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FOUR DIRECTIONS
INSTITUTE Teaching 3rd and 4th Graders to Love California Indian History and Culture: An On-Line and In-Class Adventure
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| Return to Class Main Page | Module 1: Glossary | Module 2: Education | Module 3: Literatures | Module 4: Cultures |
| Module 5: History | Module 6: Today | Module 7: Curriculum | Module 8: Seminar | Exit class |
| Ethnies | Chilula, Chimariko, Eel River Tribes, Hupa, Karuk, Lassik, Nongatl, Shasta, Tolowa, Whilcut, Wiyot, Yurok, some southwestern Oregon ethnies |
| Transition Ethnies | Achomawi, Atsugewi |
| Hub Ethnie | Yurok |
| x | |
| Shared Elements | |
| Economy | The macro-culture shared a capitalist economy with wealth driving virtually all activities. Dentalium shells were used for money. Blood money was recognized as well as debt slavery. |
| Government | None. |
| Shamanism | Female shamans only, received payment for services and were typically wealthy. |
| Housing | Redwood plank cabins with an interior pit and a small hole entry to keep bears out. |
| Marriage | Bride purchase and half marriage (men who could not afford the bride price worked as a slave for one year for the bride's family). |
| Dances | White Deer Dance and Jump Dance |
| Creation Story Motif | Man Across the Water |
| Basketry | Twining only |
| Primary Food | Salmon and acorns |
| Taboos | Twins. Smothered one of twins upon birth. |
| The Northwest California macro-culture featured many
traits of the greater Northwest cultures. The greater Northwest
cultures undertook a metamorphosis in the mid-eighteenth century as a
result pf Polynesian influences. These changes manifested
themselves particularly in art, both manual and performance.
Nonetheless, their overwhelmingly dentalium driven capitalistic economy
and society was a feature that the Northwest California macro-culture
shared with the other greater Northwest cultures.
The Northwest California macro-culture was, on the average, a rich one in comparison to all other California macro-cultures. Life was relatively easy along the salmon rich rivers and in the acorn and game rich forests for all but a few relatively small ethnies. This afforded opportunities for the pursuing of arts and the participation in ceremonies. Inter-culture contact within the Northwest California macro-culture, however, must have been minimal as compared to the other California macro-cultures as demonstrated by its great number of separate languages each with a relatively few speakers. This large number of languages surely developed subsequent to the arrival of most of the various ethnies barely more than a millennium ago. Heavy inter-ethnie contact would have mitigated such linguistic diversity. |
| Populations | Year 1700 | Year 1800 | Year 1900 | Year 2000 |
| Chilula | 500 | 500 | 50 | 0 |
| Chimariko | 250 | 250 | 0 | 0 |
| Eel River Tribes | 2,000 | 2,000 | 100 | 500 |
| Hupa | 1,000 | 1,000 | 500 | 2,200 |
| Karuk | 2,700 | 2,700 | 1,000 | 2,300 |
| Shasta | 1,900 | 1,900 | 500 | 400 |
| Wailaki | 2,700 | 1,900 | 200 | 400 |
| Whilcut | 500 | 500 | 50 | 100 |
| Wiyot | 1,200 | 1,000 | 150 | 250 |
| Yurok | 2,500 | 2,500 | 700 | 2,300 |
| Total Northwest Calif. | 15,250 | 14,250 | 3,250 | 8,450 |
Northwestern California Plank House http://www.ncidc.org/
Return to: Module 4: Cultures
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