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Miwok—also spelled Miwuk or Me-Wuk—refers to native Californians who lived in what is now Northern California. The word Miwok means people in the Miwok language.
Originally there were three geographically detached groups:
- The Coast Miwok, who lived from the Golden Gate north to Duncan's Point and eastward to Sonoma Creek.
- The Lake Miwok, who lived in the Clear Lake basin.
- The Plains and Sierra Miwok, who lived on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada between the Fresno and Cosumnes Rivers and in the delta area where the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers converge. The Sierra Miwok were the original inhabitants of Yosemite.
Alfred L. Kroeber estimated that, in 1770, there were 500 Lake Miwok, 1,500 Coast Miwok, and 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok, totaling about 11,000. The 1910 Census reported 670, and the 1930 Census 491, but this may be an undercount.
The Miwok spoke a language in the Penutian linguistic group.
The Miwok lived by hunting and gathering, and lived in small bands without centralized political authority. They were skilled at basketry.
Miwok mythology was similar to other Northern Californians, with many tales of Coyote the trickster.
Coast Miwok
The Coast Miwok (also known as the Bay Miwok) were driven from their land north of San Francisco in 1958, finally regaining federal recognition of their tribal status (as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria) in December, 2000.
Sierra Miwok
The Southern Sierra Miwok apparently populated most of Yosemite at the time of the arrival of non-Indians. They called the valley awahni. Today, there is some debate about the original meaning of the word, since the Southern Miwok language is virtually extinct, but recent Southern Miwok speakers defined it as "place like a gaping mouth." The Miwok who lived in awahni were also known as the Awahnichi (also spelled Ahwahnechee and similar variants), meaning "people who live in awahni".
See also
References
- The Miwok in Yosemite, pamphlet from Yosemite Association; Craig D. Bates, 1996
External links
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