro A hole at the starting point was the goal for had to be tossed from this point with the a the finish, the course being marked at its To be the first to return to the starting opposite end by a post which the player must counted as one in tallying (J.P., S.G.). strike with his ball before turning about. He Wukchumni and Yaudanchi women played t holed his ball at the finish. form of the game just as they did the one w If two men were trying to prove their the ball; Kroeber implies that this was ex- individual prowess, the course would be short- clusively a woman's game with the Chukchans ened. In contests of this sort onlookers Hoop and pole.--This game (wuku'w&0), usually demanded six wins in succession. Other-which consisted of casting a straight pole wise six hotes to either side in any order a rolling hoop, was a favorite masculine pa normally won the game. An onlooker was select- time. The aim was not to pierce the hoop w ed to hold whatever bets were made; he urged on the pole, but to cause the hoop to fall ato each side impartially, calling on first one, the pole as it came to rest. This counted then the other to win. Bettors, however, (J.P.). Kroeber gives the name of the game yelled encouragement to their favorites. There hochuwish, the pole, paya i the "buckskin- were no songs. There were no recognized rules bound ring," tokoin, and the "carefully which informants could give me, yet doubtless smoothed ground, often by the side of the s there was tacit agreement upon many points. An house" as i'n. "The game ... extended as f especially well played game which won admira- north as the Chukchansi."214 tion from spectators was called "pretty" Chip and pole.--The object of this g (poiyo mi). (ai`ku'c) was to shove a small block of wo Two to five partners played on each side. toward a stake by means of a pole cast with If the first man striking the ball did not long underhand motion at the block. The bl succeed in making it reach his partner, he or "chip" (ai 'y&S), about 2 inches in diame took another stroke, or as many strokes as and 3 to 4 inches long, was of peeledwil necessary: the only penalty was the loss of time involved for him to run after the ball 213Handbook, 539.-ilo and strike again. Sometimes a "cranky" partner 21*Ibid. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 91 laying, if one man's chip was near the goal Informants and recorders disagree on e, his opponent would try to slip his own scoring, and it may well be that there were een them. If it was possible to carry an local or even individual terms agreed upon at nent's chip along with one's own, two the time of play. They range as follows. st were gained. (The scoring and winning According to M.L.: two face up, 1; five st of this game were not clear entirely.) face up, 1; all up, 4; all down; 4. men sometimes played in opposing pairs, According to Powers: two face up, 1; five never more than this. It was exclusively face up, 1. 'a game, as was the hoop and pole (J.P.). According to Kroeber (Yaudanchi): two Dice game.--This game (hucu'wtc) was face up, 1; five face up, 2. ed only in the daytime and only by women The score was kept by a woman who took no ., J.P., S.G.), although one informant part in the game. The scorekeeper for any L.) said men occasionally played. game was called ho'o po'tC. She held the scor- A coiled tray (koiyo `to), 18 to 24 inches ing sticks, peeled willow rods about 1/4-inch diameter, flat across the center and gently in diameter and 6 inches long, and the stakes ed at the edges,215 served as the base on offered, and was "paid a little" for her part. h 8 dice (ho 'wac) were cast. The dice were The Wukchumni, Michahai, and Chukaimina used from halves of walnut shell filled with 18 counters; according to Kroeber the Yaudanchi pitch or asphalt into which bits of used 12. A special manner of holding the ne shell were pressed. Since both walnut sticks, in groups of threes between the fingers, is and asphalt are products of Chumash as they were taken from the pile was in vogue itory it is probable that the dice are a with the Wukchumni. Different stages in scor- hern importation.216 ing were designated: mulu lsima, when all the In playing, the-dice were gathered in both counters are taken from the pile; ctamsu 'ma, , cupped together, raised about two feet when one side has all the counters; kayusu'ma, e the tray, and cast not directly downward when each side gets all the counters alter- with a slight sideward movement. As the nately; tu si, the winning score, which is left the hands of an adept player, she having possession of all the counters twice in "ped her hands together, and briskly waved succession, i.e., 2 camguma. right hand as closely as she dared over the Women gambled as heartily as men. The ling dice. This stereotyped gesture waa stakes rarely ran over an-equivalent of $2.50, retically supposed to fan the dice into and might comprise bead money, baskets, or ling in the preferred direction. Both M.P. some object which an opponent specifically de- KM.L., blind as she was, used these tactics, sired. h greatly amused Powers when he witnessed Menstruating and pregnant women played, game:217 but a pregnant- woman would pick up a little stick and thrust it in her belt or sit on it, The rapidity with which the game goes for- "to bring good luck. No explanation could be Iis wonderful, and the players seem totally offered for this by informants. vious to all things in the world beside. Hand game.--The game (hi'u tniw&c) was br each throw that a player makes she ex- played only at night, usually outside by the s8 yet'-ni (equivalent to "one-y"), or assembly fire. The rationalization given for -tak, or ko-mai-eh, which are simply a kind this practice was merely "that it didn't look in-song or chanting. One old squaw, with pretty in the daytime" (M. and J.P.)* The cely a tooth in her head, one eye gone, hermeh all withered, but with a lower Jaw of iron, ethod of play for the Yaudanchi is vividly re- features denoting extraordinary strength of ported by Kroeber in an account too long for .-- a reckless old gambler, and evidently a reprinting here'X1 As with the Wukchumni, the bher of others -- after each throw would marked piece was guessed for. Wukchuxnri of into the basket, and jerk her hand across both sexes enjoyed the game and often played in as if by the motion of the air to turn the opposing groups. Women hid the bones under a over before they settled, and ejaculate blanket; men held them behind their backs. The ak It was amusing to see the savage y with which this fierce old hag carried sexes sang end sat differently: women sat he game. The others were modest and spoke cross-legged, men knelt and thumped the rhythm ow tones, but she seemed to be unaware of of the singing with one knee. The singing was existence of anybody around her. started by the women and followed by a phrase e gambling tray differed in milhouette from the win- from the men so an alternating progression of tray (tai'wan) for practical reasons (see fig. 3). song was made. The following lines were given se native California black walnut grew in Santa Bar- by M.P.; the first phrase in each line was re- County and the southern California coastal areas peated three times. Ion, 279). Fages (p. 75) mentions dice of snail shells; bly this is a translator's misunderstanding. Tray, , and manner of play are well illustrated by Holmes, TPp. 377-378. "8Hlanldbookc, 539. 92 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Women: Musical Instruments oi yo no ma na ho we ha na, Men: All informants agree that no drum of hoi lo wi le hoi yo ho" wi le' type was used by the Yokuts or, for that me wal he yo ha we hnn :m by the Western Mono. The foot drum of the, Men: Miwok was known, and was referred to as pu mtn lo we' ta pi soi ltl h&n n&m A whistle (pu'sac) of eagle leg bone used by doctors and by the huhuna dancer. These phrases were meaningless to the inform- was Ordinary whistling as Europeans know anTwhese phraimeds t were meannglesta son itform- was not indulged in, but instead a kind of ant who claimed they were "Just a song," al- "humming through the front teeth" was prac though the last lines have marked Yokuts at- Some women did this, but mostly men while M tributes. The "ho we ha na" appears in many ing at odd Jobs (J.P.). This "whistling" Yokuts songs and is analogous to the European called sit `k'neta; perhaps was a sort of "tra la la." When a guess was incorrect, the hissing. opponents sang Jeeringly: The flute (utoi 'i) was of elder wood" averaging about eighteen inches long. It ko we mt soi yo ho we ha* 'na end-blown, but was held at the right side the mouth, not centered, at an angle of ab When the person hiding the bones.was ready, 450 below horizontal (S.G.). The flute wa he shouted, "ka"Ca'ta!" a kind of challenge reedless and had four holes 221 A frequent meaning, "You can't get me!" custom for men was to nap at home or in th, The Wukchumni informant, M.L., gave the sweat house, during a rain and, on awakeni name of the hand game as he'ne'wia. Four or to play the flute. five persons played on each side. The guessers A clapper (ta owtd) of elder wood was' folded their hands over their eyes and sang for ordinary pleasure dances such as the w while the hiders manipulated the bones (or yod, whereas the cocoon rattle (sa'fiac) wa sticks) under a cover, such as a deer skin- The used only for serious performances like th guess was for the marked stick. The counters Bear Dance. were kept by a scorekeeper. The cocoons used for rattles were tho Another Wukchumni informant, J.B., stated the ceanothus silk moth which infested the that this game was not "old time" but had "come trees of the roblar and chaparral of the f. from somewhere," which is consonant with hills. The cocoon was carefully freed fro' Kroeber's statement that it is of less import- its moorings, a twig inserted into one end ance in south central California than in the then held close to glowing coals to singe northern part of the state.219 the "silk" and kill the pupa within. At t Various games.--Kroeber mentions the dice time the cocoon shell was soft, and was game of split sticks but does not attribute it pressed about the twig, being wrapped and to any specific Yokuts groups. He gives the in place by a bit of sinew string. The co name as tachnuwish, the sticks, of which there was left in the sun until the pupa had bec were 6 or 8, as dalak, "of elderwood in the thoroughly dried and, shrunken to a hard s north, of cane in the south, burned with a mass, rattled about inside. Pebbles were pattern on the convex side and thrown on end on times inserted. Two to four such cocoons a skin."22 then tied onto a little handle about six i The cup and ball game, cat's cradles, and long.22 matching drawings were all known as pastimes Deer-hoof rattles were not used, but but, could not be adequately described by any Of hoofs were sewed around the edge of women' the Wukchumni informants. Arrows were shot at deerskin aprons where "they made a pretty marks on trees, or over a certain treetop. noise" (M.L.). This informant claimed a r Dolls of stuffed rabbitskins were some- made of deer hide and pebbles was used for times made for little girls, but I suspect this Bear Dance. is of post-Spanish origin. D. said that girls sometimes cut hair off each other's heads for Tobacco these dolls, particularly that they would cut it from "some little girl that didn't know any Tobacco (so'gon) grew all through the better." foothills. Any person who wished to might 221lllustrated by Kroeber, ibid., pl. 43,b. Altho Kroeber states that the "holes were commonly four, '19Ibid., 538. It is possible that this game was intr'o- in pairs, but without definite rule as to relation of duced with the Ghost Dance. At the time of my field work tance" (p. 509) it appears that the 4-Lholed flutes (p' I was not aware of the peculiar association of these two have spacings roughly constant in relation to each otl "culture elements ." and the total length Of the i nstrument . '20Ibid., 540 22lIllustrated by Kroeber, ibid., fig. 37, a. 1 GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 93 tobacco for his own use or for sale, but inder so that it might be worn on a cord about lly there were one or two older persons, the neck. A hunter or traveler would wear .'or women, who made a business of it 223 "It one: when one was faint from hunger, fright- easy work for old folks who wanted to make ened by a dream or the sight of a ghost, a ttle money" (M.L.). M.L. used to go over small bite off the pul"Cina would restore the Yokol with her grandparents to gather it. powers of locomotion. Tobacco was never planted or cultivated. A man kept his tobacco cake in a little when in the early spring an interested deerskin sack. rn saw a good growth of tobacco, he would The cake tobacco (sogan) was eaten in to it a few weeks later and pinch out minute quantities, or pounded up with shell tops of the plants "to make the leaves grow lime and water and taken as an emetic, or (ku'u'tuna tainhi mita m tu`dan n&p broken up and smoked in a cane pipe. A liquid tap). When the plants were full grown and made from tobacco was smeared on the feet and lower leaves about to turn yellow (hiWam ankles to discourage rattlesnakes. m tada ki'as, now perhaps yellow), these A group of men would gather at one house es were picked off. As others showed a about eight or nine o'clock in the evening to t change of color, they too were picked. eat tobacco and lime. Women did not actively leaves were washed individually in a basket participate in these parties but might and did cold water, were packed together while still indulge in family privacy. Women and children ,and tied in bundles. They were left in a were present, however, sitting in the back- n shady spot for about two weeks, during ground; the children were often asleep. This ch time they soured and turned dark yellow, group partaking might be done on an evening they were untied and spread out in the sun before a hunt, or the mixture might be taken dry. as a tonic for good health or to stimulate In the meantime the last leaves left on dreaming. plants had ripened, and these were picked, The host had a small mortar (koi wtS) and in a pottery Jar, covered with water, and pestle (pa 'lwi) especially for the purpose. led for one day. The decoction was then A piece of baked shell was pulverized in the tto stand for a full day in the sun. mortar, then a piece of cake tobacco pounded Now the dried, soured leaves were pounded with it, and water poured in to make a thin in a special hole reserved for the purpose liquor. The mortar and pestle were passed from a bedrock mortar. This process, too, usual- man to man, each one taking a lick off the took all day. The resulting powder was pestle; it did not matter which way it was bined in a large Jar with the cooked thick passed. J.P.'s pestle had some small indenta- id in such proportions that the mixture had tions in its side and he laughingly said those oughlike consistency. It was taken out in were there so more liquor could be got and tfuls, shaped in small rough lumps, and laid licked off. As the men became nauseated they a rock to dry. When entirely dried, these went forth to vomit, thence home "to sleep like ps were broken up and repulverized in the drunk" (J.P.) (se'lawi ta na s'ogo ni na, dizzy ar hole. Once more the powder was combined to go tobacco-from I). Those who were going 1the tobacco liquid and shaped into little hunting or who were seeking supernatural power es. This time the cakes were carefully would eat only acorn gruel on the following ped, either into round balls or low, broad morning. The same performance might be re- inders "like a thick pancake." Such cakes peated on several successive nights, each time merely called "tobacco" (sogan). When at a different house. oughly dried, they were carefully collected When women wanted to obtain nauseating stored in a buckskin sack. Later on they effects from tobacco, they merely licked a cake t be taken about and sold; they were said directly (M.P.). bring $2.50 to $5.00 each, depending on M.P.'s uncle and aunt ate a little tobacco ir size 224 every night: "a person couldn't sleep if they Some liquid remained in the pot: only a went to bed full." small amount of these fine dregs was ever The shell used for the lime constituent ilable. This was boiled down, or left to was the freshwater oyster; the shell alone was din hot sunshine until it had become thick called ci '"u, the whole thing "when alive," uh to shape. It was worked into small ka 'up4c. The oysters were got at Woodlake; der cylinders about the size of one's men dove for them or reached down off rafts; einger. This was called pulci na, was they were Just visible on top of the mud. expensive, and had special uses. Often Pipes.--A cigarette of cane (ka dktd) was le was drilled through one end of the cyl- cut 6 to 8 inches long. The mouth end was filled with a little coil of fine cord, and 3A full account, of TUbatulabal tobacco manul-acture, tobacco, crumbled into tiny pebble-like pieces, comparative data, is given by E. Voegelin (pp. 36-38). was packed into the other end. The cigarette iTe price seems high. Neither inforant (M.L. or J.p .) was ignited with a glowing twig. The cane d evaluate them in terms of shell beads. burned down as it was smoked, yet it lasted a 94 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS long time as only two puffs were taken on any administrative abilities, but added that, i one occasion. Some women smoked, usually he proved unable, another person would be elderly ones. The favorite time was just be- chosen to function in his place. Therefore fore sleeping. A little ritual of prayerfully the rule of inheritance, as given above, wa puffing smoke toward the west at bedtime was not rigidly followed: a brother or son mig called suhuwada. Both sexes did this, just be ignored if thought unsuitable, or he cou once each night; no words or gestures accompa- himself decline the office if he wished. A nied the act (J.B.). brother, son, or grandchild might be select The cane cigarette Kroeber attributes to but a cousin was an unusual choice. the Yaudanchi;225 the Wukchumni had to obtain Although the wives, sisters, and daught their canes "from a swamp below Porterville" of a chief were also termed tiya, they did (Yaudanchi or Koyeti territory perhaps). Some function save in the role of hostesses on man would go down there to get it, then bring ceremonial occasions. A great burden of ho it back to sell. The same canes were used for wifely management fell upon them as they ha arrowshafts. The cane cigarette was often to be prepared at any moment to serve food t carried in the hole of the ear lobe. a visitor, and at ceremonial functions large Pottery pipes were made of fired clay, but quantities of food were needed. A chief were clumsy affairs.226 The shape follows the usually had two wives at once; other men we old pattern of known wooden ones, i.e., it was usually monogamous, at least in residence. straight (no elbow) and somewhat flaring. In- The eagle was invariably the totemic or formants insisted they were aboriginal, as the lineage symbol of the chief and his descend shape seems to indicate. in the male line in Wukchumni, Gawia, and Y The elderwood pipe was disclaimed for the society. The falcon (lt m&k), "wolf" (iwe'y Kaweah River region by all Wukchumni informants. the mountain coyote), and cougar (wehe sst) mentioned as associated or secondary totems though they are not, in the Central Foothill SOCIAL ORGANIZATION the major totems for any chiefly lineage. 1 these function as secondary totems is not ci Officials and one gets the impression that it is mere; a carry-over fron mythology wherein these, t Chief.--"Eagle was the first chief; all are "important persons" though Eagle was the others were made from that" (M.L.). The name chief. or title (ti ya) was applied to the acting There were no insignia of office for a chief, his wife (or wives), and their children. chief or his relatives. It was also applied to his brothers and sisters, There were two or three chiefs to every since they too were the offspring of a chief, tribe, though the number naturally varied wi but not to their spouses or their children. If, the size of the tribe. For local matters pe when the chief died, the office passed to a taming to their own villages, such as famil brother, as it often did, that chief's children quarrels, the time to move camp for seed- would then be known as tiya. While they would gathering, or the building of a new sweat ho be called by this term for their lifetime, it a chief could make his own decisions. Anyon would not pass on to their children but to who wished might go directly to the chief fo those of the man who became the next chief. advice, instructions, or aid, but most commo The office passed in paternal descent. the chief's messenger (winatum) served as a Normally a brother succeeded to chieftainship between. "The tiya usually sent his winatum and, at the death of his youngest brother who give people messages (for instance, to stop would be the last chief in that genealogical quarrel), or people sent word to the tiya th stratum, it reverted to the eldest (or another) same way" (S.G.). son of the first chief. M.L. was the one in- For a matter which involved intervillag formant who thought the office passed from son activity within a tribe, all the chiefs had to son, never laterally to a brother. When be in agreement. The usual need for this c nearing death, an old chief named the person to at the time of the Annual Mourning Ceremony, assume his office. The selection had to have which was a tribal affair. the approval of other tiyas in the tribe; If one chief made a suggestion, as for whether or not there was a formal ratification, mourning ceremony, the other chiefs had to I do not know. But all informants made it agree before he could go ahead with his plan clear that an unfit chief -- a vacillating or He would tell his winatums to get the other irresponsible personality -- would not be chiefs. In the meantime he could go out to tolerated. Only M.L. said that the eldest son the community fire and Start talking- to the of the chief succeeded him, regardless of his people who were gradually assembling. Every _____________ ~~~~~in camp who wanted to came at such a time re. "5Handbook, 538. gardless of age or sex. [A young menstruant 226I11ustrated in Gayton, Yakuts and Western Mono Pot- would not go, but an older menstruating wom tery Making, p1. 102, d, h. would go and stay in the background.] As th. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 95 K was telling of his plans, the other The methods by which chiefs and shamans ts,, having arrived, privately agreed or co-perated to their mutual benefit has been eed. The speaker's winatum went to them, treated at length elsewhereY?27 For the Wuk- ng their opinion. If all were in agreement, chumni, S.G. 's remarks will serve as a summary all held a low-voiced consultation about statement. ific points, for instance, the date for a ony, and the decisions were announced at by the chief holding the session (M. and The chief (tia'a) always had money. People by the chief holding the session (M. and made him presents when he was going to give a ceremony. If he got short of money, he would A chief's sons or brothers might go out to have his doctor kill somebody who was rich. If but he himself did not. His winatum the chosen victim belonged to another tribe, he d see to it that hunters supplied the chief would send a gift of money to the chief of that meat, game, and fish. No informant was tribe asking him to have his doctor kill that * to state exactly how this arrangement man. If the chief accepted the money, he had d, save that the chief did not pay for his doctor start the process of sickening and hed sacevedta theormation from the South-killing the rich man. The money received was the received. Information from the South- divided between the doctor and the two chiefs. Valley by Fages, and from the Northern Doctors who killed in this way made sure that hills by Powers, tells of a fairly complex the patient would finally send for them by defined system of tribute-taxation, so to making him more sick for every other doctor for those regions. Possibly something of that the sick man sent for. same sort operated in the Central Foothills We usually had good chiefs with good I failed to get a clue to it. doctors, but sometimes even a good chief would I ~~~~~~~~~~bribe a doctor to kill some man he thought But whatever was received by the chief, he ought to be killed. turn disposed of, to a certain extent, to y persons. It was a particular duty of chief to see that no one was hungry or with- A chief could himself be a shaman, as was clothing and shelter. Very aged persons or J.P.'s grandfather, who was a snake-handler. ans sometimes had no one to care for them. But there is no instance of a chief being a recipients of his care were not obligated regular curing shaman, the true doctor who ake payment in money, objects, or services, cured or, when bad, caused sickness. ess out of a sense of gratitude. It is in Subchief.--The Wukchumni and Yaudanchi had ts etiquette to return gift for gift, and a type of secondary chief (tuye'i) whose only .said that a widow, who perhaps received function seemed to be to assist the head chiefs tfrom the chief, would give a basket of of a tribe at the time of the Annual Mourning rn meal or something of the sort to the Ceremony. Although three informants stated ef's wife when she found the opportunity. that the position was hereditary in the male h an occurrence took place within M.L. 's line, they could not say what members of a family when her widowed mother, without subchief's family were called by the term n sons, was dependent upon others for game. tuye 'i, whether or not there was an invari- A particular and constant source of fi- able lineage totem (as Eagle for the chief), cial drainage to the chief was the payment or specify any other duties than those men- the winatums, not merely his own, but others tioned below. lving with messages. Winatums and all S.G. said that the tuye'i was a kind of itor. to the village were invited to come secondary chief; the position "went in families" the chief's home where they paid their re- and could be held by either sex. The subchiefs cts, as it were, and were given a meal. A "came behind" the tia'a and made up the deficit itor who did not go directly to the chief's amount of money if there was a shortage in se was looked up by the winatum and invited meeting the expenses of the Annual Mourning go there. A person who refused would be Ceremony. Young male tuye'i of about ten years ted upon with gravest suspicion; indeed, of age or over contributed.228 If something one did refuse. happened to prevent a chief from presiding at Informants like to refer to the chief's the mourning ceremony, the subchiefs managed it lth, but his means of acquiring it are not and were the first served at meals. On the gether clear. He received payments for evening of the fifth day of the ceremony, the onial performances and kept a portion, subchiefs gave a feast for the head chief or remainder going to the performers [doctors, chiefs at which they presented these men with ers, winatums] involved in the ceremony. the money, baskets, and blankets. ie brought him profit also. And probably the receiving and distributing of foods he not a loser. The role of the chief as a ______ bler was not inquired into, but money- 'UGayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans. ling at high interest was a common practice 228This seems excessively young,- for Yokuts culture does chief s and other men who had the capital, not provide a means of accruing money at such an age; 20 ecially before the Annual Mourning Ceremonyt years would seem more probable. 96 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS According to J.P. "the tuye'i came under dressing them in ceremonial regalia, applyi' the tia'a." There were four or five of these paint on their faces and bodies, caring for in a tribe. The position was inherited, usual- their paraphernalia during ceremonies, re- ly going to a son but sometimes to a brother. moving and destroying the causes of a sickne J.P. served as a tuye'i at a recent mourning extracted from a patient, collecting the ceremony; his part was to share in the expenses shaman's fees for a display or curing. and assist in general plans and their projec- The following is largely from M.L. tion. The recent ceremonies are not occasions The Gawia and Yokod had the same office for money-lending. and duties of chiefs and winatums as had the The Yaudanchi Tm.W. said the tuye'i helped Wukchumni and Yaudanchi. Doctors had winatw the tia'a at a dunisa (ceremony) . "If the of their own. A chief or a winatum looked 3 tia'a had no money these boys had to put up like any other citizen of his village; he h the rest." However, Tm.W. indicated three no special mark or manner of dress. But whe classes of these subchiefs or financial as- traveling a winatum always carried a long sistants, thus: "If the tia'a put in $5.00, slender cane which was not decorated. When the tuye2i put in $3.00. Behind the tuye'i was entered another village, he went directly to, the pokn& nwad, he put up $2.00. The nututa the chief's house. He was paid by the parti was behind the pokn&nwad, and he'd put up what- at both ends, i.e., by the chief who sent hi ever he had, $1.00 maybe." 