Chaper 3

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Chapter 3 in our textbook talked about the foundations of human activity and the expansion (urbanization) of various areas. Crescent City to this day is a very small place so for this chapters post I am going to focus on the two Native American tribes that lived near Crescent City because they both had a major influence on the city when it first began as well as today.

(Source: http://donigreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/powwow2.jpg)

 

 

 

 

(Source: http://www.nps.gov/archive/redw/images/dance.jpg)

 

 

 

 

 

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The Yurok people lived along the Klamath River predominately until more white settlers moved to the area, then at that point they dispersed to areas closer to the ocean as well as further inland but still near water sources. Some of the villages date back to the 14th century. They relied on salmon from the river as well as game from the forest and shellfish from the ocean. They have their own language that is only one of two Algonquian languages spoken in California. An usual feature of the language is that certain nouns change depending upon whether there is one, two, or three of the object. When white settlers came for gold during the gold rush, many of the tribe's members became sick with diseases they never had seen before and faced massacres. Today they live on the Yurok Indian Reservation, on  rancherias, and through Humboldt County. To this day fishing, hunting, and gathering remain important to tribal members. Basket weaving and woodcarver are just two art forms the tribe prides themselves on.

The Tolowa lived in the Smith River basin, which is north of where the Yurok lived. They also lived north of this area, including up into what is now known as the state of Oregon. Tolowa villages were organized around a headman and usually consisted of related men. The men brought wives in from neighboring tribes. The brides were usually related, in order for the wealth to remain in the paternal families. They put a very high value and stressed personal wealth, which is why the practice of marrying someone related was performed. Jedediah Smith and his exploration party were the first known white settlers to encounter the Tolowa. The tride, like the Yurok and many other tribes, faced death from diseases spread by the white settlers and mass murders by them as well. The Native Americans, even though very advanced for medicine technology at the time, could not treat many of the diseases brought on by the white settlers moving to the area.

Even though both tribes encountered death upon the arrival of the white settlers in various forms, not all interactions resulted in such an end. Some white settlers took it upon themselves to befriend the tribe members and this proved to be useful in many ways. By sharing the ways of life and how each hunted, fished, lived off the land, the location of certain sought after animal life, the knowledge of where certain plants where and what they could do, crafting certain objects such as baskets and making clothes allowed the people to interact.

(Source: http://donigreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/powwow3.jpg)

Both members of the Yurok and Tolowa tribes live together, one of the places they live together is the Elk Valley Rancheria. Although they each have their own ways of doing certain things, they still share many similarities. They have impacted the way of life in the region by having influenced the  white settlers as they came. Many of the children today mix with others in the region and befriend people who are not Native American.

I lived for many years in Crescent City, CA and one of my best friends was Tolowa. He taught me many different things, and because of him I had no fear of getting lost in the woods around my house because he showed me how to figure out which direction I was facing, what plants were safe, and what was safe to step on and what was not safe to step on. I also attended various ceremonies with him think I would be the only white person there, but I was wrong. There was sometimes as many as 20 white people in attendance to some of the ceremonial events. His mother ever year for her children's friends made baskets as gifts for birthdays and took the opportunity to come to the schools in the area and teach the children about her people.