Wailaki
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FOUR DIRECTIONS
INSTITUTE Wailaki |
| Ethnie: | WAILAKI |
| Language: | Wailakian |
| Family: | Pacific Coast Athapaskans |
| Stock: | Athapaskans |
| Phylum: | Na-Dene |
| Macro-Culture: | Northwest California |
| x |
| The Wailaki were a sedentary hunter/gatherer nation that relied heavily on fishing. They were the uppermost Athapaskan tribe on the Eel River extending to the border of Yuki territory at the Big Bend. They also lived along several affluants. The Pacific Coast Athapaskans arrived in the area late in the first millennium from Canada. The Wailaki suffered in a major conflict with the Cahto and as a result of the White influx. |
| Aboriginal Locations |
| Subdivisons (# of villages): Main Eel River (15), Lower North Fork of Eel River (3), Higher up North Fork (4) |
| Present Locations |
| GRINDSTONE RANCHERIA, Elk Creek |
| ROUND VALLEY RESERVATION, Covelo |
| Year | History |
| 1850 | Wailaki and Yuki bitter feud with Cahto, many killed; miners and settlers encroached into territory killing many as well |
| 1861 | 120 killed at Horse Canyon trying to steal horses |
| 1862 | Squatters killed 65 at Round Valley and took over 80% of reservation |
| 1871 | Episcopal mission established at Round Valley |
| Year | Population | Source |
| 2,700 | Baumhoff aboriginal estimate | |
| 1700 | 2,700 | NAHDB calculation |
| 1800 | 1,900 | NAHDB calculation |
| 1850 | 1,500 | Cook estimate |
| 1852 | 1,200 | Cook estimate |
| 1861 | 400 | Cook estimate |
| 1880 | 150 | Cook estimate |
| 1900 | 200 | NAHDB calculation |
| 1910 | 227 | Census |
| 2000 | 400 | NAHDB calculation |
| Other speakers of the same language: |
| Cahto, Eel River Tribes |
| Wailaki Sites |
| Athapaskan Languages of California http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/wailaki.html |
| Curtis Collection - http://curtis-collection.com/tribe%20data/VINTAGE%20PORTFOLIO%20PRINTS/volume14a.html |
| Eel River Petroglyph Sites http://archaeology.parks.ca.gov/prehistory/eelriver/index.htm |
| A History of American Indians in California http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views1h75.htm |
| Wailaki Female Fertility Ritual Lines http://archaeology.parks.ca.gov/prehistory/eelriver/deeplines.htm |
| Wailaki Language http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6010/waindex.html |
| Wailaki - SFSU Narrative http://bss.sfsu.edu/calstudies/Native%20Web%20Pages/wailaki.html |
Copyright © 2000 by Four Directions Institute