229 and the one who received him. Messenger.--The position of messenger A chief always sent his winatum from ho (winatum) was inherited in the male line but to house to announce a mourning ceremony or the title, like the chief's, and some of the other news that was to be made public. He duties applied to the messenger's wife, sisters,would send him to a family with a special sons, and daughters. Not all the siblings in a message, say, with a request that they cease genealogical stratum served in the office, only quarreling, and people sent back word to the those who wished to do so. Probably if the chief by the same means. family were small, say with but one or two off- When a winatum arrived at a village, he spring, pressure would be exerted to see that went directly to the chief's house. A mat w they followed their father's profession. A set out for him in front of the house and fo modern instance of this is J.P.'s family of was brought to him. He must eat some of the: several children among whom two have been food, but it was not imperative that he fini designated to serve as "winatums" at ceremonial it. He was Joined by the chief and, when he functions, aberrant as they are. In this in- was through his collation, gave his message. stance a maternal "inheritance" is being If he had money for exchange he produced it followed, as it is M.P. who is of a winatum's if a loan was to be discussed, he kept the lineage. money until the chief and his associates wer Her father and her maternal grandfather ready to accept. His money he carried in a were both winatums. And her maternal uncle, purse or sack called gusta la. This was a following his father, was also a winatum. This,complete skin of a wildcat (tu 'nid), fox (ad incidentally, is an instance of a marriage be- or tree squirrel (sa nsaiiwide'tt) cured wit tween persons of comparable lineages, i.e., her the fur still on. The head of the skin was father, a winatum, with the daughter of another pulled up under his breechclout at the left winatum. All had Dove as their lineage or The sack full of money was kept under his ne totemic symbol. to protect it.230 A winatum who stayed the The dove, in Central Foothills, invariably night remained as the chief's guest: he did is the totemic creature of the winatum, Just as not go to the local winatum save as a visito Roadrunner is the symbol among the Lake and to pass the time of day. Northern Foothill groups. M.P. has a tattooed For a forthcoming Annual Mourning Cere- mark on her wrist which she said was "dove's mony, or for lesser affairs, the winatums ma feet" (fig. 9, d). all the arrangements, secured performers, The term messenger is a misnomer for this planned the food, wood, and water supply. T officer, for his duties included directing number of winatums in a village "depended on ceremonial activities, even when supervised by the size of the winatum's family," there was a general "dance manager" (see below), seeing usually but one winatum's lineage in a vill that visitors were supplied with shelter, wood, The winatum was not a personal servant to th and water, dividing foodstuffs, quieting chief but could be called on by anyone for quarrels, and collecting payments. His wife, assistance -- provided they paid him for his sisters, or daughters, served as stewardesses services. Wihen the Yokod, Gawia, or Chunut at ceremonies, assisting in the preparing and visited the Wukchumni they brought their own serving of food. Furthermore, shamans had winatums. Visiting winatums "all helped eac their own winatums whose duties consisted of other" under the direction of the local head. ____________ ~~~~~winatum. When a chief had some project on "29My notebook adds: "Informant can't be definite; have ________ impression that this was an inherited and specific position; 'wNeck-rests and pillows were a Joke to inform}ants wh were required to put up money if called upon. " were told of such articles among other people. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 97 sneeded extra service, he would ask another Shaman-killer.--The person designated by if the winatums from his village would this term (hi'au ta) was in no sense a clown,232 to help. and it is doubtful if he should be included as On ordinary occasions of celebration a an official. The hi'auta was a man without um took charge of the organization and fear who usually attained this condition orders. "He called for the Bear Dance through dreams of Falcon or Cougar. The- the moment arrived for it to be given] or hi'auta were called upon to rid the community leasure dance (wa "tiyod). At a watiyod of an undesirable shaman who the chief agreed ne kept still and listened to what he should be killed. The following data on Yaudanchi messengers T contributed by Mr. E.W. Gifford. The hi auta was a desperado., he killed doctors. He had to kill on the first shot or get killed himself. The tia'a would sena him Among the Yaudanchi Yokuts, who are with- out to get rid of a bad doctor. When the moieties, the winatum is the messenger and doctor set off on a trip the hi'auta followed s to camping and feeding of visitors at him and killed him the first chance he got. tas. The mourning dove (uplali) was wina- There were three to five hi'auta in every tribe. .n mythical times and the term uplali seems They never did anything funny to make people applied to the winatum today. At the laugh (S.G.). of my visit the informant Francisco Panch He was a bad man and did not stop fighting !.ofmyvisit the incumbentmwinatu Francisco until he had killed a man. He was not afraid of the incumbent winatum, Dick Francisco, to kill doctors (M.L.). plali. The chief (diya) pays the uplali In my doctors (M.L.); tumr after a fiesta is over. In mythical In my grandmother' time people did not [ when the dove was winatum, toxil (eagle) laugh at doctors. But there was one [kind of] diya. Limik [falcon] was hiauto or war mean man that was not afraid to. He was called ras was also poilyun (Cooper's hawk). The hi'auta -- "smarty." If he had a chance, he'd to takes orders from the diya. The hawk kill the doctor first, but if he didn't the taas well as the dove was winatum for the doctor would give him a nosebleed [by super- in ancient times. natural means], or maybe kill him. They [hi' auta] always died quick, but sometimes doctors would give one a bad lingering sickness Ceremonial manager.--This position if he was extra mean (J.P.). e tts)23' was hereditary in the male line; n(ho'toi) was always its family symbol. Clown.--There was no official clown among ewas never more than one in a village, as the Yokuts. Persons of Coyote lineage clowned s not often needed. The chief called on at the Snake Ritual (quod vide), but this was a to be a general manager for a very large matter of personal choice. ering like the Annual Mourning Ceremony, paid him in return. The man's duty was to Directional Groupings things running smoothly: he called to le to get up in the morning; he went out to Division of the populace into totemic t guests as they arrived, showed them where moieties was not followed by the Wukchumni, al- were to camp, and notified the chief of though they knew and used the moiety names of r presence; he stopped children who were the dichotomized tribes of the lake region. The ng too noisily or women who were quarrel- terms, for the Wukchumni, were directional in- But at mealtime it was the winatum who dicators applied only to tribes; yet a sense of nced that food was ready to be eaten. opposition did result from this division into J.B. gave a somewhat different statement. "uplanders" and "lowlanders," just as with the manager at ceremonies he called hide tic social moieties. gave Snake (general) as his lineage animal. A formulation of this kind of geographical as an inherited office; women never held it. moiety and its functions was difficult to make re were two or three of these at every owing to conflicting or confused statements of ango." They consulted with the chief con- informants. After much discussion with M.L. ng where visitors' camps should be placed, and J.B. the facts below emerged free from e to have meals, and when to have all the doubt. The difference of opinion of J.P. and es; they prevented fighting (and in recent M.P. may be due to their lesser participation s drinking), and sometimes "called out for in the old life, when contact between the Wuk- ing, though this was usually a winatum's chumni and the moiety-possessing tribes was ." Two particularly efficient managers were closer, and their greater participation in the 'Bowtk (a Wukchumni-Patwisha) and Ka osuna recent life with more contact with the non- Telamni). moietized Waksachi (Western Mono). s ~~~~~~~~~~~~J.P. and M.P. claimed that they "didn't know anything about some kinds of postas [totems] [ 31Iroeber gives hiletits (Yauelmani) as a clown or cere -_______ ilmocker; he does not record an office of dance man- '32Kroeber was informed that the hiauta (Yaudanchi) was r Handbook, 497 ). a c lown ( ibid. ) 98 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS being related." They thought that M.L.'s seg- assigned (eastside or westside), and as f regations of related animals (see below) had lies arrive they are received by winatums no social or functional basis. And, finally, asked their provenience, so to say, before when J.P. was given a description of the moiety being told where to camp. J.B. said, "The system in the Lake tribes, e.g., Tachi, he said was no dividing up [according to family to he "had heard of it but nobody up here did it." at a dunisa (mourning ceremony) except amo Moiety division of the Yaudanchi was the tia'a. All the other people followed clearly denied by M.S. and S.G. tia'a of their own village." To turn to the positive information, the The spatial arrangement- at a mourning terms tokElyuw&c and nutuw&6 were known to both ceremony was roughly square: the hosts an M.L. and J.B., and both agreed on the meanings recipients opposite each other, and the vi which. the words held for the Wukchumni?33 ors at each end divided as Tokelyuwich and Tokelyuwich means westward and, by topographi- Nutuwich. The actual directions of east a cal analogy, lowlandward or downstream; Nutu- west were not always followed as the spatia wich means eastward or, topographically, upland, possibilities differed from village to vill mountainward, or upstream. The Wukchumni The second manifestation of this trib pronunciation is tokelyu&w&c. The two words do moiety arrangement at the Annual MourninSg not literally mean upstream and downstream, mony was in the Shamans' Contest, the oppo the terms for which are do mto i d&kao and being divided as Tokelyuwich and Nutuwich da"tu id&kao, respectively. cording to their tribal affiliations. To M.L. classified tribes in these terms, as emplify this, J.B. named several shamans w Tokelyuwich or westward: Tachi, Wodasi (Wolasi), he had seen as contestants, giving their t Tedumni (Telamni), Choinok, Chunut, Gawia, and totem animal, and directional affiliation, Yokod; as Nutuwich or eastward: Wukchumni, follows: Waksachi, Patwisha, Choinimni,.and Wobonuch. J.B. gave a comparable grouping but included Nutuwich Gawia and Yokod with the easterners, thus, Wukchumni: c ihcen (Rattlesnake); Ta' Tokelyuwich: Tachi, Wolasi, Telamni, Choinok, (Rattlesnake); Po'hac (Rattlesnake);Umicar Nutunutu, Chunut; Nutuwich: Gawia, Yokod, Rattlesnake). Wukchumni, Waksachi, Patwisha, Choinimni. Yaudanchi: Camsu san (Magpie); J.B. The Wukchumni put this tribal grouping that this man was a curing doctor and Huh into effect only at the Annual Mourning Cere- Dancer as well. mony. Even then the grouping was not followed Caplhnlmn (Rattlesnake). when playing games. It in no way affected Tokelyuwlch marriage: -persons with the same totemic animal Telamni: Lich e (Owl); U`nun (Owl); (posa) were free to marry as long as the blood Sa pagai (Owl); "Winatum" (Owl); this man kinship was not known to be closer than that of curing doctor huhuna dancer, and winatum. third cousins. Cross-cousin marriage was not Yokod: gut (Owl) [this is not in acc countenanced, and indeed the question was un- with his previous statement that the Yokod likely to arise as all first cousins were re- Nutuwich]. garded as of the same closeness as siblings and were called by sibling terms. Some other participants who were known mere Neither did the moiety affect the arrange- as "southerners" to J.B. he classified thus ment for reciprocal washing during the mourning Maiye mai and his brother, Po sut, Tokelyuw ceremony. The washing was reciprocal primarily Wati'sti and Andres, Nutuwich. between families having the same totemic animal When J.B.'s attention was called to th (pos'a), secondarily between tribes. Thus the fact that his groupings, as given above, we reciprocity which was traditional for the Wuk- aligned by totem animals (as well as by tri chumni was with the Waksachi (both "Nutuwich" he claimed he could not recall any partici tribes), but if for some reason the proper in the Shamans' Contest who had other ani family were not available another one of the as symbols. [It seems possible to me that same totem but of another tribe would be chosen, shamans with the same totems may have staye not another Waksachi family of different totem. together and been assigned to one or the o (For further details see "Annual Mourning aide arbitrarily.] He admitted that totem Ceremony.") animals could be grouped as Tokelyuwich or The Wukchumni concept of moiety, then, is Nutuwich and said this was done when non-mo applicable only to tribes, and is manifest only persons were visiting or participating with, at the Annual Mourning Ceremony where the moiety-divided tribe, as Wukchumni or Micha visitlng people are grouped by tribe as Tokelyu- with Choinimni or Telainni. According to J. wich or Nutuwidh. Their camping places are so if such a grouping must be made, "Eagle, Du and Owl were Tokelyuwich, Rattlesnake, Bear a331t should be mentioned that M.L. and J.B. were far Magpie, and Deer, Nutuwich. Dove, Weasel, removed from one another, J.o. having moved to bnlap long Skunk, and Coyote could be on any side beca ago, so they did not influence each other's opinions, they were chiefs' and doctors' helpers. Eag GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 99 A Tokelyuwich chief, Cougar a Nutuwich." 4. tu h&t: eagle As a result of my questioning M.L. made a u'wtk: golden eagle attempt to classify totem animals by ta nka: buzzard ty with absurd results: Clark Jay (caku "du) No comment. okelyuwich; Rattlesnake "and Bear maybe" as 5. pitu: mouse uwich. tumatu mud: woodrat It is clear that the moiety was not a saiisaniwide 'tt: tree squirrel ic factor in Wukchumni social organization. aha 'ot: weasel the contrary, the moiety concept, as applied po 'hot: ground squirrel tribes (i.e., visitors) at the Annual Mourn- he nhut: gopher Ceremony, makes it appear to be an adapta- of a barely understood scheme to a particu- The informant became much confused as the situation. Its manifestation in the burden of grouping and identifying was a task as' Contest, in which participants were beyond her meager English vocabulary, and one from both Valley [moiety] and Foothill whereln I dared not assist by evocative -moiety] cultures leads one to suspect that questioning. concept and adaptation peculiar to the Wuk- In connection with hunting J.P. said, i is the result of the socially superfici- "there were five animals just like deer": o-mingling that occurred between hill and ey tribes during the mourning ceremonies. 6. so koi: elk In attempting to clarify the facts of soi 'yod: "a goat with straight horns," *ty classification in Wukchumni culture, belonged in the valley gave the following names of animals which duwenstp: mountain sheep; belonged in grouped as ta 'a ti (relatives), i.e., of wokono: antelope, especially in lineage or family. The groups appear here Antelope Valley .he order in which she gave them, and at hoi: deer t it seemed (as with group 1) that these t be a moiety classification; later it Totemic Animals ed out that they are all zo-logical classi- tions, so to say. I think the first group The person and his totemic animal.--The re- mythological grouping referring to animal l es o th prhuma er, hnce he ong lation between individuals and their posa (in- rescof herited totem animal) involved three major erence. practices. The first, to which all posa 'm (the persons possessing the totem) adhered, was the 1. Ve wisa: flicker tabu on killing, even more on eating, the tu 'ud: rattlesnake animal. The second was keeping the animal as tah" 'o: grizzly bear a pet. And the third was the redemption of the t ta '&swide 'it: black-and-white wood- animal by ceremonial payment to its killer or pecker du hun: cinnamon bear captor. All three practices interlocked in aho 'ot: weasel actuality. Thus, a person eating eagle flesh ,ansanwidestt tree squirrel would be paid a small sum by the chief: this pOs'hot: ground squirrel honored the eagle, and may be viewed as an ex- tension of the mo)te elaborate redemption of the M.L.'s comment: When a Bear Dancer danced entire bird. While a non-totemic pet was some- alled [sang] to all of these. Flicker and times kept (i.e., an animal which was not the k-and-white woodpecker were her mother's posa of its owner) pets more frequently were maternal grandmother's extra "posa" because danced with the Bear Dancer. "When -iaho'o totemic, and often were acquired as such "be- beaten he got mad and told his winatum to cause they [the owners] didn't like to see Cougar and Fox and Wildcat [to fight them] somebody eating them" and would buy them from Cougar said he didn't want to fight be- the would-be consumer?34 After the redemption e they were all ta'a'ti." of a live eagle it would be kept for some time before being freed. 2. kai 'iyu: coyote Pets.--Respecting pets, M.L. offered the a 'dja: fox floig tu ned: wildcat following: wahu s t: cougar Eagles were kept as pets only by a chief or iwe ytt: wolf [mountain coyote] immediate male member of his family. Other persons might do so, knowing that the pet M.L.'s comment: All Coyote's people look eventually would be bought by the chief. "He e, cinnamon bear (duhun) was the only one didn't like seeing other people having them. 3. upiye'i : dove '34This is doubtless a rationalization. That is, the so'o no: pigeon poNam probably wanted a specimen of his poWa as a pet and hi m&d: quail took this opportune way of acqu.iring one. Obviously he iNo commrent. could not corner the market on doves, crows, etc. 100 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Eagle is chief [spiritual] and he belonged to chumni people. Fox (adja) and wildcat (t the chief ractual]." The chief would send out "may have been somebody's posa," but M.L. his winatum to buy any eagles he heard of. not connect them with any known family. 9 Since most eyries were known, and traditionally did not know whether the Waksachi had tot owned and inherited by chiefly lineages, it was animals or not, but claimed that Gawia, Te not easy or usual for an ordinary person to and "everybody down this way" had them. come by one of these birds. Wukchumni, Gawia, and Yokod chiefs all had "Eagles were never kept as pets" is a Eagle as their family animal; M.L. was unc curious statement of S.G. He likewise denied tain if this held for the Tachi. all knowledge of the redemption ceremony. Redemption of totem animal.--When eag Doves might be kept as pets by anyone. bears, or coyotes were killed it was nece But winatums "did not like to have them killed, that a propitiatory ceremony be held to en and would buy them from other people and let the continued good will of the animals. them go." A male cousin of M.L.'s would not was an ill-defined but firm belief that al kill a dove, nor would he even allow his sister animals existed "somewhere," that any memb to keep them as pets. the species that was killed returned to th Bear, as posa, included bears of all kinds, supernatural place and reported on the tr "red," "black," and grizzly. The paternal ment which it had received when killed. lineage of M.L. was a Bear lineage, so no one -an unfavorable report be made, ill would b in her family, including her mother, would kill the killer, and the animals would no long or touch the meat of this animal. M.L. ate permit themselves to be victims of human deer, rabbit, squirrel, and fish, but she did hunters. This was the basis of all huntin not eat or taste bear meat or any food that formulae. The deer, however, was not tot might have come in contact with bear grease. and its propitiation was only the duty of Once she cooked some bear meat in ignorance. hunter. But eagles, bears, and coyotes we Her [first] husband ate some, and vomited totems and it was the function of the line directly they went outside the house [where for which they were symbols to redeem them they were visiting] and saw the skin.235 This their killers. These animals were feared man's father raised cubs as pets, which may only for their physical prowess but for t have some bearing on his son's tabu on bear supernatural powers. meat. J.P. described the ritual for bears a Rattlesnake was the family totem of M.L.'s eagles. mother. A maternal uncle participated in the Snake Ritual. For this reason M.L. "did not If a man killed a bear, he would take like to see snakes killed either." Her to a man who had Bear for posa. If the a sister's husband also was a snake-handler. had been killed close by, the whole carca However, no instance of snakes being kept as would be carried to the Bear man's home. U pets is known: snakes used ritually were re- ly it was far away, so the hunter Just cut turned to their dens. the bear's feet and put them in a basket. Young crows and ravens236 were favorite he took this, some other baskets, and a bli Young M.L.ronce had oneahenshe wee favrir. and went to the Bear man's home. The bla pets. M.L. once had one when she was a girl. was laid down before the door; the basket It was a nuisance, continually stealing not containing the feet was placed in the cent only food but basketry materials from other and the other baskets ranged behind it. people. A quarrel ensued, so her father's The house chosen was that of the head brother took the bird several miles up the the Bear lineage who was usually the oldes Kaweah River and left it. The feathers of Bear man and a Bear dancer. He sent a wi these pet birds were never plucked for use in to gather other members of the Bear lineag ornaments, she said. When they saw what was there, "they went got food, money, and baskets and traded wi Quail was a dream helper of M.L. However, the hunter for the bear's feet and other she gave another reason for not eating them, with it." The head Bear man go the feet which was believed by many young girls. It was used the claws for a necklace. When the thought that, if a girl ate quail, when was brought he would buy that too. The 8 her hair grew long quail might come to nest in included the head but not the skull. The it and break and tangle it. would be tanned for use either as a blanke Cougar (wahuitt) and mountain coyote (?) for the Bear Dance costume. "It had the Ciweyat wolf"), wer aneve eonaten boyoaytuk and ears left on and sure looked pretty!" (iweytt, "wolf"), were never eaten by any Wuk_ he was buying these things the Bear man" 235It appears that the man had assumed this poga, either to the bear: he told it to be good, not because of his marriage to M.L., or because it was a dream after anyone, nor to kill people." Somet- acquisition: his was a chiefly lineage. M.L.'s second hus- the other people cried while he was doing band, half-brother to the first, ate "no meat except a bit of salt pork now and then." It was incumbent upon the Bear people 236These were not identified. M.L. gave the first as redeem their posa. "The buyer would get b a'duw.ts, who said "'ah 'ah 'ah," and the second as while the hunter made lQts of money." The ko widai, who said "Ico' ko' ko'." hunter's people would have a big feast, tos GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 101 got the meat as well as the money since just the same in any kind of tribe, just a 1sam could not eat it. No special dis- different tribe, that's all." They knew was made of the carcass, according to nothing of totems being related or grouped as informant, a statement which I have always moieties or phratries. J.P. said he had heard ht dubious.237 of it, but neither the Wukchumni nor their neighbors did that. -"Eagle was worse. If a man killed an he must take it to the tia'a or he'd die PERSONAL AND FAMILY LIFE away, because Eagle would get mad." Then e chief's relatives would gather to pay Pregnancy Birth Infancy heir totem; a winatum called them to come. P B he tia'a's people cried when they saw that A pregnant woman continued her work as >bird. Since there were sometimes two or usual until the quickening; even then she did chiefly men in a village they would n e the buying, thus, one would buy the wing not cease ambulatory work entirely but would do ers, another the leg bones, and another easy tasks such as gatheririg clover. It is own. Then the killer of the eagle ate the said that not infrequently women away from "The chief would not let those people home on such tasks would deliver unaided. M.L. red there go away until all the meat was remembered such an instance at Gutsnumi, when a When the killer had finished-, the woman returned to the village with twins: she took the eagle's carcass and buried it in had cut the navel cords with her long finger- so that it would be revived and return to nail. Tabus on food were the usual ones on upernatural home. As he did this he said, i,ta po dta ma tupt nita" ( ? ? you go meat and salt and were observed from the first This was the same phrase used by a hunter moon after menstruation failed. Even yellow- he had killed game. jackets' larvae could not be eaten since yellow- jackets are voracious meat-eaters. Neither could anything hard be eaten, such as dried The same thing was done with a coyote car- cakes of meal, since this made the birth diffi- It was taken to a Coyote elder who hItwasp len to pay foorit. Tele choyt cult. The result was that diet during preg- nancy consisted almost exclusively of gruels on a blanket, the people threw down their and greens. A pregnant woman must not scratch s of money over it, and cried. If the her body lest it become ugly and wrinkled, nor were wanted for a Coyote clown costume, i her head as her hair would split and fall out. be skinned, but if not, the Coyote man The woman's husband observed the tabu on ed the whole thing right then because no- meat, did not fell trees by firing, did not Totemic animals and associated profes- hunt deer, did not gamble, and, in recent years, 'TotJmc andimas anamd ascisted profttemc did not chop wood. The man's tabus were ob- -JP and their associamed professtions. tserved during pregnancy and until the newborn is and their associated professions. infant's navel stump dropped off. There was no ceremonial observance of his renewal of a Rattlesnake: for rattlesnake shaman who normal existence. The mother's tabus continued the Rattlesnake Ritual for about three months after delivery, when the Bear (both black and brown): for Bear resumption of meat, etc., was ritually observed. ers "Women went by the moon and men by the Cougar: for chiefs who might have this in sun," said M.L., referring to menstruation and tion to Eaglesu,siM..reerntomnrainad Eagle: for all chiefs morning erection. By observing the phases of Dove: for all winatums the moon a woman could judge fairly well when Coyote: "always clowns" to expect her next period. When a period Trout: only one person [Henry Lawrence] failed, she believed herself pregnant if it did to have this as a family emblem not eventuate by the next occurrence of the Raven: ceremonial manager moon-phase, and she began observation of the Crow [blackbird (?) , aduw ts]: J. P.'s food tabus. If the child was the woman's first, rnal grandmother had this; no profession her mother or grandmother .made the first cradle for her. The child's second cradle, made also Neither informant ever heard of anyone by mother or grandmother, was not started until deer as posa (though he could be a the infant was delivered; to start it sooner -helper). Everyone ate deer, all kinds of would "make the baby come too soon." But this rels and rodents, woodpeckers and other is no longer the practice since the Mono-type . No person killed or ate any portion of cradles of fine willow, requiring more time for totem animal. manufacture, have come in vogue; the former These are all the totemic animals these Y-frame cradle could be made in a few days. rmants could recall for Wukchumni people. Also provided by the girl's mother were the believed that the Gawia, Yokod, and other necessary soft skins, shredded bark, and sever- s had the same family totems: "they were al sleeping mats for the infant. These things Se, for lnstance, Helzer and Hewes, 592 ff. the woman kept in her storehouse. 