Miwok

Miwok
Historical distribution of Miwok peoples in California
Total population
1770: over 11,000
1910: 670
1930: 491
2000: 3,500
Regions with significant populations
California: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley, Marin County, Sonoma County, Lake County, Contra Costa County
Languages
Miwok languages
Religion
Shamanism: Kuksu
Miwok mythology
Related ethnic groups
Subgroups:

The Miwok are four linguistically related Indigenous peoples of California. Their homelands are in Northern California and Central California. Their lands were in the Sacramento Valley, the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Historically, they spoke Miwok languages, part of the Utian family.

Name

The word Miwok means people in the Miwok languages.: 1  Miwok is also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk.

Subgroups

Anthropologists commonly divide the Miwok into four geographically and culturally diverse ethnic subgroups. These distinctions were not used among the Miwok before European contact.: 4 

Federally recognized tribes

The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognizes eleven tribes of Miwok descent in California. They are as follows:

Non-federally recognized tribes

  • Miwok Tribe of the El Dorado Rancheria
  • Nashville-Eldorado Miwok Tribe
  • Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria
  • Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation
  • Calaveras Band of Mi-Wuk Indians
  • Miwok of Buena Vista Rancheria
  • River Valley Miwok Indians, formally known as Historical Families of Wilton Rancheria

History

Painting of Sierra Miwok at the Mariposa Indian Encampment, Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt

The predominant theory regarding the settlement of the Americas dates the original migrations from Asia to around 20,000 years ago across the Bering Strait land bridge, but anthropologist Otto von Sadovszky claims that the Miwok and some other northern California tribes descend from Siberians who arrived in California by sea around 3,000 years ago.

Culture

1872 photograph of Southern Miwok council in Yosemite Valley
Miwok sweat lodge in Yosemite Valley

The Miwok lived in small bands without centralized political authority before contact with European Americans in 1769. They had domesticated dogs and cultivated tobacco, but were otherwise complex hunter-gatherers.

Cuisine

The Sierra Miwok harvested acorns from the California Black Oak. In fact, the modern-day extent of the California Black Oak forests in some areas of Yosemite National Park is partially due to cultivation by Miwok tribes. They burned understory vegetation to reduce the fraction of Ponderosa Pine. Nearly every other kind of edible vegetable matter was used as a food source, including bulbs, seeds, and fungi. Animals were hunted with arrows, clubs or snares, depending on the species and the situation. Grasshoppers were a highly prized food source, as were mussels for those groups adjacent to the Stanislaus River. Coastal Miwok were known to have predominantly relied on food gathered from the inland side of the Marin peninsula (modern San Pablo bay, lakes, and land based foods), but to have also engaged in diving for abalone in the Pacific Ocean.

The Miwok ate meals according to appetite rather than at regular times. They stored food for later consumption, primarily in flat-bottomed baskets.

Environmental Interaction

The Miwok, like many other tribes at the time, worked with their environment to sustain themselves and also to sustain the lands around them. For example, the Coast Miwok fished and hunted sustainably, keeping the coastal waters and the land healthy. They did not hunt for more than they needed. The Miwok also burned the grasslands after a harvest, encouraging new plants to grow from the ashes.

Religion

The Miwok creation story and narratives tend to be similar to those of other natives of Northern California. One of their sacred places is Mount Diablo. This is where they believe the animal creation god, Coyote, created them and all of their resources. Miwok had totem animals, identified with one of two moieties, which were in turn associated respectively with land and water. These totem animals were not thought of as literal ancestors of humans, but rather as predecessors.

Languages

Sports

Miwok people played mixed-gender games, with both men and women in each team, on a 110-yard (100 m) playing field called poscoi a we'a. Similarly to soccer, the object of the game was to kick or carry an elk hide ball to the opposing team's goalpost, but the rules varied by gender. Women could handle the ball in any way they chose, using any part of their bodies to control it, including kicking the ball or picking it up and running with it. In contrast, men were only allowed to kick the ball. However, a man could pick up a woman who was holding the ball and run to the goal with her.