102 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The place of birth was in the dwelling, and occasionally a boy's, afterbirth was b according to M.P., but M.L, older and more in an anthill: if the insects ate it, the knowledgeable in aboriginal ways, insisted that child would be industrious. The Yaudanchi delivery took place in a private hut. If the followed this practice (J.W.). separate hemispherical structure were not erected for her by her husband, she would clear The assistant washed the baby in warm out her storehouse and use it. The baking pit water in a big basket and greased it on th for use after delivery was outside the dwelling, back, chest, and stomach [kind of "grease" and it may be this, rather than delivery it- specified]. A bit of red color might be self, which M.L. had in mind. with the grease on the chest "to keep it r getting la?) cold." The baby was laid on At the onset of birth pains the woman got layer of shredded willow bark, on a piece, her mother or whichever female relative was to old deerskin, wrapped in a blanket of feat help her. They heated water. Meanwhile the or rabbitskin, and tied onto its tule mat husband was preparing coals, hot stones, and cradle. It remained in this outfit consta bark to be used in the heated pit, although he until it was named, about two weeks later, did not go near his wife during delivery. No being taken out only for cleansing purpos men were ever present, unless a shaman was Meanwhile the mother had removed to t called in a case of seriously difficult partu- heated pit. It was slightly longer and wi rition. A shaman gave a drink of pulverized than her body and, when filled with heated bear's claws to aid the birth. The shaman rocks, ashes, bark, and mats, left its occ Haicaca had a long bear claw to help women in at ground level. The woman lay face downw parturition. He rubbed his hands on it, then on deerskins. She wore no clothing save a on the patient. Then he blew on the woman's and old breechclout, the latter loosely fi back and abdomen. Squatting before her, he with shredded willow bark. The belt, open. placed his hands on her hips and gently shook on this occasion at the back, was tied, an her twice. "This made the baby come" (M.P.). the bark replaced, by the assistant. Deer But often a woman had some method of her own. were laid over the woman and for about one M.L. had a little supernatural power; Quail was she was surrounded with hot rocks laid on her dream helper. When aiding her daughter in and, in very cold weather, with a layer of labor, she called on Quail to help. Immediate- warm ashes as well. More deerskins and ra ly some quail calls sounded near by, ci "up, skin blankets were laid over this. Howeve ci 'up, cvi 'up: "the baby heard them and came the upper layer of rocks and ashes was us right out." omitted. The baby was put with her. It w given warm acorn gruel which it sucked off The maternal grandmother of J.P. dreamed mother's or assistant's fingers until the of a roadrunner who told her how to help women appeared. The mother drank warm water for in labor. Although she was not a doctor -- few days, then warm acorn gruel. She kept "this was just her dream" -- she aided other this diet as long as she was on the warm pi women with her knowledge. She left the pit twice a day while it A hollow was made in the floor to one side of the fire pit. It was filled with sand being renovated and reheated. The length o or dry earth and some pieces of old tule mats her stay was, according to M.P., six days laid over it. The mother squatted at its edge the baby's navel dropped off"; according to" and pulled on two stakes driven into the ground. nothing to do with it. (Again I feel that (These were not digging sticks.) The assistant M.L.'s opinion is the older and more reliab stood behind her, pressed her head, her back, and agrees with the data from neighboring her abdomen, always with downward pressing agres.) movements. If labor were prolonged, the partu- rient would get up and walk about between An alternative to the use of the hot p spasms. or sometimes used in conjunction with it to discourage hemorrhage, was a steaming of th As the infant emerged, the assistant vaginal tract with an infusion of redwood a caught it off the mats beneath the mother, (tanal). A lump of this dried pitch was easing it onto some old deerskins. Pinching cracked up and dropped in a basket of boili the cord about two inches from the infant's water. The woman fastened a rabbitskin bl body, she cut it with a cane knife and tied the over her shoulders, and tied one or two dee stump with a piece of fine sinew. The cord and skins under her belt so they hung from her afterbirth were taken to the river and fastened waist; then she squatted over the steaming to a stake so they could not float away: this basket of medicine. This was said to be do prevented the child from ever being sick at its each morning for six days. After the intro stomach (M.L.). The afterbirth was thrown in duction of European blankets the steamer su the river so the baby would never be sick, ac- rounded herself and basket with the single cording to M.P., who added that often a girl's, large covering. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 103 'The father ate only "soft" food until the A child was nursed for two years, even if 1 stump came off; the mother continued her a new baby were also nursing. Weaning was very nence from meat for three months. She gradual. The child was given acorn mush, and eat "greens" and any vegetable foods so pieces of meat to suck, and "it liked those as they had no strong flavor or odor; be- things better and wanted them all the time." e of its strong taste, fish was not allowed- Nevertheless, children up to four or so con- ,Is grandmother particularly restrained her tinued to seek the breast on occasion and were eating fish while nursing, as "it went to given satisfaction. K.G.'s little boy of five breast.") If the mother should eat yellow- was gently pushed aside when his pawing was t larvae (tabu because yellowjackets eat annoying to his mother, who was nursing an in- )the baby would get a sore mouth. The fant of some fourteen months. for this was to wash the infant's mouth Mothers talked to their children telling a mixture of pulverized salapug (unidenti- them what they must do. M.L. said naughty plant) and dried, pulverized yellowjackets. children were whipped. One suspects this was During the first week the baby was called an innovation due to Mission influence; even no mc&n, literally "one-seven," i.e., one today all Yokuts observed treat their children and during the second po noi nomc&n, with a comfortable firmness of speech and -seven" or two weeks.238 It was then given manner which achieves satisfactory results e by its paternal grandfather: if a boy, without resorting to pushing, yanking, smacking, grandfather's name [or great grandfather's],much less whipping, the young offenders. girl the grandmother's.239 Names belonged There were certain beliefs concerning amilies; persons who were not kin could not childbirth and children. It was lucky to give the same name (M.L.).240 Wukchumni names birth at the new moon: the child, whether male meaningless, said all informants. "If a or female "would grow with the moon." If a meant something it must be a nickname" woman was sterile, it was because she had and J.P.). The grandmother [maternal?] played at intercourse with boys when she was a the infant its permanent cradle, upon little girl (M.L.). M.P. attributed sterility h it slept for one to two years. to carelessness during menstruation: "if a Three months after delivery the mother was girl eats meat at that time it makes something n a ritual cleansing and celebration (wi ti hard so there is no room for a baby." One of w&s) by her husband's mother. The mother- M.P.'s cousins was in such a condition until aw brought "new clothes" (a deerskin apron she "drank something" which cured her; she has he could afford it), beads, and a "washing" had two children since. A Yaudanchi woman et and deer meat. She washed the mother's named O mo "had no children because she ate too and hair, combed her hair and put red much meat" (L.). t on her face, and hung beads (koikoi) Twins were not regarded as good or bad d her neck. Both paternal and maternal fortune, though they entailed special care, if s were there, having brought large quanti- they were to survive. If one twin died, the of food with them. Village friends called, other was sure to. M.L. said that, if a woman men and women, with gifts for the mother had twins, her daughter or granddaughter would eads, a basket, or some trinket -- and were have them also. She had never heard of anyone, n a present of food in return. The food native or white, having triplets and, when told "usually eaten right there, though they of the phenomenon, asked if it would not kill d take it home if they wanted to." This the mother. She herself expressed a physical eption" continued for two or three days. fear of having twins. eafter the mother resumed her normal ex- nce, slept with her husband, and ate almost foods save the "strong" ones .241 Kinship Terms robably "one-six" before the introduction of the -day week which "came with the Catholics." It is even The Wukchumni kinship terms have been ble that this designation of age by weeks is of Euro- withheld with others from this publication. As origin, although the "week," a native concept, is not. with all Yokuts, cross and parallel cousins is is an over-simplification, as genealogical evi- were classed with siblings and called by the shows. The tendency was to carry names through alter- same terms. Therefore, any cousin of another generations, but those so bestowed are few compared to relative (of the same sex) was addressed by the * seemingly chosen at random from the family's stock. same term as that relative; thus, a father's is statement is entirely borne out by genealogical sister's cousin would be addressed as father's sister, or a father's sister's cousin's child (ego's seond cousn) wouldbe calle sibling242 M.P. made a confused statement, which we never got (ego's second cousin) would be called sibling tangled, to the effect that after the mother's "party" Degrees of relationship beyond this (as third :Wnt home with her mother-in-law who "took care of the * or her and the mother brought it food sometimes ." '42This made for much confusion in recording personal and p8 this was in case of birth during the initial period genealogical data as most informants glibly used English trilocal residence? "brother" and "sister" when speaking of actual cousins. 104 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS cousin) had no special term but were all lumped meat tabu was observed. Girls who drank ca as ta'ati (relatives). water and ate meat got overly fatY23 Like A stepparent was called, according to sex, M.P. said "girls followed the moon, and boi by the term for father's brother or mother's the sun," but added that "girls were alwas sister regardless of whether he actually was sick on the full moon," which is, of cours such or not. When it was necessary to dis- impossible. Girls gauged the expected arr tinguish a related stepparent from a blood of their periods by the condition of the m uncle or aunt the word ni 'udi (another) was from month to month, as explained by M.L. added; thus, niW'udi komo d&s (another father's the old days, said M.L., a menstruant cook brother). The levirate was of frequent occur- for the family as usual, but she slept on rence, the sororate known but less common. A opposite side of the house from her husban stepparent addressed his stepchildren by the intercourse was strictly tabu. usual terms for offspring, although it was said During adolescence both boys and girl he more often applied the general term a 'ht were sent to swim at night. The informant (child), which was used by true parents for gave this practice a name, pa "duw&s, and d their children too. Step-grandparents were ad- fined it more rigorously than others. For dressed by the regular grandparent terms. thirty nights during the coldest, frostiest The word no ci (male friend) was used by a weather (December-January), a lad or young man for his wife's sister's husband. This wap girl was sent out three times each night,, a general term for friend and was used rather Just after he had fallen asleep, again hal indiscriminately. (It was used mutually be- through the night, and again near dawn Jus tween most informants and myself.) The word fore the other members of the household wo ta'naic (female friend) was used by a woman for be arising for their own swim. The youngs her husband's brother's wife. It applied only who slept soundly was given a vigorous pok to women and was used between M.L. and myself. until he got up and went out. The swimmer back wet to prove he had immersed himself; dried and warmed himself by the low fire a Puberty Jumped back into his bed. The purpose of efforts was to produce a physical and ment During her first, second, and third menses, hardiness. After adolescence a person of a girl ate only "soft food" (acorn and seed character continued the practice, though mushes) and drank only warm water. She did not quite so rigidly, i.e., one dip a night wa retire to a separate hut, nor was the warm pit sufficient. It took some fortitude on the used. She was equipped with an old breechclout of the parent who himself must waken to se in which was a layer of shredded willow bark: that his sons or daughters were roused eac the bark was buried as it needed replacing, and night three times: J.B. said, "old men so the clout washed. A scratching stick, which times lost their children because they wou' M.L. said was "Just any little twig or stick," see that they did this right each night." she used to scratch her hair or body. Her People often did the same thing in the s mother combed her hair each day; if she touched time and those who did "never got sick." it herself it would split. Pre-adolescent bathing was of an extra and special sort: girls could not eat quail: "quail would nest was taken as a matter of course that one s in their hair if they ate quail before their at daybreak every day merely as a matter of hair grew long" (M.L.). Poultices of hot decent behavior and personal cleanliness. mashed tamik were laid on the abdomen and back J.B. added that every man talked to h to relieve menstrual pains. own children, especially his sons, telling The girl's mother invited another woman them how to behave, to be industrious, and and her son to come to the house: these guests be respectful toward supernatural manifesta remained one or two days. They brought with tions. Both boys and girls learned their them gifts for the girl, perhaps a rabbitskin duties and techniques of work from their f blanket (later Spanish blankets, pinshala Esic)),and mother by association, emulation, and and beads which they hung about the girl's neck. specific instruction. The woman combed the girl's hair and gave her quail-feathered ear plugs. In return the visit- ing pair received a large quantity of food. Marriage. This little ceremony (witi lonuwis) was a kind of tacit betrothal: the boy and girl usually The only regulation of marriage was a. married eventually, but there was nothing de- striction based on blood relationship. All fined, nor was there any return of gifts if Wukchumni informants claimed that a relati they did not marry. ship as distant as third-cousinship was a t At the end of six days the girl swam in to matrimony. A marriage with such a relat the river and resumed her normal diet. She re-- turned to soft food and warm water during her '43M.P. attributed the obesity of a certain old woo next two periods. At ensuing periods only the was obviously tumorous, to infringement of' the meat ta! GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 105 d be called hokoi san yiwL 'nsi (sister time the betrothal took place. Whenever a rift iage) and would evoke the scorn of all who between the couple was apparent, they sought by of it. J.B. spoke contemptuously of two conversation or argument with the young couple ntly married young Waksachi who are second to mend it. Of her own volition, or at the in- ins. He added that he thought "people to stigation of the man's parents, the girl's north" married their cousins. No special mother would scold her if the fault were the shment was attempted in the old days when girl's, the young man's mother reprimanding her a marriage occurred. The parents of both son, if he were to blame. Laziness and coquet- icipants, having done their best to prevent ry on the part of the girl or failure as a pro- bY verbal argument, would not, and apparent- vider of meat and excessive gambling on the could not, do anything more. There was un- part of the man were the usual causes of tedly a loss of social prestige, but how trouble. this affected the offspring of such a union Two wives were not uncommon, but all in- ot be said. The mere fact that informants formants agree that it was only a chief, shaman, d not formulate rules for these marriages or man of prestige who was likely to have them n itself an indication that commonsense functioning on an equal status in the same red, according to the particular circum- menage. They were usually domiciled separately, ces. J.B. said that such marriages "never but within the same village group. When a man rred with the Wukchumni" and, while there lived with two women of separate villages, one o genealogical evidence to prove the con- or the other wife would be in a superior posi- ,we can scarcely accept a complete nega- tion with respect to the man's provision of . No form of "uncle" marriage was known. food and wood and the amount of time he spent A man could marry where he wished, within in her home and in attention to her children. tribe, within his own village, and even a A second wife was sought if the first were n having the same family totem as himself, sterile or incapacitated by illness or age, or vided no recognized blood-tie existed. If merely because the husband desired another d been betrothed to a girl at her first feminine companion. es, he might, were he old enough, soon seek Three wives have been heard of, but M.L. bed at night. But in doing so he committed claimed that a third wife would be resented by elf to a serious union with the girl and to the first two. This opinion was undoubtedly gations in the provision of food to her based on the experience of her mother's brother ly. For two or three months he rose early, who, having two wives, sought a third. The un- for the morning bath and thence to his fortunate prospect was severely beaten by the nts' home for breakfast. During the day he two wives, and their husband abandoned his d fish or hunt, taking the game to his courtship. 's home and remaining there for the evening One case of polyandry was reported: M.L. . If he did not go there he hung about the said her father's sister "had two men at the t house and slept there at night; this was same time and they all slept together." Poly- cially true if the girl's home was already andry was also known to the Entimbich; in both ded. groups no opprobrium was attached.24 This sojourn at the girl's home was looked Divorce, while hindered by the cooperative as a temporary arrangement and rarely pressure of the couple's parents and relatives, ed out a year. If the girl became preg- took place if a woman were sterile yet fought at once, she usually wanted to stay with against a second wife, if either spouse were mother until her baby came (M.L.). slothful, or for intolerable incompatibility. After that the couple moved either to the "A man didn't like a woman to be dirty or one and's home or to a house of their own. who talked all the time" (M.L.) ?45 "A woman gathering seeds, or on any other food- has to keep her food baskets right" (M.P.). ecting expedition, the young wife Joined "A man can't gamble all his money all the time. mother if it were physically possible. If Some things he had to buy, like a good bow to did not accompany her mother, then she did get food for his children" (M.L.). Join her mother- and sisters-in-law but When the couple separated, the woman took nded to household tasks and helped in the all her clothing, utensils, and bedding if she aration of the food when it was brought in. went home. Usually, when a couple separated, It may appear that a young man and woman a man left his wife in possession of their wholly independent in their choice of a house if it were he who was in the wrong or who , and especially so in their married life, wanted his freedom and if she had more than two the parents of both participants exerted ng personal influence. They frequently ar- ed betrothals at puberty and made every Merriam, he Em -tim -bitch, 4-98; crI. Park, Paviotso rt to see that the marriage not only took Polyandry; Stewart, Northern Paiute Polyandry. e, but continued. The parents-in-law and 245A Wobonuch chatterbox was nicknamed Wedawe'dna (i.e., r brothers and sisters all called each in comparable American slang, "blah-blah"~); two husbands r by the reciprocal term ma 'ksi from the left her. 106 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS children. In a sense, the arrangement de- gathering trips, that he would hurt no on pended on the solidity of the establishment: and not to laugh at him. He had no facia "it was easier for him to get out" (M.L.). On "Finally," said M.L., "he took a man and the other hand, a woman might "get mad and go killed him. He said he hated women." home and take her babies" (M.L.). Children who were weaned, say of five years and over, went to either grandparents' home. The parents-in- Death, Burial, and Mourning law and the separating spouses discussed these arrangements. Often the children shifted about A death in a family might be announc or went into the new homes of either parent any of its members publicly or to any of when they remarried. deceased's relatives. Relatives in other' Infidelity, especially on the woman's part, villages were usually notified by a winat was not overlooked. Although virginity was not Burial usually took place the morning fol' essential at marriage, constancy was expected the day of death; but if death occurred 1 from a wife. The husband was entirely within at night, then burial would be postponed his rights in fighting and even killing the the morning of the second day. Since rel wife's lover. M.L. said that, if the lover had were normally within a day's traveling di a wife, she too would "come out and fight the the corpse was kept until their arrival, other woman." In other words, offended spouse it was never kept more than two full days. fought offending spouse of the same sex. When bereaved persons wept and wailed until int women fought they hit each other with their ment. Some professional corpse-handlers digging sticks or rock-lifters, pulled hair, (tono `tm) sang doleful songs. Especially and gouged with their long fingernails, grieved individuals fell on the ground and When the husband was unfaithful, the wife threw ashes over themselves. (M.P. saw he "couldn't do much" (M.P.). "She might get mad maternal grandmother do this when M.P.'s and go home but it didn't do any good if her died.) The corpse of a person who died no husband didn't like her anyway" (M.L.). As more than one day's journey from home woul usual in Yokuts culture, personality, not regu- brought back on a litter by three or four lation, resolved each case according to circum- Immediately death was recognized, the stances. corpse was prepared for exhibition and bu Divorced men and women were entirely free by some relative by marriage, i.e., one o to remarry, although protests might arise, and the individual's lineage. Thus a man's b be ignored, from the parents of a wronged would be washed, the hair washed and comb spouse. There was no return of espousal gifts, and his best clothing put on by someone in M.L. said, in broken betrothals (but one sus- wife's family, his sisters-in-law or "aunt pects that quarrels may have resulted if an law, but never his mother-in-law. A piece equivalent value were not eventually returned shell money was put in the mouth; the eyes to the losing family at some time; see the not closed. The wife herself often helped Chukchansi, Pt. II). opposite, of course, held true at a woman' The levirate was commonly practised, but death. Children were given this preburial was not compulsory; the sororate was known but by someone in their mother's family, not t less common. father's to whose lineage they belonged (J Widows remained single one to two years, Another informant (M.P.) said that th a widower three months to one year. Again, family who would do the ritual washing at personal desires and circumstances affected Annual Mourning Ceremony (the "opposed" pa one's actions; the periods named were those called by the term gu'i) came at this tim conventionally recognized or expectable. prepare the corpse. Furthermore, just be the corpse was flexed and wrapped, it was privilege of the gu'i to remove beads and The Transvestite ornaments from it and keep them. Also, at time the gu'i brought gifts of money to th The berdache had a speci~al place in Yokuts relatives of the deceased, and in return t society as a handler and burier of the dead and received gifts of food -- the Jerked meat, singer of mourning songs. But of the Wukchumni dried fish, and salt -- which the mourners informants interviewed only M.L. would admit could not eat. A family which was extremel their existence. She stated that a paternal sad woulr give away everything, especially uncle of hers was a transvestite. He dressed daughter died (M.P.). as a woman, gathered and pounded acorns, and Still another procedure was described made baskets in the company of women The in- M.L., who said that the women buriers (ton formant s grandmother told her not to make any came to wash and dress the corpse, as well objectlon to hirs presence on their seed- to flex it for burial. 246M.L. said women often "got mad over their cooking" All persons who came to visit the ber and a winatum would come around and make them keep quiet at the time of death received a little pa - - these were verbal battles. from the grieved relatives. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 107 All Wukchumni informants stated that it burier. Among the Yaudanchi, too, women who the women tonoctm who finally arranged the had borne children were funeral singers, for e for disposal and that the disposal was instance M.S. 's stepmother's mother, Yaka nt , iably interment. Cremation they attribu- and another known mother, Tu"n&c. S.G.'s to the Monachi and to "people up north." denial is perhaps understandable in the light M.S., the ancient Yaudanchi, said that of M.L.'s statement that one of his paternal e burial was always practised by Yokuts uncles was a transvestite, a fact S.G. de- e, cremation only by the Mono. She knew clined to admit. If any of the group of Waksachi doctor, wai '&s, who was cremated tonoct.m was a transvestite, it was probably B two wives, Mawo kono, a Wukchumni, and the one who actually carried the corpse to the iku do, an Entimbich. They lived in'Drum grave. Informants all said this was "a big ey. strong woman. ' There is also the question of For burial the corpse was always flexed, how many berdaches in female guise would be B to chin, hands to sides of face or available in any village or tribe; expectably les. It was tied in this position, then they would be really few. S.G. stated that ed -- in deerskins if the family had even in a large tribe of more than one village th, in t'ule mats for most people -- and again. After European blankets were in there would be about three women who normally uced, blankets of the deceased were used as looked after the tasks of burial; if there were ced, blankets of the deceased were used as not more than one in any community, the chief ings' would appoint some other women to help her and Meanwhile other tonoc&.m were digging a these, too, would be called tonocvm. Thus it e by means of digging sticks and shallow seems possible that some, but not all, tonoc&m ts (usually old seed-beaters). A grave were transvestites. S.G. also said that, if a about 4 or 5 feet long and seldom shallower burier had female children, they would carry on 3 feet. Cemeteries were located one to the profession. miles away from a village. J.B. claimed that tonocvm were of either The corpse was carried to its grave by one sex and, like others, he denied their homosexu- he strong female tonoctLm by means of tump- ality or transmuted habits. and carrying nets. Such women had extra Mourning was marked by singeing off the and strong nets for this special purpose. hair, the degree to which it was shortened in- ey walked to the cemetery they constantly dicating the amount of discomfiture A wife ed to the previously deceased to watch for would have her hair cropped short at her hus- relative of theirs who was now coming. The band's death; so would a daughter for her Be was carried three times around the grave father or mother. Men were less extreme in then deposited on its back. As she did their outward exhibition of grief. It was the the carrier or leader of the tonocim said, practice to forego washing and, to heighten the ye carried you, coinamniu [Choinimni per- disheveled appearance, pitch was applied to the or whatever]. I have taken you to the face and chest; on this dirt accumulated. It rd. You are going to get buried. These was permissible to wash the hands. Meat or Le (accompanying relatives] are going home. grease was strictly tabu, and an almost com- the relatives added, "We are going to make plete fast was attemPted by some mourners. uning ceremony for you. Don't come back Absolutely no participation in public gather- tmust not see your people any more. You ings was permitted, although it appears that to go north now. T&pni is there. You this prohibition was motivated by melancholy to stay there" (J.B.). rather than by a sense of spiritual unclean- Then all present, tonoc6;m and relatives, liness. in earth and they all ran home lest the Possessions of the deceased person were it follow them; no one might look back hidden away until after the release of the .). The earth was filled in and tramped Annual Mourning Ceremony. The bereaved did not by the women who dug it (s.G.). No food, want to look at these reminders of their sorrow. , or any objects were left at the grave. Some women mourners wailed ritually morn- ring to M.P., on their return home the ing and evening until after the private mourn- ers washed the tonocLm and paid them for ing ceremony. While in mourning retirement services. They were under no restric- women spent all their time making baskets for aof foods or activities beyond this time the forthcoming mourning ceremonies. leansing. Private mourning ceremony.--For about two Whether all the tonoctm were transvestites or three months after the death of a spouse or moot point.?7 Perversion (in these per- parent, a bereaved man or woman refrained from was denied by M. and J.P., J.B., and eating meat, from washing more than the hands, M.P. pointed out that her husband's ma- and from participating in social activities. 1l grandmother was a funeral singer and In the case of a spouse's bereavement the The native word, tonocLm, has been used throughout family of the deceased decided when the tabus diBCussiOn in its meaning as "burier" or "corpse- should be lifted; that is, the relatives-in- or," not "transvestite." law provided for a small cleansing ritual and 1o8 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS set the date for it. This reciprocal group was hiam pahata muk&s: growing girl, 8 called gu'ui Just as is the reciprocal tribe in years the public Annual Mourning Ceremony. hiam pahata wu h'not: now big male, On the day set the relatives-in-law, youth 10 to 20 years headed by one of their group, brought meat and (marriage not a factoggirlor yong matro clothing. With them came two or three singers witep mi tac gutum: "young man," lit (ahe ntf). The singers performed morning and ly, little real male, 20 to 40 years evening, and the chief mourner, his relatives, hiam pahata mitac mukis: young matur and any others of his tribe who wished all wept woman, 30 to 40 years in accompaniment. This performance was called pahata gu tum: full-grown male (refe paho t&t and continued all night. Sometime specifically to Henry Lawrence, 4o to 50 paho"tt ad coninue all ight Someim'emoho"do gu"tum: old man, 50 or over, during the night money was collected from the modo ,do mukts: old woman, past chil mourners by a winatum and the next day was bearing taken to the reciprocants. The next morning the washers' winatum got large baskets of water, and the visitors washed SUPERNATURAL POWER AND SHAMANISM the faces of the chief mourners, combed their hair, and dressed them in new clothes. These The informants S.G., J.P., M.P., M.L. chief mourners would be the immediately be- Tm.W. contributed to the general account i reaved and close relatives, e.g., a man and hls this section. The following introductory children mourning a dead wife, or parents and ment is from S.G. siblings mourning a dead child, etc. There- after the faces of less closely related mourn- ers -- cousins, aunts, grandparents, etc. -- A doctor begins to practise a dream 1 were washed. a man would study a book. If he dreams, h Then a general feast was held, games were goes out into the night and prays to his d played, and one or two shamans might dance to help him. A man cannot be a doctor unl during the evening. The shamans were given something tells him to be one. A man who money frequently in order to keep them dancing. he liked but he didn't have to do it. If Sometimes a woman or two would dance with them. wanted to stay ordinary he let his dreams Thereafter the initial phase of mourning either because he didn't know how to ask t was over. A widower was free to remarry, help or he didn't want to bother. Because though many men did not do so at once. A widow you start to get help you have to karp it was expected to remain single for at least a or you'll die. Haia6ac died because he mai mistake in practising?48 If a man took hi year. Any deeply bereaved person continued to dream, he would fast all day and pray at n maintain a depressed demeanor and refrained to his helper. In one or two years he mi from meat until the annual mourning celebration get enough power to cure. All that time h was held. During the mourning period a woman told nobody what he was trying to do?49 H busied herself making baskets which she gave Just kept dreaming and learning from his to the relatives-in-law who washed her. She [helper], and only ate a little bit of foo continued this industry in preparation for the the time. Annual Mourning Ceremony. Acquisition of Power Age Categories When a boy was about the age of ten o From M.L.. Her distinctions are not very little older, his dreams became significanl satisfactory from the point of view of Euro- a source of power. A lad might decide bef pean culture. My impression is that for Yokuts hand what sort of helper he wanted, Rattle the span of life is, roughly, in four parts: Bear, Coyote, Owl, etc., and he would be i] birth to adolescence, adolescence to mature structed to keep his mind upon this until manhood (say 20 years), manhood, and old age. achieved it. All young people were encour to secure some supernatural help to aid th throughout life. The rigorous bathing and stemiousness imposed upon adolescents was wi'tep, wltipe6: baby, baby boy; any aid to this end. The cleansing of one's child under 3 years; literally, little one stomach with the tobacco emetic, a method gu'tum wite-p: baby boystmcwihtetbcomtc3aehd mog,kt witep: baby girl by adults, and constant praying were thoug hi"lam paha ta witep gutum: now little induce regular dreaming. When the sought- male, i.e., boy [here referred specifically to __ _ Mason Garcia, aged 5:1 2"8J.P. also referred to this but I could get no ac witep mu k&s: little female, i.e., girl of his death. hiam pahata gutum: now male; i.e., man 2*9 [here referred specifically to Felix Garc?a, Did not tell publicly; he might confide in his pe aged 10) or a helpful uncle or grandparent.a GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 109 occurred, the dreamer rose and went away to his sanctuary, he would swim in it either surrounding dwellings to talk to his dream going or returning. If the stream were small er, which was usually an animal or bird. or merely a spring the supplicant would 'took eagle down with him and sprinkled it sprinkle some water on himself. r little oak trees. Nothing was seen [no When he returned home he immediately went sion"I during this interlude; it was merely to bed. If a dream helper came to him in en- rayerful acknowledgment of the previous suing sleep and it was the one which was wanted, am appearance of the helper, with a request it was cherished thereafter, and he prayed continued assistance. S.G. said that the specifically to this helper when in sickness or er should repeat this exit from the -house in trouble. He might, if he felt inclined, go t every half-hour after waking from the out again occasionally and pray during the am; other informants said that once was night but "he needn't go so far this time." One ficient. The real point was that the dream- of the chief benefits derived from having should not fall asleep again: probably some supernatural power was the assurance of long d it necessary to remain active lest sleep life for, if the person were in danger of being rcome them. If one fell asleep and the "shot" by a malicious shaman, his soul or life were forgotten, it would not only be substance "would not be there [where his body st," but the helper would be so deeply was] but away off on that hill where he had ended it would never come again, or might gone to talk." n cause sickness. The day following the "What a man dreamed he kept right on him": am the dreamer fasted entirely and went off he kept a tangible talisman symbolic of the some secluded spot to continue his prayerful supernatural helper. A curing doctor might tacts with his tutelary. A few puffs of have many helpers, all the birds for example, Dke might be taken at that time. and he could call on one or more or all of All persons with supernatural power, and these to aid him when he was curing a patient. se respectful t6 this cosmic force, t&pni, He had a talisman for each one. Dke prayerfully to the sun, moon, and morning A dream in the daytime was useless; nor when they first saw them each day. was one on a full stomach of any significance J.P. and M.P. described the procedure of (S.G.). king and dealing with supernatural power. Although theoretically any one might seek power by this means, and the dream was its only source, there was a tendency for shamanism to If a man wanted to live long or wished for ,run in families" just as there was for other er benefits, he would go to a chief and buy runain s as hunting, as for ther e eagle down (cayi). (He could resell all occupations, such as hunting, and for the same 'any part of this if he wished.) Some winter reason: the children were better instructed ht, no matter how cold, he would go off to by their already successful parents. So my istant hilltop. He wore no clothes and went informants argued, and the assumption is reason- out midnight. Before starting he chewed a able. There was no inheritance of power, or tle tobacco and then spat it out. At the of a shaman's position or function. ltop he would scatter eagle down and in a Any person, man or woman, could seek dream nding posture "talk to those two tia-as" And pe it or himan, or s dream le and Wolf [?L1; Mountain Coyote)). He help and use it to help himself or his family. id enumerate all those things which he did Women, however, never became professional. want to happen to him and all those which "There were none up Wukchumni way, there was did want. He stayed and talked this way for Just one down south" [that S.G. had heard of, tut thirty minutes; Eagle or Wolf would reply. probably the oft-mentioned Poi2'n). The dream helper was called ai n&c (from No fasting preceded such an expedition and ana 'iatswad, to dream), as opposed to posa, the ore was no particular name for the spot where lineage animal symbol acquired by kinship; the prayers were made. A chief usually went same name was given the talisman representing atedly to the same place, which by general it sent was known to be his and avoided. Women Supernatural power (t&pni) bestowed by the casionally sought help in this manner but dream helper imbued a talisman symbolic of the id not go so far from their home as men. The helper which every tutelary's protege possessed. erred time for seeking supernatural aid was A person might have several talismans repre- midwinter "about Christmas time during the senting various helpers. But once a talisman month" and it was only done once a year.29 had been used to accomplish some act of curing, mt was at this time that youths were forced it was necessary to have another dream of the rise and bathe in icy water at night.) If helper it symbolized to revitalize it, so to seeker passed a stream of water on the way say. The word for any talisman was wai 'ac, a word which also meant "necklace" (a string of beads or anything hanging from the neck; a tis=1sentof the midwinter spiritual period of cer- talisman was sometimes worn that way). The nnorthwestern tribes (cff. Spier, Kianath Ethnography, word ain&S was more commonly used for a talis- 266; Ray, Cultural Relations, 102 rr) man when it referred to the helper whose power 110 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS was inffusing it: the word wai'ac referred to a good hunter or a bad man. A man who wa the talisman merely as a material object. Al- to show he had power through Cougar would though the material which constituted the the claws tied on his arms with cougar si talisman -- feathers, claws, or whatever -- (S.G.). Ante --e"The little yellow deer might be bought, talismans themselves were (ija haj&t) was a shaman. His body was jtz never sold, once they became talismans. An like a net: bullets went right through it owner of one would fear its discovery by a helped a man to be a doctor, but one who w malicious shaman (they could be "heard" by by this deer did not live long because the powerful people and taken). Thus an ordinary were too many rules for a person to follow person with private power, or a young shaman, (S-G.).253 might be forced to give up his talisman through Deer.--If a man were chasing a deer a the animal got tired, it might come back t fear of being sickened, should a shaman demand hunter and tell him it would make him a po the object. A talisman so acquired could be ful doctor (J.P.). used by its new possessor (see Anecdote 10, OwlQ.--The horned owl (hutu du) was th below). dream helper of the huhuna dancer. "He co Sometimes supernatural help came unsought see anything" (M.L.). in the following ways. Although J.P.'s ex- Miscellaneous.--CougarT, Wildcat, and amples are of Deer helpers, he said "any animal Buffalo [ ij& (Elk) are three helpers for might act like that." Thus, if a man were hunters ( s G.). chasing a deer and the animal became exhausted, helpers (J B ) s it might turn back and offer the hunter super- ; natural help to become a doctor. The man was under no compulsion to accept. Another way Curing this might happen was for Deer to offer power to an abnormally successful hunter who had been All shamans had a collection of talis killing many of these animals, until "they got which were usually kept in a sack of skin tired of it." Then the head Deer (mets hoi) as a weasel, otter, skunk, or small wildca who lived in the deer cave25' would go to the skin. The shouldered basket (osa) was so man in a dream and offer to make him a doctor, sometimes. This collection was not kept a promising him great success and an assurance of the house but was hidden outdoors in some wealth if he would cease hunting. The man crevice. Anyone who touched it would get might decline to become a shaman "but he would fingers or sore eyes. Because of their po tell Deer that he would only kill one deer at a these outfits were burned or buried at the time after that and only when he needed it." owner's death. Only a relative who had at least as much power as the deceased shaman would dare to keep and use the talismans; Dream Helpers tried to and were insufficiently powerful,, would die. However, shamans were buried 1 The special gifts bestowed by animals as plain people; there was no special disposal dream helpers are formulated in the following An essential to all curing equipment was e comments by informants. These powers are those down, both loose and rolled into cord; all randomly acquired by dreaming, not through a persons with ttpni power, whether professi lineage-association. or not, wanted and used this material. Shamans seem to have been called to c Eagle.--Dreaming of Eagle only made people headache, chest pains, chest congestion, h rich.252 In no other way did Eagle help with trouble (vertigo), rheumatism, and chills dreams (S.G.). One did not ask him for general fever. Nausea was said to be uncommon, and help in acquiring supernatural power, which persons suffering from this usually cured might be expected from his chiefly position in themselves by drinking herbal infusions. T the realm of birds and animals. Feralcon.f--A perdso who hiad Falcontohelp ailments (save nausea) were all thought to Falcon.--A person who had Falcon to helpk caused by the intrusions of some malignant him could make a cretwd qut Falcon was also object which might have been sent by a mali dangerous as a helper: he sometimes made ous shaman, by a ghost, or by an offended people wild, they would break out of any jail supernatural animal or bird. The first cau they were put in (S.G.). was regarded as the most probable, the last Cougar.--A person who dreamed of Cougar, was least likely. or especially of struggling with one, would get Chills and fever were usually accompan so much strength that he would not dare to hit by headache. To cure this a doctor put wat anybody [lest he kill him]. Cougar would do by headache to enths a doctokpu wat one thing or the other: he made a man either 251See section on hunting and treatment off deer; also 53That is, the person made a mistake and of fended hi Wobonuch account, Pt. II. ~~helper who caused his death. This is a strange word ror 252That is, it could not make one a chief, antelope, but what other cam be meant? GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 111 ing. "The chills and fever came right out Coyote man" [i.e., of Coyote lineage] who did the top of the head" (M.P.). so (S.G.). If a person met a ghost (tawa tsa) after The methods used by the shaman Haicaca k it might cause the intrusion of such ob- were offered by J.P. and M.P. as examples of ts as fingernails, hair, or clots of blood. the customary curing procedure. (See also !e had to be sucked out from a cut. (See Anecdote 10 below.) 'cdote 8 below.) Haivaca had dreamed of Falcon (l&m&k). He If a woman had an intimate man friend who then bought a falcon head from someone, skinned he might come back and have intercourse it, leaving the beak intact, and filled the her. An orgasm during sleep was attrib- skin with fine tule shreds. He hung beads on -to this. But a severe headache was be- threads run through its nostrils, and wrapped red to result, which had to be sucked out the whole thing in many strands of beads. ugh the top of the head by a professional These were never removed even when he was an. curing. When curing, Haicacva dipped the falcon Most illnesses were attributed to evil head in water and ran his hands over it. Then ns who were thought to "shoot" the in- he laid it down and rubbed his hands over his sive object in order to be called to treat patient. This was used on one case, then was case and so receive payment. (See Anec- useless until he dreamed of Falcon again. es.) He had an eagle head similarly prepared J.B. said all sicknesses with pain were with which he cured J.P.'s back. ed by shamans. Pain was called ho ba (the He had a long bear claw (Bear was his also for blood). Shamans shot pains into family totem), which he used to cure a woman in lumbar region of woman's backs. labor. It was used like the falcon head. He When curing, shamans wore the same dress also blew on the woman's back and abdomen. alia as when dancing: feather headdress, Kneeling before her, he placed his hands on her eel-skin wristlets,254 down-strand skirt, hips and gently shook her twice. "This made ther bunches hanging from the wrists, ear the baby come." s, and other ornaments. Not every shaman Haicaca did not sing when curing: he con- ed such a complete outfit: the most im- versed prayerfully with his supernatural help- ant item, after the feather hand bunch ers (aintc) and to Water which was helping him. ch after all was an implement of work, was Since the water he used was obtained at Guts- feather hat. Any man who was going to do numi, he addressed it as "Gutsnum." Water was ething special in a ceremonial way would a powerful helper. At Gutsnumi there was an or borrow one of these, whether he was a underwater person who was adverse to strangers or not. swimming there and pulled them under. Like Cases of slight sickness did not call for eagle down, Water was a general assistant in ing or dancing. The doctor pressed his supernatural matters and to dream of it was a ient all over, asked for symptoms from both propitious indication of its willingness to ient and attending relatives, and also asked help one, yet it was not a tutelary in quite t the patient's recent activities in order the same sense, not so personified perhaps, as explore the possibility of the sick man's a flesh-and-blood creature like Cougar, Eagle, rng had some weird experience (such as meet- Owl, etc. a ghost) to which the illness was attribu- le. Then he smoked, communed with his per, and proceeded with whatever treatment Miscellaneous Powers deemed best. A more stubborn case would 1 for singing and dancing. This was done in Contagious magic.--While the practice of house beside the patient and in the pres- contagious magic was not developed, it was e of the family. As the shaman danced he clearly recognized, and Wukchumni took pre- ated aloud what his supernatural advisor cautions against leaving their hair, saliva, telling him. (But he was not po8sessed; it discarded clothing, etc., available to malici- Inot the helper's voice or words, but his ous shamans. S.G. denied the practice to the 1.) If the doctor "wanted to make a show," Wukchumni, saying that they left their hair would have the patient removed to the public and soiled clothing wherever they wished; he where people assembled to watch. During attributed the evil to "southerners." It is e performance the shaman might hire a singer difficult in cases described, to distinguish accompany him and a winatum to assist him. between this idea and that of poisoning, and I was the privilege of anyone who wished or am not sure that a difference exists, save that d to give a clowning pantomime of the in poisoning an actual contact between the per- Xa'5 activities, "but it was usually a son and the poisoned obJect seems to be neces- sary. In either event some very personal pos- These protected the vulnerable seat of supernatural session of the intended victim, such as hair tr ln the wrists. M.L. said a shamn would pay one hista combings, or a piece of dress, is treated with ut 25 cents) for a weasel (aho'ot) skin, some virulent material or "poison." Whether the 112 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS poison is real or imaginary I could not dis- was not developed as a specific ability by cover.255 chumni shamans as it was with those of Weste Airshot.--Shamans of any standing were be- Mono. lieved capable of sending intrusive objects into other persons. Such objects were called by the word for arrowhead, tu'yos, in English, Rain-making "airshot." Properly speaking, airshot is the invisible shot which shamans used in the No Wukchumni or Gawia had power to cont Shamans' Contest, but the English and native weather, to the knowledge of present-day in-' words are used loosely for all intrusive ob- formants. The only person M.P. ever saw aff jects. These objects might be grains of sand, the weather was a doctor named Ela mki who c a beetle, a cougar's whisker, or a shaman's up from Kern River. He visited her uncle, own beard hair, fingernails or seeds. "Some Hai6aca, who asked him to make rain. Elamki kinds of shot knocked you down while others had a basket of water, and as he sang, he hardly hurt at all. The same doctor could dipped the end of a special sort of stone in make [i.e., propel] different kinds" (S.G.). the water and with it sprinkled water in all All shamans used a basketry tray (tai'iwan, directions. Then he picked up handfuls of Wukchumni, bo'gtu, Patwisha), similar to the earth and threw after the water. Then he la worman's gambling tray but larger and handsomer, down to sleep. He had been asked to make a as the basis or foundation from which the shot hard rain. And so he did. It rained so ha was propelled. The shot was set off either that Haicaca had to give Elamki a dollar and by blowing across the tray or slapping it face ask him to make it stop. downward on the ground. The invisible airshot was derived from the sun. It was made from nothing (i'a mci, lit., Killing of Shamans nothing). The shamans prayed to the sun, grabbed toward it with the hands, and then Shamans were feared because of their rubbed them on the tray where the shot appeared ability to cause sickness and death. Not on looking like buckshot, fish eggs, seeds, did they secure fees by this means, but by 256 pebbles. This all disappeared when the sha- threats of misuse of their power were able t' mans again rubbed their hands over the tray. demand "gifts." Three anecdotes of maliciou According to J.P., this same airshot could Wukchumni shamans have been previously pub- be transformed into living creatures. Thus a lished. shaman would "blow airshot off his tray and it When a shaman was believed to be a publ would change into an owl that went and talked menace, the chief of the village of his vict to the doctor's victim. Sometimes it would be would give those who wanted revenge permissia a coyote -- they are mean just like owl." While to kill him. Usually the outranged relative owls and coyotes are the customary servants of of the shaman's most recent victim would be shamans, other informants indicated that these ones to do this; they might be joined by oth were living animals, not magically created ones, avengers- Sometimes a man who was known for which were under shamans' commands. his reckless bravery (hi'auta) would be hire Transformation.--The Wukchumni believed to do the killing. There was a risk even in that persons with supernatural power, not killing a shaman, for his powerful ghost mig necessarily shamans, could transform themselves return to do further harm. under conditions of great stress into the form Such killings, however, were not infre- of their animal dream helper. (See Holoansi's quent, and the shaman who lived above suspicl experience, above, and Anecdote 4, below.) was fortunate. Apparently the desire for Bear transformation was believed possible wealth and social power caused shamans to pu for persons of the Bear lineage, provided they sue their uneasy life. "Doctors did not lik had dreamed of Bear and had sufficient t&pni to to hear shooting -- they always ran" (J.B.). accomplish it. Men did this, never women. It A typical account of a shaman's death w was not a common practice and I could secure no given by M.S., the Yaudanchi. Her mother re stories or anecdotes concerning it, and at married, this time to Ki pat., a Patwisha [?] least one informant denied it in toto. shaman. They all lived at Cihoi li. Someon Flying power.--The power of flying through "from near Clovis" (Gashowu territory) had a space, while mentioned, was only incidental. grudge against Kipat and enlisted the aid of Thus in an escape, for example, the distressed Kosowi, an Entimbich shaman, for revenge. person suddenly found himself a safe distance Kosowi induced Kipat to drink a decoction of away from his threatened danger. The power jimsonweed and, while the latter was in a ____________ ~~~~~~stupefied condition, the aggrieved man cameu '55vide J.P. 's experiences, Gayton, Yokuts-Moho Chiefs and killed him. After Kipat was buried, a tr and Shamans, 403. mendous wind arose, so great that "it fright-| 256Whatever simile informnants used in attempt;ing to de- scribe airshot, the common element was a granular aspect. '57Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans, 394-395, J1 GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 113 .all the Indians. This was because Kipat located, Coistsu (dog place); the correct name so much t&pni." is packi. The Shaman's Cache Anecdotes of Supernatural and Curing Experiences It was believed that most shamans had vate caches (pa cki) where they kept not 1. J.P.'s grandmother, Pono'sa, dreamed y their sacred outfits of talismans, but of a roadrunner which came and hopped on her ir wealth, and even the stuffed skins of hand; it told her how to help women in labor. S women adorned with beads and other valu- She was not a professional doctor: "this was ewroments Thor ed cachbeadwould bteri vacliff just her ain&-c" [dream helper). e ornaments. The cache would be in a cliff 2. J.P.'s maternal great-uncle, Holo'ansi, rock pile; cracks indicated the door, which was a snake handler; J.P. 