Population

Benjamin Barry (Miwok), World War II veteran and fire chief, in parade dress

In 1770, there were an estimated 500 Lake Miwok, 1,500 Coast Miwok, and 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok, totaling about 11,000 people, according to historian Alfred L. Kroeber, although this may be an undercount; for example, he did not identify the Bay Miwok.

California historians estimate the Miwok population was at least 25,000 in 1769.

The 1910 Census reported a total of 671 Miwok, while the 1930 Census noted 491. See history of each Miwok group for more information. By the 2000 Census, the total number of Miwok had risen to approximately 3,500.

The Star Wars films feature a fictional species of forest-dwelling creatures known as Ewoks, who are ostensibly named after the Miwok.

The Miwok people are encountered in Kim Stanley Robinson's book The Years of Rice and Salt. In an alternate history scenario depicted in the book, they are the first group of Native Americans encountered by the first Chinese to discover the continent.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "California Indians and Their Reservations: An Online Dictionary (M-p)" Archived 2009-08-30 at the Wayback Machine, San Diego State University Library, accessed 2025-07-07
  2. ↑ Hilario, Kayla (2020-08-13). "Kayla Hilario: Let's not forget Tribal history as we complete the Census". Indianz. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2025-07-02. For thousands of years, the Miwok people lived throughout Northern and Central California – spread over a hundred villages along the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers and north of the San Francisco Bay area, east into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
  3. ↑ Pauls, Elizabeth Prine (2006-09-28). "Miwok | people". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  4. ↑ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian languages. Internet Archive. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-520-26667-4.
  5. 1 2 Conrotto, Eugene L. (1973). Miwok means people; the life and fate of the native inhabitants of the California gold rush country. Internet Archive. Fresno, CA: Valley Publishers. ISBN 978-0-913548-13-4.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Leigh A.; Gowen, David; Johnson, Robert L.; Brabazon, Holly; Goates, Emily D. (2016-04-16). "Navarretia crystallina and N. miwukensis (Polemoniaceae): new species endemic to California with affinity for soils derived from pyroclastic deposits". Phytotaxa. 257 (3): 457. Bibcode:2016Phytx.257..249J. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.257.3.3. Archived from the original on 2025-07-01 – via BioTaxa.com. The specific epithet, literally 'from Miwuk', refers to Mi Wuk village, a community within the range of the species nestled among historic gold-rush settlements and named to honor the Me-Wuk Indians that have inhabited this region for centuries.
  7. ↑ Nelson, Peter (September 2021). "Commentary: Where Have All the Anthros Gone? The Shift in California Indian Studies from Research "on" to Research "with, for, and by" Indigenous Peoples". American Anthropologist. 123 (3): 469. doi:10.1111/aman.13633. Archived from the original on 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
  8. ↑ "Buena Vista Rancheria - Me-Wuk Indians". Buenavistatribe.com. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Federally Recognized Tribes in California by U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs as of November 5, 2024" (PDF). CGCC.CA.gov. 2024-11-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Federal Register. 2023-01-12. Archived from the original on 2025-04-17. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  11. ↑ "California Valley Miwok Tribe (CVMT GovPortal) - Official Website of the California Valley Miwok Tribe". californiavalleymiwok.us. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  12. ↑ "California Valley Miwok Tribe (CVMT WebPortal)". Californiavalleymiwoktribe.us. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  13. ↑ "The Constitution of the California Valley Miwok Tribe (also known as Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-wuk Indians of California)" (PDF). BIA.gov. 2018-12-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  14. ↑ "Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria". Gratonrancheria.com. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  15. ↑ "Coast Miwok at Point Reyes". NPS.gov. Archived from the original on 2024-04-14. Retrieved 2025-07-03. Legislation was signed in December 2000 granting the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok, full rights and privileges afforded federally recognized tribes.
  16. ↑ "Ione Band of Miwok Indians". Ionemiwok.org. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  17. ↑ "Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians Tribal State Gaming Compact". www.bia.gov. 2016-10-31. Archived from the original on 2025-07-03. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  18. ↑ Wilkinson, Bill; Sahara, April (2022). "13 Community Management of Native American, Municipal, and Private Managed Forests in Northern California, USA". Routledge Handbook of Community Forestry. Routledge. p. 212. Archived from the original on 2025-07-03. Retrieved 2025-07-03. Following the establishment of the Middletown Rancheria, members of other Tribal groups, including Pomo, Wappo, and Wintun, joined the Pomo, either through marriage or customary adoption.