's po'sa was Rattle- ned at the owner's command. The rocks were snake.259 Once J.P. was bitten by a rattlesnake; lly painted; in fact, any rock with picto- he went to his uncle, who cut off the snake, phs was thought to be a cache. A rock pile put it in a bag, and later released it near a 'Drum-Valley was shown me as a shaman's cache; rock pile. The uncle sucked the wound and put another at H 258 ashes on it; he told J.P. never to kill a snake. ore was another at Hoganu.- 3. In 1926, J.P. 's horse, while grazing, Both S.G. and M.P. described a big cache was bitten on the nose by a rattlesnake. It ar Gutsnumi which they said was in a big hill was sick for a week yet recovered although J.P. wn as Bell Bluff, called Coisssiu (lit., did nothing to cure it. J.P. said, "It got 5 place). This was on Kaweah River directly well because Rattlesnake is my posa. Anybody posite the old village site, now known as else's horse would have died. Yes, sir!' site Beach,and was marked with pictographs. 4. J.P.'s maternal great-uncle, Hololansi ninus Beach, and was markedwithpictographswas of the Rattlesnake lineage. He had the ese I was unable to find; M.P.'s children, special power of being invulnerable to bullets, started as guides, became frightened and having "dreamed of a gun that didn't go off" home.) S.G. said that there were several [sic]. He dreamed thus: er chambers "each as big as a house" and He was down in a gulley. Two men came t they were filled with native treasures along and shot at him, but the bullets did not skets, beads, feather ornaments, etc.) and penetrate his clothes. They called to him to le effigies of stuffed skins. When one come up, but instead he flew out of his clothes iked over the hill one could hear it was and landed on the far side of the EKaweah] llow, " rriver. There he turned into a rattlesnake "so ilow, "your footsteps sound different." S.G. that even the horses could not see him." pressed apprehension lest the hill might some An analogue to this dream occurred soon be dynamited, for if so, "all kinds of bad after. The old man was down by the river when seases would fly out over the country." two white men, one of whom was John Doe,20 came M.P. had a frightening experience there by on horseback. They called to him and, when ence her children's nervousness). The rocks he did not respond, shot at him. "The bullets the bluff are painted with pictographs, she came right at him but didn't hurt him." He id, b h ucalled on his posa: instantly he turned into Ld, but she would not accompany me there. a rattlesnake and slipped away in the under- brush. Long ago her uncle warned her not to look J.P. added that dreams of invulnerability them as she would get sore eyes. Moreover were common. ere was a beautiful weird dog there which 5. The power of flying, known to northern out of the rocks to attack investigators. neighbors of the Wukchumni, was mentioned by wever, she and her cousin went down there one S.G. ening just at dusk. A ghost came out after A shaman from Kings River came down to a em. They jumped to one side of the trail and Wukchumni celebration a long time ago. He was twent right by and on down the hill looking going to be killed by some avengers, but some- ke fire." M.P. believed that the cross she one warned him. He had three strings of eagle- s wearing at the time saved her. When the down cord each about five feet long. At this ls reached home the uncle chided them for ceremony he walked out across the assembly ing down there. He said that in that hill space dragging the talismans behind him. Sud- re [the skins of] beautiful boys and girls denly he vanished from sight. After the fed with tule, and each one had a basket of trouble was over he reappeared again. ney. The shamans had eaten their flesh and 6. J.B. told of a man who dreamed he was ver. The dog which guarded the cache had a chased by a ghost (tawatsa) all the way from ake's body and human hands for feet. A white Dunlap to Drum Valley. When he arrived there, nonce saw it, shot at it, and died the next a shaman already knew what had happened and told of it. "Doctors always knew what other people dreamed." 1[ I - . - . . . - 259He followed his maternal lineage totem because his The belief in these guardian dogs explainspaenlncsrwaprthi. e common term for shamans' caches, wherever 260J.p. added, "John Doe went blind because he wasn't a 258Shown in Steward, Petroglyphs of California, 110-139, good man. He had a lot of white doctors to help him but he Ig. 51, 52. didn 't treat them right. " 114 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS 7. J.B. accused cokontk, a Choinimni 261 acorn mush. He went swimming in the middl shaman of great power, of making his son ill. the ensuing night and then came home and si "He was a big doctor. He thought I had lots of until dawn "when opod [sun] called him." money so he made my boy sick. He made him sick swam again and ate a tiny piece of meat for and then cured him." Cokonck used the sucking breakfast. Haicaca continued this routine method; he exhibited a fingernail as the in- until both his grandparents died. trusive cause. During the treatment he talked After that he went to live "over Tel to Owl, asking that tutelary to help him and way." While there, he dreamed of Crow (ho telling Owl what he was going to do. He also who promised him aid "if he would only beli rubbed the patient with a talisman (aintc). He in what he was dreaming." He secured a cr was well paid with money and baskets. wing which, as a talisman (ain&c), he kept 8. M.P. lived with her maternal grand- close to his person. About a month later a mother after her own mother died. Both women shaman who came down from Dunlap engaged mourned deeply for this death. M.P. became Haicaca in a gambling game. This doctor co very ill from prolonged crying and fasting. hear the crow talisman (hotoi ain4c) singil She developed a chronic headache and could not under Haicaca's clothes: "It kept singing see. Her uncle called a shaman. When he 'kah! kah! kahl"' The shaman demanded the t arrived, she was in a stupor. He cut her be- man. Haicvac6a denied that he possessed one, tween the eyebrows ,262 at the back of the neck, "but it was no use." The doctor threatened and on the left breast. He sucked and ex- make him sick and kill him if he did not gi tracted a lot of her own mother's hair from it up. So Haicacta gave up the crow wing an these wounds. The hair he wrapped around an cried for an entire week over the loss. eagle feather and then burned the whole thing. At about this time Haicaca's mother's He explained that her mother had been trying to cousin, whom he went to visit at Naranjo, take her [to the afterworld], that the grand- him some Jerky. He took the meat home and mother's continuous crying for her dead daugh- it. Soon his heart began to palpitate. He ter had thus brought her back. Then M.P. was started to go to Dohem [?), where he was wo "able to get right up and eat." ing, and after crossing the river he coughe 9. M.P. had a headache on another occa- up blood. It was at Dohem that he had had sion. The shaman who treated her [Haicaca] had first dream of Frog, and when he reached t an owl head and a falcon head as talismans. He he vomited. He remembered his dream and ca wet these in a small basket of water from Guts- on Frog to help him. Down at the spring w numi, which he kept calling on for help. He he went to drink, a big frog came to him. pressed the wet objects on her head and blew on man had lain down by the water and the frog it twice. Then he shook her head gently but jumped on his stomach. At once he vomited rapidly back and forth.. Then he cut between object that "looked like blood all wrapped her eyes and sucked out "a little plain blood" in coyote hair." Then a whole chorus of li which he burned. frogs came up around his feet and sang. 10. The following affairs of Haicaca Haicaca felt better at once and, rising, w were recounted by his niece, M.P. right back to Naranjo. His "uncle" ran off Haicaca (Jim Hangton) was one of M.P. 's his approach and did not return until Haica maternal uncles. He became a shaman although left. his father was not one: Bear was their family Subsequently Haicaca went down to Tula totem. When he was young he did not eat any to shear sheep. One night, while his vest meat; he spent most of his time outdoors, away hanging on his bed, someone put poison on t from the village, hunting. What game he shoulder of it. When he put on the garment brought home his grandmother skinned and cooked. his shoulder felt like fire. He kept the v The lad became hungry and asked for some meat, however, and a little later a woman "burned but his grandfather told him "not to look at up for him." Instead of being cured, the meat, to just eat some acorn mush and go to shoulder became worse; his shoulder, chest, bed." Haicaca did as he was told. finally arm, hand, and foot swelled up badl During the night the old man poked the "He nearly died." How he was cured of thia boy and his four brothers with a long pole, ailment M.P. did not know, "unless by a Ca telling them to get up and go swimming as it lic priest's prayer." was nearly morntng. Sometimes he made them go Haicaca became a good doctor; "he neve in the middle of the night.263 "The boys got hurt anybody." He would have taught M.P. t awful tired of this." a doctor "if she had been a boy. There wer Finally one night Haicvaca dreamed an lots of women doctors south of Kern River." enormous fro~ came to him. The frog said, Haicaca once cured M.P.'s husband, JP. "Hello, napas [brother's son, w.s.). I will be of a lame back. For this he used the eagle your guiya [paternal aunt]. I will help you head talisman for rubbing. "Then he cut an when you need me." The next morning the boy sucked out blood in the shape of two little told the grandfather his dream. He was sent to frogs." swim and then to hunt until the afternoon. When 11. The only case known to my informan he came home, his grandmother gave him a little of a water creature serving as a family tot (posa) was that of H.L.'s family. M.P. tol 26SJ.A., a Chunut informant, also accused Cokontk of mal- of it. H.L. himself is "master of Otter" practice (cf. Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans, 395). (naha'at). Neither H.L. nor his sister wil 262 ~~~~~~~~~~eat fish "because their father was sick for '6The scars are visible, as they are on other informnants long time from fish." 2614 who hve ben sbjectd tothismetho offcurig. 'On the contrary, Fish, as his poWa, cured him in '63Note that all the boys were subjected to the rigorous illnesses recounted. The statement is merely a case of night bathing but only one became a shaman. version due to H.L.'s inadequate English. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 115 Kawu was H.L.'s father and mother's cousin with tobacco as rattlesnakes were said to abhor -.P.; he was a Yauelmani. He was ill for a the smell and would go away. Shiny ornaments, long time, and a shaman who diagnosed his such as an abalone-shell pendant, were worn in esaid "that he had a water snake in his the fields in spring as they would startle the mach that kept trying to get out through his snakes and make them rattle. 1." But the shaman was afraid to cut deep But such them we gh to suck it out. Finally Kawu went u,p But such ornaments were dangerous to wear River to a big waterfall calledKono& lkmn. at other seasons because they attracted thunder was his posa so he called on the fish to [lightning]. S.G. related the following as an him. He dived into a deep pool below the illustration. While he was under the water a rainbow t (ep8s) went down into his stomach. When When S.G. was about fifteen, his father re- ureturned home, he lay down outside his married. The new wife had a small boy whom the se and told his wife to tell everyone in the father hated. The man put an abalone pendant Lage to come near. This was done. Then his ftu ha te che an t to go sit e called to the fish, and it popped out of (tu a) on the child and told him to go sit mouth. Then Kawu sat up and told his under a certain tree. Soon the lightning end, Noho 'no, to cut the fish open and see struck the youngster and his dog. S.G. was not was in it. Inside the fish was a bloody far away, and carried the burned child home. er snake. "Kawu got well right away." This happened at Pupunao. A little later on Kawu was bitten on the le by a rattlesnake. The snake fell over, ned, on the ground. Said Kawu to the snake, To wear an abalone ornament on any cloudy {do you bite me? Do you want to kill me?" day would invite a thunderstorm, according to he ran to the river and, calling on his M.P.; M.L. said the ornaments offended Thunder, [Fish], jumped in. Immediately many trout "made him get mad." , sucked his wound, and saved him. The A black substance from underground (bitu- er was thick with fish. "He went home and men?) was heated on a rock, then applied to the t everybody down to gig them."265 top of the head to rid one of bad dreams caused 12. If an undesirable dream came to a t o t son, he was privileged to ignore it. J.P. by ghosts. ed about an owl which told him he was Goldfinches (soi 'soi) sat out in the brush n to be a curing doctor. But as J.P. did and whistled to people when it was time for want to be a doctor, "he -didn't pay any them to gather blackberries. M.L. knew of no ention to it." other bird or animal who did such a thing. 13. Similarly J.P. rejected offers of At Gutsnumi, in the bottom of the swimming tlesnake to make him a Rattlesnake shaman. pool, lived an old woman named Mocata who J.P.'s grandfather was a Rattlesnake pounded an old dan ng.eIfoastanger n, and this reptile was the family totem. pounded acorns all day long. If a stranger e snakes would only go to somebody whose went to swim there, she would grab his feet and stors were Rattlesnake people." J.P. pull him down to her house. (Not long ago a ed of rattlesnakes many times. People flood came bringing quantities of sand which ed him to participate in the annual Rattle- spoiled the pool as a swimming place.) e Ritual that was held to prevent people A railroad train is called hu da (lit., it being bitten. He dreamed a rattlesnake cries) in reference to its whistle. right up to his feet. It said to him, en are you goin$ to start that dancing?" J.P. replied, 'I am not going to start that ing. I'm not going to handle you." PLEASURE DANCES 14. M.L. said that when she was young she ed about her future husband. Later she med she was talking to her children and, as Evenings spent in pleasure with profession- grew up, this helped her to talk with and al entertainment occurred not more than once a se them. She added that in old times, when month in any one village, as there was so much meat tabu was more strictly observed, an intertribal and intervillage visiting for all person would dream of something that would such festivities. The kind of dances that were him and he would begin to feel better. given by the shamans depended upon the chief's tdoesn't happen any more because people choice. His winatum would tell the shamans .too much meat and grease." what to dance. Besides the regular schedule of dances -- Bear Dance, Snake Ritual, Beaver Miscellaneous Practices and Beliefs Dance, etc. -- there was the dance for enter- Miscellaneous Practices and Beliefs tainment called the kam or watiyod performed A woman going seed-gathering in the spring by shamans all the year round. summer would smear her forearms and legs ere are a few other instances of a man'R indifference Kam le killing or eating Of his poWa although he would not [ther himself. The attiltude of inforants was that "it The kam was one of a few dances performed 't matter," particularly if the animal involved was a purely for the entertainment of spectators. n food (cf. Michahai and the winatu' s pigeon booth, Whether the dance was always the same, i .e.*, Ii). had specific songs and steps which differenti- 116 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS ated it from all other pleasure dances, cannot hostile intention was ever associated with be said, as no informant could give the neces- dance in practice or by tradition. sary details. For no ascertainable reason it is referred to in English as the "war dance." J.B.'s account follows. Watiyod The wa'tiyod was a dance performed by Tepo sa, a Wowol, and another man named shamans for the entertainment of onlookers Ana ki, danced this at times of celebration, hmn o h netarnn foloel particularly at the close of a mourning cere- for making money for themselves. Usually mony. "It was only done at a very big fandango. or more women participated. The accompan Bob Bautista danced this any time to make money singers used the clapper (taow&d). The d but that wasn't done in the old days." could be made at any place at any season. it was wholly profane in character, it was nevertheless, performed only by doctors. The dancers wore the regulation feather J.B.'s account is localized at Siyedu skirt and headdress. Teposa had his face paint- Wukchumni seed-gathering camp. ed entirely black; Anaki had one-half his face This dance was done by Watisti (Wati8 black, the other side white. Both men had and his mother Boyiwan (Poinon).a66 This their bodies covered with short horizontal the only "pleasure" dance they made and th white stripes. Two singers accompanied them, only dance performed at the camp called Si Ka tai and Yawa umi; they were Teposa's sister'sIt was done every month or so, "whenever t sons. doctor wanted to make a little money, or s When it was the appointed time after a body else, like the tia'a, asked him to." mourning ceremony for a dance, such as the kam, women, and children assembled to watch. several dancers from visiting tribes would take Watisti wore the vertical feather and turns performing for an hour or so. In this feather wreath headdress, a feather skirt, way a keen sense of competition was created and carried feather bunches (wacam) in each the dancers catered to an appreciative audience His face was painted entirely black, and a The dancers who participated in the all- perpendicular alternating black and white night dance after a mourning ceremony were al- stripes covered his torso. Black and whit ways doctors, according to J.P. They would be stripes encircled his arms and legs. sought from among the visitors, as would be the Poi'on, who danced with him, had eagl singers. There would be four to six men down glued across her forehead, wore a de dancers who stood in a row, while one woman skin apron, and carried hand feathers. He only stood in front of them. Whatever woman face bore alternate stripes of black and w was asked for this role had to comply, and she running obliquely from beneath the eyes to would be given about ten cents (a half hista of edge of the Jawbone. Her body was unpaint bead money) for doing it. "If she didn't know Their accompanist was Ponato (Bill Gn how to dance, she Just stood there until she field), who "always sang at giyedu." He w got her money and then ran off." no paint or ornaments, merely carrying his The singers used clapper accompaniment elderwood clapper. Beside him was a baske (the cocoon rattle was used only for the Bear tray on which spectators deposited small s Dance and Snake Ritual). There were three or of money as payment. The singer receivedI four of them. One man sat beside them and half the total amount. collected the money for the dancers and singers; Both dancers sang in unison with the a man who did this was termed winatum for the singer. The man's step was the usual stai time being. J.P. said that in the old days with high-lifted knees. Although he remai "when the money was beads, it was so piled up nominally in the same place, he turned abo you couldn't carry it off in a blanket." facing this way and that at will. The wo When a chief wanted to make money he would kept her feet parallel, close together, an collect some dancers and singers and visit took sidewise Jumps, moving her hands in other villages, or often the performers them- and in the same direction as her feet. S selves would go without a chief's sponsorship. covered more ground than her partner, alth Of course, they could not give an entertain- her moveme-nts were less facile. ment at any place visited without having the The performance began at dark of a s permission of the chief of that place. When a evening, about eight o'clock, and might co chief accompanied them as "manager," he collect-tinue until midnight. Each dance unit las ed the money and distributed it among the per- three to five minutes, during which time t formers. Thle singers were invariably paid singer repeated the same song two or three "because it is hard work to sing all night." times. Then there would be a rest, and th the name "war dance," which has become again another song and dancing for a few attached to this shamans' pleasure dance (kam te ov__di w h m or watyod), J. P. regards as entirely due to 'see the 3ankalachi account of these people who r white persons' misunderstanding. No fight or "southerners" livngw at Aiyeu. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 117 tes. When the dancer wanted his singer to two were sung by Chunut doctors,267 the other t or stop, he held his hand feathers out four were Wukchumni. rd him. For each dance unit there was a song although the steps remained the same. 1. ta'w&t ti nima tawatawil [repeat 4 times] J.B. was unable to repeat any of the songs, dead maybe motion of hand feathers in he said their content dealt solely with the dancer's hands 1 creatures who inhabited the world during mythical prehuman era, they were all about soisoi ma yin tawit tinima e,Coyote, Dove, etc. He did not think Goldfinch calls dead mhaybe re was any defined order for the series of ho ma ta"ni'a tawit tinima Be are you going dead maybe The informant M.L. used to participate in watiyod as one of the female dancers along soisoi mayin her mother, mother's sister, and mother's goldfinch calls her. She said that nearly always the women Perhaps dead? feathers moving d be some kin of the men performers. She Perhaps Goldf inch tells [you] to be dead ribed the affair as follows. Perhaps you are going to the dead This dance could be held at any time of Goldfinch is calling [you] -- whenever a doctor wanted to make some y or was asked to perform. Usually it was 2. hiwai 'tn ni vening spectacle. The village winatum walking I [it is understood Bear is d build a fire at the dance space, a large speaking] in winter, a small one in summer. Specta- hu nai hiwaitin ni brought tule mats and sat around to watch. nothing walking I also brought a bit of money as payment, h was collected by the singer accompanists * hunai hoi yuwo nLm shared in the profits. nothing come back my Usually there were four or five men and a w women participants. The men wore feather ca wai hunai ocyai ts (tu'hun), bracelets and anklets of crow ers, and each carried one large black I am walking I in the right hand. Their bodies were I am Just walking for nothing ted with horizontal stripes of white. The My return is for nothing wore deerskin aprons (some of them Someone is calling me for nothing ed with rattling deer hooves), bead neck- , ear plugs, and carried a feather bunch 3. so ksok so ksok tu m&t na tipni tum t oh hand. Their faces were covered with na t&pni pint and over it a horizontal row of white kingfisher kingfisher cover me power cover crossed the cheeks and nose. me power Two or three singers sat at one side using so'ho- svo'ho na na het na na hEt pers. The doctors had their own songs, .nonsense line] the singers knew, and all sang together. said M.L., the women sang also in a loud kate- wahin na L1imanner. doing circle I The dancers all stood in a row with two Kingfisher, Kingfisher, cover me with your taking the end positions. The men power ped heavily with each foot, swaying the I am circling about [as a kingfisher flies er quill back and forth, while the women when hunting] from side to side with feet clamped ther, moving their feather bunches in unison4. nioho 'o o mta na ma hanE nwa their feet. If a "tiya wanted a dancer to Bear hunting I you all off he would have his winatum call to him p out of line and dance alone for a bit." ma ah taha na tum could also call out mistakes made by you hunt I ncers. M.L. could not say what such tepa ne ma r might be other than getting out of step power you one's companions. A singer might attract iton to a dancer's mistake by stopping his Bear, I am hunting you all r, patting his hand against his mouth and You have great supernatural power Kng a loud ululatin "Ha-a-a-a," at which '7Later on, wnile we were working with the Chunut at ody laughed. Lemoore, little girls were overheard singing the first song The songs were "all about animals." A few (1). Kroeber gives several Yokuts songs in The Yokuts Lan- recalled appear below. She said the first guage , 363_372 . 118 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS 5. aiyama'tsn na pa'n&n once in a lifetime; a man who sought extra worthless I country [it is understood supernatural power might take it each year Coyote is speaking] every few years, provided he observed the he ,yin do "into panin aiyamiv tabus. A man who desired special power wa he `y&n do "mto pantin aiya 'mci they call mountain country worthless differentiated from other participants dur the ritual but behaved and was treated 1i I'm worthless novices. The mountain people call me worthless The ritual leader was "any man" who how to administer the drink safely and wha 6. ta,ad u v ,a p of good character, i.e., "who had never ki 6. taa'anad uku n cu has' pokai du anyone., or told lies; he must be a kind ma- I going drink finished E?] spring water ayn,o odle;h utb idm (M.P.). The leader and local chief, after wa do mtuk Wukediu sultation, set the day for the rite, and i far mountainward Wukediu [name of spring] was announced twelve days in advance by a tum. Thereafter the participants drank on I am going to drink spring water thin acorn mush. Meanwhile the grandmothe Far up the mountain at Wukediu (both paternal and maternal) of the novice went to the leader and arranged the detail Another dance or game was described most their grandchildren's participation. An e incoherently by M.L. She could give it no perienced participant did not necessarily name and said it was participated in by young a sponsor, but if he were a shaman he migh people on moonlight nights. Essentially it was have his winatum help him through the cris a kind of "roughhouse." Girls who did not want At dawn of the day set, the leader wi to take part would be seized by winatums, two winatuns went through the village call laughingly scolded, and thrown into the group. the boys and girls to come drink Jimsonwe . with them. They assembled and all went fo long walk or run while the leader procured, plants. At the village of Gutsnumi, for e ample, the procession ran, with the leader VARIOUS CEREMONIES ahead and a winatum before and behind the of youths, along the trail to 6oiss8iu (Be Jimsonweed Ritual Bluff). At the beginning of the trail an of willow withes, about three feet high at The following account combines information center point, was erected over which each from M.L., M.P., S.G., and J.B., who were in son must Jump. One failing to clear it, o agreement on all essential points. Not one of tripping, was believed to have broken the these informants, however, admitted taking Jim- tabu and was sent directly home.68 "There sonweed and no subsequent information led me no use keeping on as taniai wouldn't work 0 to doubt their veracity. A participant would anybody who had eaten meat" (M.P.). The t have been preferable as an informant. length of the run was about two miles. The The ceremony of Jimsonweed drinking winatums returned with the youths while th (tania 'yn; tafiai, Jimsonweed) was always held leader dug the Jimsonweed. in the early spring about February to March; The plants he brought back to a bedro "while the sagebrush was in bloom" (M.P.). mortar where the participants' mothers wer Soon after the winter solstice a winatum would gathered with baskets of water. After the go through the village saying that all those pounded the weeds, he put them to soak in who wished or intended to participate in the water and it was allowed to stand for a wh next ceremony must cease to eat meat. Not only (M.L. said "a woman dressed up with beads did the prospective drinkers observe this tabu soaked the taniai in water." This does not but also "their parents and everyone connected with other information, though all persons' with it" [i.e., specifically the leader of the were dressed in their best, even if merely ritual] must abstain also (M.P.). Thereafter lookers.) only acorn dishes and clover were eaten until Meanwhile the drinkers were taken to twelve days after the rite had taken place -- assembly space where blankets were laid ou roughly speaking, a period of three months. for them. Each child had a blanket, an in Adolescent boys and girls partook, but not vidual drinking basket, and two women spon under compulsion. The general purpose was an [the grandmothers?] present. Then the lea insurance of future good health and consequent brought the decoction and made a speech te long life; some youths hoped to obtain super- the youths to pay attention to what they w natural helpers by this means; much secret see in their dreams and to fear nothing, n a knowledge was discovered during the coma, e.g., that, if they dreamed of some particular bi who were evil shamans and who their prospective_ victims, or the causes of peculiar and chronic '2For mythical ref~erence to this practice see Latta illnesses. Normally Jimsonweed was taken but fornia Indian Folklore, 71. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 119 animal, it would become their helper in time It was said that an evil shaman who feared dis- need. Then each boy and girl was given a covery through this means would try to render of the liquid which was dipped up in the the narcosis ineffectual, i.e., blank, and vidual drinking baskets. M.P. thought the drinkers who failed to have visions always tity was about one to two cupfuls; some- blamed this cause. 8 a second dose had to be given if the On the twelfth day after the ritual a tial amount was not effective. The drinkers,general celebration took place. The children ped in blankets, remained near the central dressed in their best. Fathers provided meat e as a preventive of chill, an effect of the and fish, mothers, baskets of acorn mush. The otic which was recognized as dangerous. As leader, relatives, and children, "all who had one became unconscious, he was carried anything to do with the drinking," took part. a shelter where his women attendants took The chief made a little speech recapitulating ge. One held his head in her lap, the the events and causes that led up to this er his feet, and both gently rocked the literal "break fast," for none of these persons Id and sang as he slept. The mother and had as yet touched any meat. Even at this time her stood by watching; they could not be those who had actually drunk taniai took only ent if they had eaten meat. The chief func-a minute piece of meat, which they invariably of the attendants was to guard against vomited. ght: "sometimes a child would rise right up This little feast provided an occasion for fright and rush out never to be seen again" betrothal if any families cared to take ad- P.). If this happened the leaders of the vantage of it. This is the only indication 1 were held to blame for carelessness. that the ritual was an induction into anything, h flights usually occurred in the morning and even this was only into maturity, so to say. lowing the drinking, as a heavy coma set in Even this is inferential, for informants de- ng the first twelve to eighteen hours. nied the ritual any formal aspect of initiation times a light gruel was given the drinkers into tribal life, ceremonial participation, or they stirred and became active. About the even spiritual experience, for many of the they were expected to awake several women drinkers already had dream helpers. The be- ld sing gentle "waking" songs. M.L. 's trothal preparations were no different from er sang on such occasions though M.L. could those normally made by a boy's parents. On no reason other than that she often sang, such an occasion, at the time of the feast, if ed, etc., in public performances. The one of the girls who had drunk tanfai was de- s were simple, saying "You drank taniai, you sired as a daughter-in-law by some family, they uld wake up," or "Get up and drink more would go to her home before the feast and array i" (but more Jimsonweed was never adminis- her for it with gifts which they brought. Even ed then). One such song was: if the offer was accepted, the young couple would not marry at once but "waited until they 'tumi uka 'naka tana ya lu lhe' lula lhe' were grown up" (M.P.). se. Drink taniai. Walk! Walk! Jimsonweed was well known as an anaes- thetic. It was used both internally and as a As the drinkers became active they were poultice. When Jimsonweed was drunk, the meat e to see obscure causes of illness. A sick tabu was observed in so far as circumstances on would come, give the drinker a feather permitted. A twenty-four hour fast was the ch, and his sickness, which, it was said, minimum, but two or three days were preferred. lily appeared as swarms of insects to the When so used, the Jimsonweed was thought to oxicant, would be brushed off. As these have a power for healing, a quality beyond mere ocosms were brushed into a fire they made anaesthesia. Fractures were set and bound pping noise audible only to the drinker. while the injured person was in a coma. Poul- person was invariably cured: "even cancer tices were made of mashed leaves of the plant cured this way" (M.P.). and tied over sprains and flesh injuries that As an example of typical behavior M.L. were excruciatingly painful (see Holo'ansi's d a drinker, seeing S.G. throw a burden- experience, p.72). ap toward his mother, immediately brushed off, believing that it was a snake trying sicken her in some way. M.L.'s first hus- M.L.'s first husband took Jimsonweed to took taniai and saw "the railroad before it help severe rheumatism. His mother's sister ;he saw something moving around without suggested it and her husband prepared it. The horses to pull it; it frightened him so he sick man drank only gruel and water for six around wild." days; then he drank the decoction. He got up If occult disclosures concerning the evil and walked to his aunt's house. He ran and jumphed; He wsa leid around by the arm. His hea aonfided this to his parents (provided they fied him. Then he took an eagle-feather brush eaten no meat) and to his attendants. What and brushed off his aunt. When he recovered, done with such information was not stated. his rheumatism had disappeared. 120 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS S.G. knew a man who had a broken bone. He band, etc. The singer accompanist, who w fasted twenty-four hours. Then he drank tanai also a person with Bear totem, sat at one- in continuing small doses which "kept him drunk and used a cocoon rattle. The dancers st three or four days during which time the bone a row, with the most powerful or important was set. When taniai was used this way bones a the righ the womaua th lefta(t would set within a week." at the right end, the woman at the left M.P. knew a man who lived in Antelope the audience's point of view). The men he Valley; he was part Patwisha, part Wukchumni. their hands cupped to their mouths to augi He broke his arm. He took Jimsonweed to drink their heavily aspirated grunts. The woman, and also made a poultice for his arm. "Even her hands beside her shoulders, wide open, though the bones had overlapped they went right palms forward, and her elbows close to her back into place." sides. While the accompanist sang and rat J.B. knew two Wukchumni who lived in sie While the aomanist sang and r Antelope Valley who took taniai "Just to find the dancers turned toward their left, and out things." They were Obogu nda and Walai. men, with feet together, took three slow, J.B, had seen Choinimni take it but "never saw Jumps forward. At each Jump they exhaled anyone use it at Dunlap" [Entimbich and Wobo- harsh, hard "Xo'! so'! xo'l" The woman re nuch, but see Wobonuch account, Pt. II]. in her place and, with feet together and h off the ground, moved herself rhythmically- a gentle bouncing-springing motion on the Bear Dance of her feet. The upper part of her body her shoulders she turned to right and left' The Bear Dance (noho"'o ka maic) was one alternate "bounces." She kept this up con of the most important ceremonies of the year269 tinuously while the men Jumped and walked It always took place in the fall after the new ward to their former positions three times, acorn crop had been gathered and stored. Until whole performance lasted no more than ten the rite was performed, the new acorns were minutes at the utmost, yet it could not be tabu to all people having Bear as a totem peated under any circumstances until the f animal, although others could eat them if they ing year. For this reason it was particul wished. Important people of Bear lineages, admired, and urgent demands for repetition particularly the dancers, conversed among them- the onlookers, with consequent refusals f selves, deciding on who should take part, on the dancers, seem to have been a tradition the date, and so forth. Their decisions were part of the affair. If the spectacle were told to the local chief who, through his wina- be witnessed again that season, it would tum, announced when and where the affair was to to be in some other village or tribe with c be held: the date was usually set six days dancers. ahead. Meanwhile food was gathered by the per- When J.P. was young he saw a Bear dan sons of the Bear lineages and by the chief. whose arms and legs were entirely black. They were the hosts and provided all the food, tators said to him, "If you are a bear, let although visitors might send or bring food, for see your hair!" At once the black portions which they would be paid. The visitors from turned into hair all over the man's limbs. other villages often began arriving soon after The dance was supposed to be a replica the initial announcement was made. real bears' antics; they were said often "t The dance itself took place about nine dance with trees." o'clock on one evening only; it was never given in the daytime. The dancers were usually, but A man was out hunting once about sund" not necessarily, residents of the host village, and saw a little bear dancing beside a sma Two to four men participated, and one woman, oak tree. He was standing on his hind leg who was always a relative -- daughter, sister and holding up his paws; he Jumped at the or cousin -- of at least one of her men com- three times. Then he clawed up some earth panions, although the men need not be related. threw it at the little tree. The tree was The one prerequisite was that they all, as well singer and the little bear was mad because as having Bear as a family totem, had dreamed singer made a mistake. The human dancers of the animal. (I am not sure how essential the just the same way [not toward their singer however] and will not look back over their. dream was for the woman.) shoulders until they are through. The men wore whole bearskins attached to themselves with thongs. (At another time J.P. said the male dancers wore bear-paw skins J.B. gave a similar anecdote. pulled on over their hands like mittens.) Bear- claw necklaces were worn, and sometimes flicker- His wife, her sister, and her cousin feather bands were tied like streamers from the out gathering seeds. They saw a bear danc arms. The woman dancer merely wore her "best He was near a little white oak which they clothes" -- deerskin apron, beads, down head- lieved was his singer. He Jumped and grun~ - ~~~~~~~three times, then he grabbed at the tree a3 playfully mauled it. Three times he did tii '4This major account and accompanying demonstration are and then went off. The women were much p1g from M. and J.P.; other accounts follow, at the spectacle. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 121 M.L.' s description of the Bear Dance was and Huhuna Dance to the Yaudanchi, attributing entially the same, She was a participant these dances and any performers making them to ng with her relatives -- her mother, mother's the Wukchumni. ter, her younger sister [cousin] and brother usin?] -- of whom her mother's brother, Bus, was the leader. The chief at Diapnusa Deer Dance ld send his winatum to Taisus saying it was to hold the dance [sic]. Another dance, ascribed primarily to the The male dancers wore whole bearskins Patwisha and of somewhat the same genre as the tened on their backs, but held nothing in Bear Dance, was the Deer Dance. According to Ir hands. The women merely wore the usual J.B.'s account: rskin apron, ear plugs, etc., of dress asions, and carried bunches of crow feathers their hands. At one side were two singers This was done every spring soon after the usedratlesmad ofstif der hde ied Snake Ritual. It was danced by Ni wic and used rattles made of stiff deer hide tied Ha 'nas, brothers. Both men were fine hunters. r the end of a stick and containing a few They assumed no deer ornaments, merely dancing bles. This type was used for no other dance. in the usual ceremonial regalia. They held The men held up their hands and, taking their hands up close to their shoulders, palms ee hops forward, said "Xo'1 xo'! xo'!" The out, and took dainty steps markedly to the left n made no sound, but remained in one place and to the right, at each step uttering a I feather bunches raised, making little plaintive "Ma-a,a !"- ting motions with their heels. Meanwhile the singers sang. Two of their Like the dancing bear she had seen, J.B.'s s follow: wife also saw some dancing deer, a very rare experience. so 'nowau ntm luka omao storehouse my [place name] This was on a little hill near Dunlap. Six deer came tripping out from some under- (My storehouse is at Lukaomao) growth. They progressed by taking a step to the right, hesitating, then a step to the left, hesitating, and so on. At each step they said wa so washa-so- hu-seme-hu "Ma-a-" in squeaky little voices "Just like small basket small basket [futurity] lambs." J.B.'s wife remained utterly still ,V ~ ~ ,,~until the deer, still mincing, vanished into wa so ukun hust.m nioho o na hustm the brush. small basket drink [futurity] Bear I [futurity] Beaver Dance (I, Bear, will drink from my little acorn Another ceremony of the display type was mush basket) staged by men who had power from fish, or possibly from water or water creatures. Both M.L. and M.P. had witnessed this, but neither No matter how much the spectators wished of them could attach any purpose to it. The see the dance repeated, it could be done but citing of "fish camps" along the rivers sug- on each occasion, "they had to wait till gests that the rite might have something to do year." with the fish supply. The Yaudanchi probably had the same dance, According to M.L., the Beaver Dance took eber attributes it to them and to the place about midwinter. A doctor who had power Inimni .2 from fish (cadut anitu, catfish doctor) built a tule-covered house around the outside of which ..The two or three participants were painted he hung cured beaver skins (tau pi8). While Lrely black, and were naked save for a head- spectators gathered outside, he entered the of eagle down and a claw necklace, or a booth, sang, and danced. As he did this the naround the loins that had been taken from beaver skins trembled and a "swsh-swsh, swsh- animal they controlled. The dance was swsh" sounded continuously. Then a woman, a rly mimetic. The feet were held together, "plain" woman, who had no tipni power and who body leaned forward, the hands hung down. was not sick, would lie down and groan. The ually the doctors Jumped to their song, led, spread their fingers like claws, and doctor emerged, brushed her off with his hand ed forward as if to seize a foe. feathers, and sang in a soft whispering voice: The Yadanch inforant, .S. ofMokoca dut, ca dut, 6a dut The Yauanchi iforman, M.S. f Mokocatfish, catfish, catfish lage, categorically denied the Bear Dance e bese, e bese, e bese Hanbook, 517. trout, trout, trout 122 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS koko co, koko 6o, koko co displays appear to be the kernel of the cere [a very large fishJ mony, which ends toward morning by the perfo tapa'psu, tapa"psu, tapa"psu ing shamans "fighting" one another magically^ perch, perch, perch Another display dance was mentioned by M.L. in which she danced with her shaman unc The onlookers marked time with their hands or Taisus. They sang song No. 5 (p.118), and t feet and sang continuously the burden: the shaman "made a mudhen come and fall in t ha ho'ho"', ha'ho 'ho ', ha"ho-'ho' fire." The woman "patient" did not sing. Several more women would do the same thing. M.L. thought Rattlesnake Ritual they were perhaps empowered by the doctor's mind, hypnotized so to say. [This fits with From no informant was I able to obtain Kroeber's description of this rite as a description of the Rattlesnake Ritual which "willing" or "wishing" one.] Then a man any way approximates that given by Kroeber f (ahaJa 'amu aiitu, not translated) lay down the Yaudanchi 272 It was one of the native groaning too. Neither in this nor in any other rites most frowned upon by missionaries and display had M.L. seen showers of fish appear. white settlers and has not been performed, e M.P.'s description differs from this some- aberrantly, for many years. The reader is r what, and it may be that shamans differed in ferred to Kroeber for a full account. My o the staging of their displays. She said that summary and, in a few instances, supplement the "fish doctor" performed in his own house, data are given below. The only major differ but that a partition of mats was arranged be- ences in these are the absence of any "sh tween himself and his audience. Two or three killer" (given as kuyohoch, obviously confus men participated, and men, women, and children with hi'auta), and the presence of the Coyot looked on. M.P. said the one performance which clown, not mentioned in this connection by she saw was in her childhood and she "wouldn't Kroeber. have been able to keep awake if it hadn't been This ritual- called so no, was made in so pretty." spring of each year, about April, always jus The walls and partition were hung with prior to the snakes' emergence from their beaver skins. The principal fish doctor winter hibernation. danced and in a singing voice called out the One of the participants at Diapnusa was name of every fishing camp and village along J.P.'s maternal uncle, so J.P. went with him the river EKaweah). As he did this the beaver when he got his snake; both had snake posa. skins shook and little fish (ta'kLt, minnow ?) They went up to a rocky ledge on Diapnusa hi dropped out of the skins. In some manner these J.P. sat down and watched. The uncle had wi fish fell over the other side of the partition him a flat tray (koiyoto), a bird-bone whist on the shamans who "had to call for help there (wa'h&d or so'ho), hawk down, a small stick were so many of them." After this performance a long pole, and a willow cage (somal)l Th the "men and women ate all night" but what they tray, its surface covered with hawk down, wa ate M.P. did not know because she was sent to laid on the ground in front of the snake den bed. A rattlesnake came out and circled once aro I have used the term Beaver Dance for the tray. Uncle did not like it and told it this ritual because the beaver skins seem to be go back. Another came out. This was repeat an essential part of the performance and be- six times. Each snake had taken one little cause the term fits with the Yokuts ritual piece of down. When the sixth and satisfact series -- Bear, Snake, Seed-growing, Rain- snake came, it would not take a feather. Th making, Jimsonweed-drinking -- more appropri- Uncle told it to take one and it did. Then ately than the correct but abstract name "wish- circled his little stick over the snake's he ing ceremony" (ohowish) used by Kroeber.7' His When it coiled, the tray was inverted over i description of the rite is as follows: covering it with down. Uncle then picked up the snake in his hand, putting it in the wic .,Several shamans gather in a specially made cage. He talked to it continually, telling house or booth, behind a screen of tules, and where it was going, that it was to participa perform to songs appropriate to the occasion. in the Snake Ritual, and that it must not bi The skins of beavers and otters hang about the anyone. The cage was put on the end of the walls. These animals are the personal spirits pole, and J.P. was allowed to carry it home. of the ohowish medicine men, the "wishers" or There it was hung in a tree until wanted. "wilers,whose power seems connected with Terta a edi h feno water, as among their achievements mentioned is Thriulwsedinteaenonn that of making fish in a vessel of water. Such the village dance space. A vertical-sided]p '711b1d., 507. '721b1d., 50'+-506. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 123 dug, a log laid across it, and the doctors Then people began shouting for the "biting" their snakes in it. Two singers were display. "They would put up $50 to $60 for ient to sing "snake songs." Then the as- this." The doctor who was daring enough threw led onlookers walked to the pit, dipped a his snake to the ground to anger it. It would in the pit as they crossed the log, and turn toward him and bite him. The arm was ex- in some money. The doctors did not par- tended, so that the snake struck high in a ipate in the "stepping rite." spectacular manner; the reptile was displayed While the doctors were doing their pre- dangling by its fangs from the doctor's arm.23 nary dancing before picking up their Then the other doctors sucked the wound and es, Coyote clowns came upon the scene. spat on a tray, and the victim recovered at might be one or two of these, usually a once. This ended the ritual, usually about 5p.m. her and sister (or first cousins) of a The feast provided by the doctors was then te lineage. The man wore a coyote-skin eaten. They, of course, received the payment ume on his back, the head of which was so in the pit. The next morning they returned the ged that the nose was pulled far down over rattlesnakes to their respective dens. own. He was painted with black about the J.P. said "the worst he ever saw" was a and mouth. An artificial tail tM.L. could doctor whose snake struck him three times. He say how this was made, but it was not the was given the sucking treatment and lived, but te-skin tailJ was extended from his but- he remained unconscious until the following . This he could jerk about with obscene morning. res. He carried a long stick. J.P. said the "sun snake" was more danger- Approaching the snake pit, he would run up ous than the rattler. If a doctor wanted a pretend to strike the reptiles. He would sun snake, he "held his tray up to the sun to end the snake had bitten him, groan lavish- get power" (this at the time he was seeking the and mimic the snake doctors' motions. reptiles for the ritual) .274 he became too boisterous, the chief would The informant Tm.W. had seen Pusltl&n get his winatum with money to make him keep snakes for a dance at Mastmnao (a Chukaimina . He would get in people's way, knocking village). He went out with a bone whistle. When tawkwardly with his long stick: people the snakes heard it they "rose right up in the dpay him to desist. Then he would seize rocks and were told to 'Come on!"' As a snake sister (or cousin), pull her up to the turned away, the doctor grabbed at the back of e pit, and there lie down with her pre- its neck. He put it in a willow cage called ing to have intercourse. This caused the co "mis. Tm.W. had also seen Solopono do the est amusement, as the incestuous implica- Rattlesnake Ritual at Porterville, but this in- added to the impropriety. When the clown formant was not equal to describing it. A nded to be bitten by a snake, his sister rattlesnake was called pu'wuvs tu'ud (little drush up to him and burlesque the curing- rattlesnake) or mets tu'ud (big rattlesnake). ushing motions of t&pni people. The Rattlesnake Ritual was held by the At Diapnusa it was M.L.'s son-in-law, his Yaudanchi at Moko early each spring. Several r, and father's sister who were of the doctors participated. Those M.S. recalls were e lineage and performed the Coyote antics. her stepfather Kipat (Patwisha), Cokonik had seen the same thing once at Dunlap (Choinimni), Umicana (Wukchumni), 6iw&n (Wuk- there were also male and female clowns; chumni), and gu*t (Gawia). Each man had a f the women was probably J.W., a Wobonuch. snake which he had obtained at its den. This The doctors, of whom there were usually informant's description of the rite differed or four, walked in line around the pit, from others in the following respects. ed by a group of boys and young men During the dance the coiled snake was held ng sticks and singing. Each doctor took out on the palm of the hand, or was wound nake from the pit and danced with it. around the neck "like a muffler." There was no the head of the snake was held in the "biting" display. Each doctor had a hole for hana, the tail in the right. A step left his own snake; the people who filed by paid aken, and the arms were extended a little each snake by dropping in a bit of money, and outward to the left. Then a step to stamped at the side of the hole, and passed on. ght was taken. At the same time, the While in captivity, the snakes were kept in hand released the snake's tail, while the bottlenecked baskets (osa) instead of cages. A holding the head, passed the reptile be- pole (wi `ct, any stick or pole) was set up the dancer's neck, where it was taken into beside the dance space and gifts of baskets for ght hand. And with left hand now grip- the doctors were hung upon it. The doctors the tail, the arms were extended upward utward. The snake was now passed from '7I do not know whether this "dangling" is physiologi- Wto left back of the neck. These two move- cally possible for the rattlesnake, but Kroeber reports the i,complementing each other, were repeated same action (ibid., 505). and over as the doctors filed around the '74M.A. , the Paleuyami, said her father "made snakes come tollowed by the crowd of boys. down from the sun. " 124 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS provided and paid for all the food that was normal rate of interest was at 50 per cent, eaten at the end of the ritual. tu nwis.) To return to the original contributor. the sum, each one who had put in an amount; ANNUAL MOURNING CEREMONY $10.00, had to agree to provide an equival amount of food or gifts ($10.00 worth) whid would be received by the recipients at the A ceremony (dunis'a) which at once empha- o h eeoy nohrwrs ntm sized and dissipated the hardships of mourning of the ceremony. In other words: in term was held at one- to three-year intervals by value, no profit was made on either side; i each tribe in the Central Foothill region. The terms of materials, the hosts received mon number and financial status of bereaved persons exchange for commodities. The money was r determined its frequency. The ideal was an quired to pay the washers, singers, winat detemind is fequncy.Theidel ws a huhuna dancer and accompanying shaman, the annual occurrence, which was the normal sched- huunpance an acpyghaman , the ule for a tribe as large as the Wukchumni or ticipants in the Shamans' Contest, and ent tainers on the final day of celebration,and Telamni, but unless a tribe was large and the above all, to pay for the food provided and bereaved were wealthy a yearly occurrence was consumed throughout the week. The recipien not warranted. Tribes like the Gawia and Yokod who received the commodities could sell th would hold the ceremony once in three or four years. Three to six families would sponsor the tesot ifte transactiostwee ossib affair with, of course, cooperation from their inform nts d that angreatde f d' chief. trading went on during, and on the final da chief. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~the ceremony. Naturally, the opportunity Great expense was entailed in these six- theaceremony.tNaturally the opprt day affairs and the money and gifts had to be unparalleled throughout the year. At the inception of a mourning ceremon assembled by the sponsors before one could be te a esum of a ma upnby termo undertaken. When the bereaved families be- then, a sum of money was made up by the mo lieved themselves sufficiently prepared, they ers, chtefs, and investors of the host tri told their chief's winatum. The chief then consulted with the heads of the families and fore setting out, the winatum was given a m and a payment by his chief: in return the also consulted other chiefs of the same tribe in other villages (if, as with the-Wukthumni, winatum made a slight gift to the chief, w more than vle (if, as ithothe Wucumi might be money, food, or clothing. At the more than ogreemenetl e wase ivoulved) If all village to which he was sent the winatum wa were in agreement, the date would be roughly rcie suulb h he n ie set at least one and sometimes three months received as usual by the chief and given a ahead to permit the accumulation of necessary An assemblage was called, the purpose of th ahead and to e prepermit athe nofsheltersvisit announced, and the money distributed those tribal members who wished to accept i knowing the obligation it entailed and the Financial Preparations "gifts" they might expect in return. The c of the recipient tribe was responsible for The mourning families had collected sums personal accounts, as it were, of his fell of money which they now gave to the chief. That is, at the ensuing ceremony, the retu Amounts were added to this by the chief, his the money with its interest and the receiv Amounthis wee aded. tthies byom the cthief hi of gifts from the hosts were carried out be subchiefs -- i.e., chiefs from the other twe h hes(y en fwntm) villages of his tribe and the especially ap- individalisus wereano ol untilsth pointed tuye'i who functioned only at this day the ceremon (thecd of th last dayr of the ceremony (the day of the wa time -- and by any other persons, men or women, i who wished to contribute. Some men borrowed to rthehs chie r wes was my und ta money for this at the regular rate of 50 per cent interest as a pure business investment, The tribe approached as recipient was for reasons made clear below. The whole amount obliged to accept. If it were deemed advis S.G. and J.P. estimated as roughly equivalent by the chiefs, subchiefs, and others to dec to $200.00; the aboriginal money was, of course, this was done, or a compromise might be su shell beads. gested, i.e., that they take part of the fu The disposal of this sum was called and that the remainder be sent to another t lakana'n'c and followed an established method. Even if accepted the money could yet be re- A tribe, sometimes more than one, was selected turned within six days if on further consul as the recipient; but this tribe was not the tion the recipients felt they could not mee tribe of the ceremonial reciprocants or of- the obligation. If this happened, the send ficial washers, although there was no rule that winatum was sent to take back the money; th it might not be. Wukchumni recipients were recipient winatum did not take it but took usually Telamni or Chunut. The recipients of the message to the sender chief explaining the sum were to return it with 100 per cent situation. When, as a result of this, the interest at the time of the ceremony. The sum sender's winatum went after the money, heM plus its duplicate was called ilu"'us. (The paid by both parties for the service. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 125 When the funds were accepted, the re- them later came independently from Waksachi in- ients had the opportunity to indulge in formants. ing on this one- to three-months' loan and mke among themselves, and probably with the t traders beyond, more than the 100 per Wukchumni Waksachi tthey had guaranteed to return. CiwLnyi's family Bill Osborn's family If, at the time of the ceremony, the full (chief) (chief) ut was not made up, as much as possible was uned. The chief held the accounts, and as J.B., his mother and Bill Tyner's family cash as possible was contributed by his brother hiefs (tuye'i) in an effort to meet the 275 nd: the subchiefs were obligated to help family) eup this deficit, whereas ordinary citizens not. If there was still a shortage of Mollie Lawrence Tom Bacon al money, it was equated in commodities. several hunters would be dispatched to get Walai (winatum) Sam Osborn (winatum) r, or any available game. (The Gawia were thed at for always supplying ground rels fo scoaysis.)lAnd womnd Sometimes, J.B. said, a chief's family would rrel on uchoccaion.) Ad wmen ere wash two or three other families, not neces- led upon to make up quantities of acorn meal. ver, these foods were not brought with the sarily all acting chiefs, but of chiefly line- y but were sent to the host tribe Just be- age. the ceremony, and the hosts bought the The reciprocal pairs of tribes were listed as part of their needed supplies while the by J.B.; statements of other informants are ey went over to the recipient tribe to help i tthe shortage. The collecting of food to Bold in this manner was called ka suwas. Wukchumni-Waksachi Gawia-Yokod Another method of raising money was for recipient tribe to enter its shamans in the Wukchumni-Patwisha Wolasi-Telamni ns' Contest. These men would be paid by (secondarily) host tribe, and while they retained part of Wukchumni-Yaudanchi Choinuk-Chunut payment for themselves, their singers, and (J.P.) r winatums, a good portion (what percentage uld not determine) went to their chief. Waksachi-Entimbich Tachi-Nutunutu Furthermore, the gifts received at the (secondarily) le of the ceremony could be sold on the t, taken home, given away, or used as pay- Waksachi-Michahai ton borrowed money. (secondarily) This whole method of money exchange was necessarily carried out between tribes, but The families who came to wash the mourners t be an inter-person affair. Thus a mourn- brought with them the special washing baskets to raise money, would lend sums to several and new clothes in which to dress the released viduals in order to receive interest from mourners. These, after they were washed, . Such lending was of normal occurrence in dressed, and in receipt of the washing baskets, ts life, but the heightened need for money paid the washers either with cash or with gifts mourning ceremony emphasized the practice. of valuable objects. Informants seemed to Both sexes contributed in all affairs think that this exchange was an equal one; at ein money was called for: women acquired least in theory neither washer nor washee was a y by selling baskets, blankets, pots, mats, gainer. ., to each other or to men. Organization and Administration Reciprocity The host tribe, the reciprocant tribe, and The washing functions at the close of a the financial associate tribe by no means ing ceremony were traditionally arranged comprised all the persons present at an Annual een certain families of certain tribes- But Mourning Ceremony. Anyone who wished was wel- e the actual washing was a between-family come to come as a spectator, and these were tion, the whole tribe of the washers was many. Interchanges of festivities took place Irded as reciprocal to the whole host tribe between the following tribes, from whom attend- the entire function._______ The pairs of Wukchumni and Waksachi fami- '"5See the Waksachi account of a recent mourning ceremony Iwho stood in this reciprocal relation were whereln Entinmbich people served as washers because "the d by J.B., and corroboration of some of right people" [the Wukchumni Pohots] were not there. 126 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS ants might appear at any ceremony: Wukchumni, I counted 437 able-bodied young men on Gawia, Yokod, Yaudanchi, Tachi, Wechihit, walk I took [around the village], and about Choinuk, Chunut, Telamni, Wolasi (all Yokuts); 600 women and children al placed before th3 also Waksachi, Patwisha, Entimbich, and Wobo- village. c8ros ble pafes pasos dobles] whia nuch, the last two but recently and rarely (all makes 624 yards Evaras], and across its bac Western Mono). (It is to be noted that the 432 paces or 756 yards in the form of an tmi hostile Tachi and Nutunutu were omitted from perfect half moon. All [the houses] are of the list as given by J.P.; the list is corrobo- mats and willow branches. In front of the rated, of course, by other informants and much rancheria were guests, all separated, where indirect evidence.) directed myself along with the captains who When, in 1819, Estudillo traveled through companied me. Each of them were in little Yokuts territory, he found members ofthegroups; thus men, women, and children were Yokuts territory, he found members of the presented to me, and it was not possible to following tribes in attendance at a mourning count them as I had done with the Chischas. ceremony at Chischa, a group neighboring to or However, the number of young men was not le in Wukchumni territory:276 Choinuk (whose "cap- than 600, and some 200 younger women. tain and greater number of inhabitants ... were When I walked behind the Rancher?a of at Chischa 8 leagues away"), Apalame (in foot- Chischa I immediately came upon the arroyo hills but exact locality uncertain)., the Nutu- which was n-ear by. On its banks, I found Q 14 old than 100 middle-aged women washing seeds fo nutu, and the Telamni (of whom only 14 old the atoles of the guests, while younger one women and 9 old men had remained at home). (The were grinding seeds on stones as is their Chunut, however, and some Wowol had gone south custom .... Its [Chischa] people, and those to attend a similar ceremony at Buena Vista their neighboring friends who were found as rancheria in the southern end of the valley.) sembled, presented in number some 2400 pers Undoubtedly representatives of other tribes all of comely appearance. were there of whom Estudillo naturally remained unaware since this was the1first entrada into Some two hundred more he discovered in the Central Foothill area. TheCenorganizaothio andeadministrationofth hiding, and later over one hundred visitors The organization and administration Of the caefo- nthrrnhra ceremony lay in the hands of one or two of- cer another rnchria ficials who functioned only on such occasions, The visitors brought with them their o the yate *tc or "dance managers." Not all in- mats and blankets3 shinny sticks, and gambli formants agree whether this was a regular of- equipment. Games and gambling were frowned ficial or not; perhaps only larger tribes had upon at the site ceremony, but durim need of them. They were the "bosses" of the winatums who, both male and female, were worked shinny might do so if they went beyond shout distance from the assembly. to the utmost in their responsibility of pro- viding shelter, water, firewood and, above all, sufficient food for the crowds. Around the assembly space were erected long shades, with Ritual Weeping; Effigy-Making back screens if needed, under which the visi- tors camped in tribal clusters. Theoretically Events during the six days of the cere- the reciprocants277 were camped opposite the mony followed a definite program. Since the hosts, the other visitors at each end; infor- introduction of European culture, and perha mants were indefinite as to how far this plan owing to early Spanish-Catholic influence,t was followed. In the families of the winatums period has been equated with weekdays so tha all members helped: the older winatums saw the night of crying fell on Saturday night, that there was sufficient food and generally washing, feasting, and aftermath of celebrat directed activities, while their sons supplied on Sunday. The plan of events was this: t wood and water and carried messages, and their first day or two (Monday and Tuesday)guests wives and daughters prepared and cooked food. gan arriving, and the bereaved families spen The visiting winatums, particularly those of their time making the effigy dolls; on the the reciprocants, helped also, but the hosts third or fourth day (Wednesday or Thursday) paid for their services Just as they paid their Huhuna Dance was performed -- on the third own winatums. The preparation and organization minor or "warming-up" contest of shamans was of these affairs for a large tribe like the to be given on the fourth; on the fifth (Fri Wukchumni were no mean task. Estudillo speaks the Shamans' Contest; on the sixth evening, of this at Chischa.27 burning of effigies; and on the seventh day (Sunday) the ritual washing and feasting. T native feeling was that the effigy burning - - ~~~~~~~~~~subsequent washing and celebrating all con- 276Gayton, Estudllo?, Y3-T5. stituted "one day," i.e., the sixth, which i '77Cer~emonia1 or 'washing" reciprocant trtbe, not the not illogical as the events continued from financXa1 reciprocants. Saturday evening until Sunday evening withou 27SGayton, Estudillo, 74. break for sleep or rest. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 127 Ritual weeping.--Throughout the week a would be on the third day if on the fourth p of professional mourning singers, the there was to be a preliminary or informal con- aim, at dawn and at sunset sang mourning test between shamans, as was usual if the cere- 5 accompanied by wails of the bereaved. mony was a large and impressive one. Otherwise rding to M.P., on these occasions the be- the Huhuna Dance was reserved for the fourth ed took out the effigy dolls, the gifts of day and "nothing special" happened on the third y and baskets, and exhibited them by carry- other than the morning and evening singing and them to the assembly fire. The singers display of dolls and gifts. J.P. said that the mourners all moved with a special dancelike Huhuna Dance might be given any day and re- as they alternately sang and wept. The peated, from the very outset, if people wanted ers sang; then their leader held his hands it, but certainly this was not the customary rd palm down as a signal to cease, at practice. The Huhuna Dance could be performed h the mourners immediately broke into wails at any time out of its ceremonial context and ief. As soon as this was over, the effi- was a favorite method for both entertainment and treasures were retired to the special and money-making at any season of the year. in which they were kept. in which they were kept. M.L. gave the following account; in so The informant M.L. maintained that the M..gv h olwigacut ns doing she particularly had in mind a perform- ers and mourners gathered outside the ance at a mourning ceremony given by her father- age for this ritual expression of grief, 'in-law, Mutonii, at DiapnuSa. A few interpola- Estudillo's encounter with a mourning chief tions are from J.P. red from his village corroborates her state- (Practices may have differed.) A Huhuna Dancer was not a shaman (antu) (although he might be) but had Owl (hutu au) for a family totem. M.L. thought this "went in UI] continued eastward [from the Choinuk] families but had to be dreamed about as well" reached a deep arroyo, where I found two [as being the family emblem]. She thought all with Indians. They came out to receive me, tribes had the dance. Although it was a regu- of them being the captain of Chischa tribesthad the dal Moug Ceremony,regu aps]. With his brother, wife, and other lar part of the Annual Mourning Ceremony, "it tives he had retired this afternoon to weep could be done at any other time if a man wanted r the night for the death of their rela- to make some money or other people wanted to a . . .7.29 see it." The shaman who entered at the end might be "any kind;' provided he had the power of making airshot. M.L.'s stepfather, who took Effigy-making. --The first two days of the pr ntednea ipua a ate of the mourning ceremony (Monday and part in the dance at Diapnusva, was a Rattle- day) are devoted to the construction of the snake shaman. A Huhuna of any tribe could en- gy dolls (woi dos). These are made by gage in the affair during the mourning cere- ni one image for each person mourned. The mony, i.e., he was not necessarily of the re- s of the doll was a cross of wood, the up- ciprocant Egu'ui] tribe. But the killing sha- t staff of which was about 5 feet long, the man was always of the host or local tribe. The zontal about 2-1/2 feet tied on about 18 usual costume consisted of an ankle-length, es from the top. "It must be high but not sleeveless dress of netting covered with eagle, hay tcarwhndcn"(crow, buzzard, and o'ow&ts l?] feathers. On heavy to carry when dancling J.P. * In the back were little sticks painted red and so times the covering of the frame, making a of solid body, was of fine tule matting, strung together that they rattled as the wearer recently of calico. If the effigy was of danced. A headdress of netting covered with owl feathers had two little peaks to resemble . ach litte basket quanti s pon beathug an owl's head. The eyes were not covered, al- Each image had quantities of beads hung though J.P. and S.G. said that abalone shell tthe neck, and especially made baskets dicweesedortheysnantwih beads woven into them hung from the arms, dcvcs were sewed over the eyes on a net which , and front. When finished, the effigies covered the face. On each wrist hung a swing- placed in a specially constructed house at ing bunch of feathers (so "nl). The man held an eagle bone whistle in his mouth, and in each seembly ~ ~ ~ ~ ; spc n oee ihbakt. fihand carried a slender rod about eighteen e the mourners were thus engaged, the chief h c a s r e reciprocant tribe came and talked to and they all wept in response. Here also At this dance at Diapnusa two Yokod men placed all the gifts and offerings for the were the Huhunata (pl.). They went off to 1 night of crying. opposite sides of the village to don their costumes. While they were gone, money pro- vided by the local chief was hidden in various Huhun Dance spots around the assembly space -- in a sack of acorns, in the crevice of a shade, or in the On the third or fourth day (Wednesday or ground. * day) the Huhuna Dance was given. This One or more singers accompanied the 14d., 73. dancing performance. 128 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS *The Huhunata approached with mincing, half- Annual Mourning Ceremony. The contest turning steps, trembling continuously, knocking were aligned by tribe (J.P., M.L., and J. their own two sticks together and whistling a the two sides might be composed of shama high repeated note. They began to look for the different tribes (M.P., S.G., and Tm.W.). money, pointing to it with their sticks, and a inclined to accept the first opinion whic winatum disclosed it. Sometimes "even the wina- think not only represents the correct th tum could not find it so they had to dig it out but was practically possible in the days themselves." M.L. said she was frightened the decline of population. As indicated when they drew near her. All the money they J.B.'s lists (see "Reciprocity" above), a found they kept in little skin sacks which hung single tribe could provide several shama over their shoulders. once. According to J.B. and M.L. these t After all the money had been found, a alignments were further regarded as Tokel, shaman (on this occasion, ga"maka, a Wukchumni) and Nutuwich (see p. 98) and the opposing entered dressed in full regalia. He sat down took up western and eastern positions on on the edge of the dance space. The chief gave assembly space. him a tray (tai "iwan) and a winatum built a Within the dance space a number of f fire beside him. The shaman rose, swung his were built in a row, one for each entrant hand feather bunch (sonil) over the fire, then whom there might be four to eight.tEach held his tray up to the sun to get airshot. had a coiled basketry tray (tai'iwan) whi Then he exposed it to the audience so all could held in the smoke of his fire, then rais see the seedlike "bullets" adhering to it. The aloft, face outward, in his right hand an winatum took the tray to one of the Huhuna and shook toward the sun. The sun's power ca "asked him if he wanted to die by it." The the magic missiles called airshot (tu yos Huhuna replied "that it was not strong enough." which looked like a bug or something," t So the shaman strengthened it, and on second appear on the tray. S.G. said that the a' inspection Huhuna was satisfied. When the tray looked like buckshot The doctors held t was returned to the shaman, he banged it vio- hands up to the sun, from which the airshr was~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~cm. madene grbbn mothe shmn and thene rub10 lently on the ground twice. Each time a came, made grabbing motions, and then rub Huhuna "fell over dead." Two winatums carried their hands together, thereby making the them to one side, and immediately the host invisible. Sometimes the doctors would t spectators came dragging long strands of money their shot before entering the contest by 8pecato8 cme daggng ongstraa8 I mney pelling it at trees and shooting off pie which the winatums threw over the prostrate victims. Everyone present wept. needles, for example. S.G. thought that mans never assisted each other in the pro All the visiting Yokod sat down behind of shot-making, and no other informant im their men. Then a Yokod shaman entered, re- that they did. It was customary for wina vived his two compatriots, and, making airshot to ask for a show of airshot from a sham at the fire, bowled over the Wukchumni shaman, fore permitting him to proceed in the con who was in turn revived by a fellow shaman. Theoretically this was to protect an unsk The Huhunata received all the money thrown on shaman from exposing himself recklessly t, them, but from this they had to pay their Jury, but it seems possible that the audi singers who had been singing for them through- was equally desirous of getting its money' out the performance. The local chief paid his worth and did not wish to be duped by unf own shamans for their part. J.P. said the entrants; all entrants were paid. affair lasted from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The contestants were all dressed in shaman's usual regalia: feather crowns plumes, swirling skirts of eagle-down cor tipped with bluejay or flicker feathers, bands of weasel skin, feather bunches ha Shamans' Contest from wrists, elbows, and knees, garlands eagle-down cord looped like bandoleers, a The preliminary to the Shamans' Contest quail-crest ear plugs (fig. 8, d). was called gokosyuTjt. It was a more or less On the end opposite the fires sat a spontaneous affair and, if held at all, pre- of singers using clappers and singing for ceded the real contest as a sort of trial. The sideas They too wore feather headdresses entrants in this were said to be "warming up" perhaps other ornaments which, I underst for the big contest. "Any kind" of shaman were not infrequently borrowed. ^. ~~The audience sat under the surroundit might enter, but never Bear Dancers. In this little contest a single powerful shaman would shades. Although betting on the winners sometimes~~~~~~ ~~~~ tkontoothelesrns. e,r M.P.'s statement that it occurred on the last This trial also permitted novices o sest the rtual washing is perhaps due to her recollectio skill before entering the more dangerous fracas. aberrsnt Waksachi practice, as the Wukchni were re The Shamans' Contest (he '8was) was held on cants on the occasion Or Wakcsachi mourning cerernonie the fifth day [Friday] of the week of the Michahai-Waksachi, Pt. II).- GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 129 , there were no shouts or urgings from the used his hand feather bunch to brush down the *era as there were at games: the spec- body of the patient. A winatum held a tray be- watched in sober silence. side him upon which the doctot shook or squeezed The shamans assembled in two groups at off the granular airshot from the feathers. The ite ends of the assembly space. With them shot was taken away and burned. youths and boys carrying "long poles, M.L. and S.G. said that all the shamans h of brush, or anything they wanted to were paid by the spectators who had thrown (J.P.). When ready, the shamans in down their strings of bead money on a tray pro- e file, followed by their winatums and by vided by a winatum, while the contestants lay ouths waving the poles, advanced toward unconscious. From this sum the shamans paid center. A man on each side would cry their singers and, if they had them, their own :'u 'o 'o 'o "' three times, and the audi- personal winatums. They also paid a good share would respond three times with"A 'a 'a h!" to their chief. the contest, the youths kept up a con- In discussing the revivings, J.P. said e explosive grunting while parading and that at this time "chiefs would bribe each t of "Oh'! oh'! oh'!". The two lines of other's doctors if they wanted to get rid of tants passed around each other in two one that was knocked out." If any of the magic and came to a halt facing each other about ammunition was permitted to remain in a victim, yfeet apart. The shamans were ranged in "he died in about three days," or at best would le row while their more exuberant young linger on for a month. This might be done then s remained behind at a safe distance. deliberately, or the victim might be left total- the chief ordered them to start, all the ly unconscious with the claim that he could not a raised their trays in the air, shook be brought to.81 and, whirling so that their backs were d to their opponents, slammed their trays 'downward on the ground. Each time this Corpse-Handlers' Dance ne a shot flew from the tray at a rival, this was repeated until the rival fell un- On the morning of the sixth day (Saturday) ious or the aggressor himself fell a the group of people known as tonoctm who . As the men dropped they were carried handled corpses, supervised their burial, and to a shade by two winatums who were paid by sang the funereal songs, had a little ritual of host group (unless the shaman had a per- their own; it was the finale of the daily winatum to aid him). This magic bombard- ritual singing and weeping. J.B. described continued until only two shamans remained this performance as he had witnessed it at eir feet. This crisis always seems to Hoganu, a Wukchumni village. been attained. They fought a long time; There were about six or seven tonoc6&m, aet man was believed to have the greatest Telamni, Wukchumni, and Entimbich,282 some of atural gifts. Such men remained to the them men, some women [that any of them were -because of their ability to pick the air- berdaches he denied]. A few regular singers "off themselves at the very instant it hit, (hide t-tc) using cocoon rattles sat in the as- as others were knocked down. The weasel- sembly space and sang while the tonoc6m ap- wristlets served as protectors of the vul- proached in single file, the men leading. The le spot on the wrist; the weasels "swal- men carried long poles in their right hands " the shots. When one of this last pair and had their faces painted black, whereas the ily fell, the victor staggered backward ex- women held both fists up before their shoulders, ed, and, assisted by winatums, reclined carried burden baskets on their backs, and wore ng under a shade. wigs of long false human hair which trailed on "Now the host chief called his people to- the ground. The wig had no beak;283 it was tied r. His winatums collected money and gifts on with a band which passed around the forehead were distributed to the chiefs of the and the tumpline helped hold it in place. They a whose shamans had participated in the danced past the visitors and lined up, while at. Everyone present was crying. "They the active mourners lined up facing them with and cried right up to the middle of the the payment for their services. As the tonoctm ;u (Jp) danced and sang, along with the singer accompa- "In the meantime the injured shamans were nists, the mourners threw the gifts, which were revived. A host winatum went d to the usually payment in kind rather than money, at r and asked him to remove the shot from fallen rival. J.P. maintained that they 281The full implications of this malpractice have been loctors who had not participated to revive discussed in Gayton, Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans. bthers, but M.L., S.G., and J.B. claimed SS2The inclusion of Entimbich is very dubious and prob- each shaman in turn revived those men who ably an interpolation due to J.B. 's mnany years of associa- aeen his victims. The revival was ac- tion with Entimbich at Dunlap. Possibly he meant W.aksachi, ilshed by the brushing method of curing, if any Western Mono tono5tn were present. an took a feather from his headdress or 283As Kroeber describes for the Tachi (Handbook, 500). 130 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS them, and these were grabbed by the women and the effigies and all their treasures at thrown over their shoulders into the baskets. ciprocants who scrambled and fought over When the dance ended the tonoctim retired with Whatever anyone seized was his. After t their goods and then, giving a great shout, dolls were stripped by the gu'ui who thr' they all ran to the river to swim. (Although frames on the fire: this was their duty., this ending suggests a cleansing rite, it is Sometimes more or less worthless objects purely a ceremonial gesture as all informants thrown with them. But anything so dispa agreed that corpse-handlers were under no tabus to the fire might be snatched out by anot nor were they considered unclean after they had reciprocant. performed a burial service.) Ritual Washing Effigy Parade By this time dawn had come, and the ciprocants went to eat breakfast and pre The remainder of the sixth day was spent for the later feasting while the mourners in preparation for the evening. The recipro- retired. Then the reciprocants' winatums- cants' winatums stacked wood for two extra- baskets of water which they took to the large fires, one at each end of the assembly bly space where the washing families had space. The mourners had retired for constant with their supply of new clothing for the, weeping. When evening came, the reciprocant reaved. The water baskets had been espec (gu'ui) tribe would sit near one fire; the non- made for the occasion; they were coiled, participating members of the host or mourning deep, and flaring (p1. 1, top center). tribe, by the other. Spectators from other the Waksachi (and other Western Mono) pro tribes would be grouped at each side. always had somewhat peculiar patterns whi In the early evening the gu'ui's winatums other baskets carried. called the active mourners and brought out the The winatums called the mourners and effigies and treasures for them to carry. Each these being allotted by families as expl doll was carried by a member of the same sex, above, the ritual cleansing proceeded. M usually the one nearest of kin to the deceased of the same sex washed each other. For t it represented. Other mourners carried money true or deep mourners the washing of body and gifts: men carried the shouldered treasure hair was complete, the washee, stripped t basket (osa) filled with money, while women breechclout, standing beside the basket carried basketry trays (koiyoto) laden with being swabbed down with wads of shredded money, fine baskets, or valued ornaments. At bark dipped in the water. Fresh water a about the hours of 9 p.m., 12 m., 2 a.m., and root were used for washing the hair which 4 a.m. these mourners, led by the group of then dried, brushed, and trimmed with ba singers, paraded around the fires with a curi- The new clothing, including a new breechc ous halting step. On each alternate step the was donned. Ornaments such as ear plugs,_ effigy-carriers held the staffs upright, on the necklaces, and headbands were added. The, others lowered them, pointing the doll heads washers were each paid a small sum (about toward the fire and making a feint at throwing oents) and given presents of baskets by t them in. The others made the same feint with washees. Then all persons of the mournin the treasures they carried. During the inter- tribe had their faces washed by members al vals between the parades the chief of the re- large of the reciprocant tribe. They all ciprocants rose to make a speech in which he in a long line for this service. The wash referred to the deceased persons they were each received about five cents (in bead in mourning and to the bereaved who had been en- for this. during much sorrow and privation; he spoke of During the washing and dressing at 1 the effigies as if they were the actual corpses, two men of the Coyote lineage came in clo saying how they were to be burned, destroyed, They wore coyote skins on their heads and and forever forgotten, and how the mourners with the snouts stiffened out and with arl might look forward to release from their grief. ficial tails attached. They carried seeds These simple topics were long drawn out to a which they threw all around (the purpose o continuous obligato of weeping from the mourn- this I could not discover], got in people' ers, who had again retired. At intervals the knocked over the baskets of washing water, singers sang. were chased about by the winatums. When it was time for the mourners to make Then a feast was held, the main dish the fourth and final circuit of the fires, a which was deer meat, for this was the end winatum told the reciprocants to line up by the meat tabu for the bereaved. The recip their fire. They did this while the mourners cant chief made a speech telling everyone -were parading about. The latter took up a come partake of this feast, the mourners t position in line by their fire, the two groups Joy their meat, etc. After the feast the being about fifty feet apart. Then at a signal chief made a speech saying that now their from the managing winatum, the mourners threw sorrow was dissipated, that everyone shoul GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 131 play, and have a good time. The after- people who wanted thelr doctors to make money was devoted to games and dancing (see could have them go into this fight if they ion on "Games"). liked." During the afternoon the host chief and The Huhuna Dance, J.B. said, was seen only subchiefs (tuye'i) assembled to settle the at mourning ceremonies at Lemoore, Porterville, nt of debts for food supplied either by and Lemon Cove [that is, Tachi, Yaudanchi, and tors or by members of their own tribe. Wukchumni). It was danced in the afternoon to- type of debt was called hocao "sna. Such ward the end of the week, on Thursday or Friday. ting would take place when the financing The most noted Huhuna dancer was Camcusan, a general tribal ceremony was necessary, Yaudanchi; a Choinimni named Ho tts was also a alone after the Annual Mourning Ceremony. Huhuna dancer. His costume consisted of a long chief made a set speech: "We must now pay feather-covered dress, and he had pieces of our debt" (soi 'inad mai hocao'isna may&n; abalone shells (tu'dtud) fastened over his eyes ,, pay you debt our). To which the sub- [on the net headgear, presumably]. Under his is answered: "We will dispose of our debt" left arm hung a skin purse in which he put the 'mai du'has hocao scna mayin; lit., we-will money he found. ose-of debt our). Then the chief's wina- After he had given the usual exhibition of >collected money from all, and the visiting money-finding, his winatum would tell him he fa' winatums accepted it for their chief was to be killed. The shaman chosen for this in turn distributed it among his own people. task was usually Cokontk, although J.B. had other persons who should be paid off at seen Ma m'al, a "Southerner" do it also. The * time were given money by the host wina- shaman made airshot at a fire and knocked It not infrequently happened that chiefs, Huhuna unconscious. Two winatums carried him hiefs, and members of the mourning tribe aside, then the shaman would restore him. For completely insolvent after one of these this spectacle both Huhuna and the shaman were irs. paid by the host [mourning) tribe. While daylight lasted the shamans of the The last, or Saturday, night of the cere- t tribe danced, but in the evening, when mony the burning of images took place. This s illumined the assembly space, those of was called ahanaTnht. Only the hosts took part; or the reciprocant or spectator tribes the visitors looked on. A large fire burned in sed. This dancing was kept up all night or the center of the dance space. The chief, least as long as the hosts were willing to mourning families, and others proceeded around for it to continue. No shaman danced and it (anticlockwise) in a long file, stepping singer sang for nothJng on public occasions. high and stamping. Women of the mourning dance was. the watiyod customarily given for families carried the effigies of the dead rtainment at any time (see section on (woi 'dowts) while both men and women carried asure Dances"). long poles to which were affixed baskets and The following morning another general beads fol' the visitors. The poles were carried ast was eaten and the visitors began in one hand while the other hand patted the ring for home. mouth to produce a long ululation, long and doleful rather than staccato, and the poles were waved in the air. At the end of the J.B.'s Account second circuit of the fire the mourners cast the effigies on the fire. At the same time the J.B.'s account of the mourning ceremony poles were thrown to the visitors who scrambled curtailed and confused. It is given merely for the money and treasures; this part of the use it differs in what may be some signifi- ritual was called ka_m&ts. This custom of t respects from the descriptions by other tossing the poles was followed by Wukchumni, mants. He did not assign a definite order Telamni, Gawia, Yokod, and Yaudanchi, whereas the series of ceremonies, but stated that the Mill Creek people (Choinimni and Western Shamans' Contest took place every morning Mono) kept the poles until the time of the the week of the affair. ritual washing when the gifts were presented to The Shamans' Contest he called ku'k.syu"it ts the washers. rng that to kill by means of fire [?J or son [?J was called kuku siyg6. Two doctors a singer (uda ktc) took part. The singer GHOST DANCE OF 1870 i his clapper came [to the dance space] st. Each shaman had a winatum who built a The introduction of the Ghost Dance was for him. Then the shamana themselves came attributed by JB- to Joi Joi, a Mono man, "a each made airshot at his fire. They tried Holkuma maybe," from the northeast.8 "He went kill1 each other. One of the shamans would - from a visiting tribe, and the people who 2SThe course of the Ghost Dance of 1870 aong Yokuts ewith him, i.e., his chief, singer, wina- and Western Mono has been described previously (Gayton, ,were always paid for the spectacle. "Any Ghost Dance Or 1870). 132 V J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-o o o / e* */t~ a' 3/00 X ,,, , - g D "'b,_- ' v > - -'I, " ' VF' ,- So Boo _ ,, _ 1 - ~~8c ~~- ) - - . / ?'o ' " Sow|v |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"L '',> t. 'g F'2ktt' F Ma 4.LclMa/:Cukiiaan ,ihha ie * -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A C.' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~C I . 0 ~' SQUAW VALLEY Z, 4 135 45 ? /~~~~~~~~Z-kpAt Map ~ Local Map C: Chukaimina and Michahai sites GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 133 toward Nevada every year to get the songs The dance was called soto- towtd kam (to- ;dances which a man named Mo ,man [Moman ?I be-going-around dance). A circle of Emen and] 'mking there. He [Moman] was painted red." women, usually alternating, and holding hands, urn, several Entimbich and Wobonuch singers moved in an anticlockwise direction. No fire d go north to learn the new songs from was in the center, but many fires from en- oi. They went up there before Joijoi came circling camps provided light. Singers wear- which he did once or twice later on. The ing the regular feather headdress (cu) sat at p of singers came back and held the first one side. They used no instruments. (J.B. /at Eshom Valley, then at Dunlap, then in thought "some people to the north used clappers nimni territory on Mill Creek, then went and the dancers had bells tied to their ankles.") M-ear Lemoore" [Pierce's Ranch ?], to the The singers were not paid, but their food and .Tule River Reservation, and to Fort Tejon. fire were provided by winatums from various held no dances on the return trip. In visiting groups. 1 subsequent years they retraveled this No unusual clothing was worn, but all e as far as Tule River but omitted Lemoore: used red and white face paint.285 Red paint was era from there came to dances in the foot- not new at this time. 1s." J.B. was uncertain who composed this The dancing was continued all night. p, remembering only Samson Dick, Lewu cui, During interludes of rest Mosus made-speeches. Little George Dick (all Entimbich), and He said, "God made all this land. The dead vs6, Koiye wa, and "Tonocim" (nickname) people are coming if we dance this dance. They Wobonuch). An Entimbich named Mo sus did dance this dance all the time where they [the exhortative preaching. As "all the songs dead] are now." in Mono," J.B. could not understand them At sunrise dancing ceased; every one went 5]. to swim. During the day people rested, slept, -The Ghost Dances ceased a long time ago: or played games. There was no abstinence from * did not kndw why. There was never any meat. J.B. never heard of dogs being eaten; on Val. He had never heard of Wovoka. He did one occasion some dogs were killed "because believe the dance was a preventative of their barking scared away the ghosts [tawatsal." ess or death. The affair at Eshom lasted six nights. When the first dance was held in the The Wukchumni informant L. said she had them end of Eshom. Valley, J.B. was living participated in Ghost Dances at Kadawinao and iapnusa (Lemon Cove). He was "Just a Sohonto, Wobonuch villages. She insisted that le fellow and went with his father and all circular dances progressed clockwise. r and boy cousin." He had three older M.L. said she was a small girl living at hers who remained at home. J.B. said that the old Tule River Reservation near Porterville so means did everyone go to the dance when a number of drunken Indians "mostly Mono" ugh most did because they were afraid not came down and sang songs about the annihilation but of what he did not know]. of the Indians. C HUKAIMINA The following information is regrettably as distinguished from Michahai save that Micha- f and not always clear. The available in- hai claims were said to run west and southward ts at Squaw Valley were inadequately from Squaw Valley to Drum Valley and to merge pped in personality and language to discuss with Waksachi in the Murphy Creek region. The reconstruct Chukaimina culture from memory. following localities P.M. pointed out from the were not able to distinguish clearly be- height of his hilltop and I later identified n events at Mastinao and those occurring at them on U.S.G.S. Topographic Map, Dinuba Quad- boring Entimbich and Choinimni villages. rangle, as best I could. her could they get down to cases. For ex- The following Chukaimina and Michahai e, while Mo. knew her own and her mother's sites are shown on Local Map C (map 4). animals, she "wasn't sure" about her band's, and so on. What was got from P.M., * (a Wukchumni by birth), and Mo. is given 1. tolsi hao (Michahai) the sake of complete record: only the 2. taksa myu (Michahai) ty data can be used safely as it was re- 3 buci,h ntao (Michahai) ety 4. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ot 1o 'to iked several times for mutual agreement. 5. bo kto: Pete Marlo's place 6. woto'no: site of present Squaw Valley LOCALITIES grocery store P.M. could not define Chukaimina territory S85ee ibid. , flg. 2, b. 134 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS 7. su'lmao: Charlie Drake's place first three days she steamed herself under 8. kapa "no: long hill lying northeast to blankets. She drank only acorn gruel and h southwest on east side of valley water for ten days (while on the pit); the 9. toi yok: high peak northwest of no. 5 after she might have solid vegetable foods, 10. wise lao: hill between no. 5 and no.9 11. wo nyu: village site on flat not meat for three months. 12. to po: hill south of no. 4 The father refrained from meat and sol, 13. kiwe yu food ("bread," sic) and from laborious work 14. soiyo "o ten days. 15. wai yo: seed-gathering camp At the end of ten days-the mother rose3 16. busuta'o: a "bald" hill was washed at a little ceremony called tesa' 17. ka lpo: an isolated hill ("means not to sleep any more," Mo.). This done by the infant's paternal grandmother, Not definitely located: 18, didL pea: a also bestowed a name on the baby and brough spring near Jeff Long's ranch; 19, opnt 'nyu: a its second cradle. The name given was alwa Chukaimina campsite on Pughe's ranch; 20, from the father's side: usually a boy rec po0'o lo: a Chukaimina summer camp on Bill his paternal grandfather's name, a girl a Curtis's: t?) place; 21, masts 'nao: most im- paternal aunt's. At this time the baby was- portant Chukaimina village, moved into its second or permanent cradle i The informant Mo. could recall only four it slept until the cradle was outgrown. houses and their inmates at Magtinao. At the end of three months the mother given another ceremonial washing by her hus band's relatives. The mother-in-law and 1. Mo.'s home; she lived there with her sisters-in-law washed the woman, arranged father and mother. She claimed her "brother hair, and dressed her in fine new clothes. and sister were already dead."bruhbaktofod,ndhemnfte 2. Mo.'s father's brother, go"'ok (Copper- brought baseso food,d the men o head) lived alone. He had been married, for paternal family provided deer meat. A gene his son's daughter was mentioned as "Mike's feast was held at which the mother discontil wife." her meat tabu. Relatives from both sides o 3. Mo.'s father's sister, Meyu'lat, the family were present and partook of the married Pu lkos; their son was Pustn&nwait feast; also "any friends who wanted to. Ev (P.M.). [P.M. said his father was Toihitcha, a one who came brought little presents to the not contradictory statement.] mother." 4. Mo.'s father's female cousin, Koi'yut, Both cradles were made of twined chapa: married a grandson of Pusvl.lLn named Ai Jo brsh286 Thefst w bimaeo twasml can (Jack); their daughter was Ai'n&k (Lillie). buh h is b )wssal n a circular band hood. The baby stayed in i1 only ten days. The second (aki Wl6)i was t larger one with the fan-shaped hood of Westl BIRTH AND INFANCY Mono derivation which has been described ell where (cf. Wukchumni). When it was outgro The following information was entirely which was normally in eighteen to twenty-fo from Mo. months, it was hung on a young live oak tre She said there were no prenatal tabus for that the child grew as the tree grew. New the expectant Chukaimina mother or father. cradles were provided for each new baby. Mo Birth took place in the house. The mother said that the cradle with forked-stick frame was assisted by her own mother, sister, grand- was used only by the people of the lake regi mother or, if none of her own kin were near by, With regard to puberty Mo. stated that some of her husband's women relatives would knew of no ritual marking a girl's first me help. There was no rule. The woman squatted over a depression in the floor, and the attend- ant caught the baby on a basket tray (co 'pai). MISCELLANEOUS DATA The cord was cut with a cane knife (si'k&d) to about four inches in length;. the end was turned Pottery. --All people known to Mo. made* back and tied with milkweed string. When the pottery. Her own mother and aunt made it stump fell off, it "was made into a ball with taught her. She described the coiling meth beads" and hung on the hood of the second and said the ware was fired about two days. cradle. After the child abandoned the cradle, Meat was always cooked in pottery vessels. the stump was put in an anthill so the child Women'B dice game.--A.M. described the would become industrious, women' s dice game (hucu ra). The pieces us A hot pit was prepared for the mother in _____M w w o i e s her own house. A depression was filled with 26onidentified' chaparral is a generalized word tor coals and hot ashes, then earth, then grass and underbrush or low growth, not a specific shtb. mats laid over these. The mother remained on 2TFor complete process Of manufacture, aee Wuk-hum this for ten days but she rose every three or account herein or a previous publication, Gayton, Yoku four hours for a renewal of the coals. For the and Western Mono Pottery-Making. GAYTON, YOKUTS AND WESTERN MONO ETHNOGRAPHY: I 135 called: ca pai (tray); ho wtc (dice made deer continually so the bird might be fed deer ut shells); ca kat (pine-pitch filling of liver. When it was mature, "all the Tokelyu- ); 6une'ti (abalone shell fragments set in wich people got together and paid her to let it h). She gave the count as: three face go." 1; two up, 2; all up or all down, 4. There was no person with Bear totem at ve counters (wict '1) were held by a score- Mastinao, hence no Bear redemption or Bear er; all must be obtained to win. This was Dance. method of play at Mastinao [A.M. was Wuk- The inherited animal must be dreamed of to 1i by birth]. be of supernatural aid. "The Tokelyuwich dream Hand game.--A.M. said she had seen the of Eagle, the Nutuwich about Ltmtk [Falcon]" game (hena'osa) played by the Entimbich at (Mo.). p when she was a little girl. She knew ing about it save that "Coyote and Eagle to play it all the time." Reciprocity at Mourning Ceremony Intertribal reciprocity functioned at the MOIETIES Chukaimina mourning ceremonies. Informants named Choinimni as the reciprocant (ki 'i), The Chukaimina were divided into moieties since the moiety division was also followed by Tokelyuwich and Nutuwich. Their activi- them -- Tokelyuwich of Choinimni washing Nutu- weie reciprocal at mourning ceremonies wich of Chukaimina, etc. It was also said that ng the washing rite and in playing games. Michahai sometimes washed the Chukaimina, but ver, they were subordinate to the tribal under what circumstances I could not discover. sion which constituted the major reciprocal Since the Michahai did not segregate by moiety, t. the function was presumably an interfamily one. Totem animals which were individually, not The real question is whether the totems of the ectively, symbolic of patrilineal lineages, washers and washees were the same (as with divided by moiety as follows, according to Michahai, Waksachi, and Wukchumni) or different (as with the Choinimni) when controlled by moiety dichotomy. lyuwich: to hil: eagle CEREMONIES V io i: roadrunner to nol: wildcat (tukob&c, Western Mono) Mourning Ceremony tuna 'o: badger ti ci: raccoon According to P.M. the Chukaimina held an su hup: chicken hawk (su pa, Western Mono} annual mourning ceremony which lasted seven wihe "S&t: cougar (tuwa "wiya, western Mono, days. What occurred during the week he could UWich: not say [presumably only the morning and even- ing ritual singing and wailing) because the l&m&k: falcon Shamans' Contest did not take place until hots: buzzard (wiJho, Western Mono) either the day before the washing or on the kai yu: coyote (hu 'l'usu [sjc], Western last day after it [informants quite uncertain]. Mono) , On the seventh day (Sunday) the washing ritual, naho "lo: bear (bi ow's"i [sic], Western Mnaho)~ bear (bi ow&~i [sic], Western which was primarily intertribal and secondarily he wiono) intermoiety, was followed by the Shamans' Con- ite el: rattlesnake test [Huhuna ?], and at night by the shamans' hutu lu: owl entertainment dances. All informants insisted that persons of Various Ceremonies Same totem animal (hence of the same moiety) [d marry. No specific cases pro or con Ceremonies which the informants would be d be recalled, however. A man with Eagle expected to know, they seemed to know only by was always chief; all his family were hearsay. ed ti ya. The Huhuna Dance, P.M. said, was done by a man who had a whistle, he sang, his dress was all feathers. There was no one up here who did Redemption of Totem Animals it, nor any Wechihit or Toihitcha. "It came from Wukchumni way." Mo. said that her paternal grandmother, Names of Yokuts ceremonies were given thus -:was off the Nutuwich moiety after marriage, by Mo.: Mourning ceremony (duni sa); crying ed an eagle. Her son, Mo.'s8 father, hunted ritual (aha'na); washing ritual, either at 136 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS mourning or for mother (epla oisa);. Shamans' Dunlap by the mixed Wobonuch, Entimbich, Wak Contest (hesa oisast); Rattlesnake Ritual sachi, Chukaimina, Michahai, and some Choin (laiya la); [rattlesnake, te"'el); shaman's Mo. said her father, Maka na, participa pleasure dance (ka mkam). in the Rattlesnake Ritual with Pus1&l&n. " P.M. had seen the Ghost Dance but Mo. had had little whistles to call the snakes." Sh not. never saw this; "all she knows is what P.M. Mo. claimed that the only mourning cere- told her." monies she had witnessed were recent ones at BIBLIOGRAPHY viations Gayton,A.H. (cont.) 1935a.' Areal Affiliations of Cali- American Anthropologist. fornia Folktales. AA 37:582- American Anthropological Association, 599. Memoirs. 1935b. The Orpheus Myth in North Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin. America. JAFL 48:263-291. Contributions to North American 1936. Estudillo among the Yokuts: Ethnology. 1819. Essays in Honor of Journal of American Folklore. Alfred Louis Kroeber, 67-85. Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, Berkeley. Bulletin. 1945. Yokuts and Western Mono Social Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Organization. AA 47:409-426. Papers. Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report. Gayton, A.H., and Stanley S. Newman University of California, Anthro- 1940. Yokuts and Western Mono Myths. pological Records. UC-AR 5:1-110. 4E University of California, Publications Gifford, E.W. in American Archaeology and 1922. Californian Kinship Terminolo- Ethnology. - gles. UC-PAAE 18:1-286. United States National Museum, Reports. 1923. Western Mono Myths. JAFL 36: Yale University, Publications in 301-367. Anthropology. 1932. The Northfork Mono. UC-PAAE 31:15-66. Gifford, E.W., and W. Egbert Schenck bong, Margaret 1926. The Archaeology of the Southern 1915. Field Book of Western Wild San Joaquin Valley. UC-PAAE Flowers. New York. 23:1-122 tt, S.A., and E.W. Gifford Heizer, Robert F and Gordon W. Hewes 1933. Miwok Material Culture.Hezr,RbtF.anGodnWHws PMM-B 2. 1940. Animal Ceremonialism in Central California in the Light of ehole, Ernest Archaeology. AA 42:587-603. 1937. Notes on Hopi Economic Life. Hill, W.W. YU-PA 15. 1937. NavaJo Pottery Manufacture. Herbert E. University of New Mexico 1931. In the South San Joaquin ahead Bulletin, Anthropological of Garces. California His- Series 2. torical Society Quarterly 1938. The Agricultural and Hunting 10:211-219. Methods of the NavaJo. YU-PA I,James H.1 18. 1931. Life in California. Reprinted Holmes, William Henry in The Magazine of History 1902. Anthropological Studies in 41:4, extra no. 165. Tarrytown, California. USNM-R 1900:155- Bertha Parker 187. 1942. Simply Strung on a Single Jepson, Willis Linn 1 Strandy Strung on 16:175-176. 1923. The Trees of California. Strand. Masterkey Berkeley. 1935. Wintu Ethnography. UC-PAAE 1925. A Maniual of the Flowering Plants of California. Berkeley. E Pedro 36:1-148. Kelly, Isabel 1932. Ethnography of the Surprise 1937. A Historical, Political and, Valley Paiute. UC-PAAE 31:67- Natural Description of Cali- 210 fornia. Transl. by Herbert Ingram Priestley. Berkeley. Kroeber, A.L. r, Francis P. 1907a. The Yokuts Language of South 1932. The Topographical Reports of Central California. UC-PAAE Lieutenant George H. Derby. 2:165-378. California Historical Society 1907b. Shoshonvan Dialects of Cali- Quarterly 11:100-123, 247-265, fornia. UC-PAAE 4:65-166. 1907c. Indian Myths of South Central , A.H. California. UC-PAAE 4:167-250. 1929. Yokuts and Western Mono Pottery- 1925. Handbook of the Indians of Making. UC-PAAE 24:239-252. California. BAE-B 78. 1930a. The Ghost Dance of 1870 in Kroeber, A.L., ed. 0 ~South Central California. 1935. Walapai Ethnography. AAA-M 42. UC-PAAE 28:57-82. Latta, F.F. 1930b. Yokuts-Mono Chiefs and Shamans. 1929. Uncle Jeff's Story. Tulare, * ~UC-PAAE 24:361-420. Calif. ; t~~~~~~~~~~137) 138 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Latta, F.F. (cont.) Steward., Julian H. 1936. California Indian Folklore. 1929. Petroglyphs of California Shafter, Calif. Adjoining States. UC-PAAE Merriam, C.Hart 47-238. 1930. The Emn-tim-bitch, a Shoshon- 1938. Basin-Plateau Aboriginal S ean Tribe. AA 32:495-499. political Groups. BAE-B 1 Merrill, Ruth Earl Stewart, Omer C. 1923. Plants Used in Basketry by the 1937. Northern Paiute Polyandry. California Indians. UC-PAAE AA 39:368-369. 20:213-242. Strong, William Duncan Newman, Stanley S. 1929. Aboriginal Society in Sout 1944. Yokuts Language of California. California. UC-PAAE 26:1- Viking Fund Publications in Tschopik, Jr., Harry Anthropology, No. 2. 1941. Navaho Pottery Making. PM Park, Willard Z. VslaRcr 1937. Paviotso Polyandry. AA 39:366- 1861. Vol. 3, November 7. 368. ~~~~~~Voegelin, Erminie W. Powers, Stephen 1938. TUbatulabal Ethnography. 1877. Tribes of California. CNAE 3. UC-AR 2:1-90. Ray, Verne F. Wedel, Waldo R. 1939. Cultural Relations in the 1941. Archeological Investigation Plateau of Northwestern America. at Buena Vista Lake, Kern Publications of the Frederick County, California. BAE-B Webb Hodge Anniversary Publi- Yates, Lorenzo Gordin Rogers, Barbara Thrall, and A.H. Gayton California Sr 1886:29 1944. Twenty-Seven Chukchansi Yokuts 305. Myths. JAFL 57:190-207. Spier, Leslie 1930. Klamath Ethnography. UC-PAAE 30:1-338. PLATE AND EXPLANATION Explanation of Plate 1 Yokuts Specimens in Case 76, Room 15, Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Miwok specimens to left of verticals, Western Mono specimens to rlght of verticals. (Photograph by courtesy of Peabody Museum, 1939.) Top: large ceremonial basket flanked by other baskets of gift or ceremonial type. Across center: twined ware -- left, sieve with stripes; center, fish basketj' right, seedbeater over coiled ware circular winnowing tray (perhaps a shaman's), flanked by small bottleneck or "treasure" baskets. Three fine bottleneck baskets with quail plume ornament. Bottom: gambling trays, mush basket type, small mush baskets. On floor, right: stave dice, arrow stralghtener, pair of hiding bones; center, bone awls and cane arrows; right verticals, looped rocklifters, plaln bow, dlgging stick, and shaman's staff (black). PLATE 1. YOKXJTS SPECIMENS, PEABODY MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~