  19. ↑ "Welcome — United Auburn Indian Community". Auburnrancheria.com. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  20. 1 2 "Notice of Inventory Completion: California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA" (PDF). Federal Register. 80 (25): 6752. 2015-02-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2025-07-04 – via www.govinfo.gov/. A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by California State University, Sacramento professional staff in consultation with representatives of Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California;... and Nashville-Eldorado Miwok, a non-Federally recognized Native American group." "... and the Miwok Tribe of the El Dorado Rancheria, a non-Federally recognized Native American group, were also contacted by California State University, Sacramento.
  21. ↑ Daniels, Brian. "Receiving Traditional Homelands: The Approach of the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria". dia.upenn.edu. Archived from the original on 2025-07-04. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  22. ↑ Wigglesworth, Alex (2023-05-07). "This tribe was barred from cultural burning for decades — then a fire hit their community". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  23. ↑ Nichols, Chris (2005-04-07). "Tribes feud over state housing funds". The Union Democrat. Archived from the original on 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  24. ↑ "Finding the Sovereignty of our Elders". Organization by Miwok of Buena Vista Rancheria. Miwokofbuenavistarancheria.webs.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  25. ↑ Mandujano, Yanah Geary (2012-12-07). "Protest of Casino Development at Buena Vista Rancheria". www.sacramentopress.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2025-07-04. The Miwok of Buena Vista Rancheria have been here the whole time.
  26. ↑ "Impacted Communities – List of 251 Indigenous Nations and Communities Impacted by Cornell's Past and Present Land Manipulations". Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Project. American Indian Indigenous Studies Program. Archived from the original on 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  27. ↑ Billiter, Bill (January 1, 1985). "3,000-Year-Old Connection Claimed: Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-11-28. Some of the California Indian tribes that are descended from Russian Siberians, Von Sadovszky said, are the Wintuan, of the Sacramento Valley, the Miwokan, of the area north of San Francisco, and the Costanoan, of the area south of San Francisco.
  28. ↑ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Quercus kelloggii, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ↑ Parks, California State. "History". California State Parks. Retrieved 2026-11-04.
  30. ↑ "Shibboleth Authentication Request". login.dvc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2026-10-27.
  31. ↑ Kroeber, 1925, pages 453-456
  32. ↑ "Indian Grinding Rock SHP - The Rock and the People". California Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on 2025-03-28. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  33. ↑ "Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park" (PDF). joincsp.parks.ca.gov/. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-03-04. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  34. ↑ Green, Joseph (2024-01-19). "The Poscoi A We'a and Gender Roles in Miwok Sports - Historic Mysteries". Historic Mysteries. Archived from the original on 2024-05-22. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  35. ↑ "Benjamin Barry". The Union. 2010-09-14. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  36. ↑ Kroeber, 1925, pages 444-445
  37. ↑ Swanton, John Reed (1979). The Indian tribes of North America. No. 145. Internet Archive. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 507. ISBN 978-0-87474-179-7.
  38. ↑ Cherry, Robert; Lemke-Santangelo, Gretchen; Griswold de Castillo, Richard. Competing Visions: A History of California. SMC Book Gallery. p. 24. In 1769, the Miwok population probably exceeded 25,000.
  39. ↑ Cook, 1976, pages 236–245.
  40. ↑ Nash, Eric P. (1997-01-26). "The Names Came From Earth". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  41. ↑ Calkowski, Marcia S. (1991). "Is There Authoritative Voice in Ewok Talk?: On Postmodernism, Fieldwork, and the Recovery of Unintended Meanings" (PDF). Culture. 11 (1–2): 58. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2025-07-06 – via erudit.org. In a 1989 téléphoné interview, the sound editor and credited creator of Ewokese for the film Return of the Jedi, Ben Burtt, noted that he himself had not invented the name "Ewok", but that it most probably derived from the name of the aboriginal inhabitants of Marin County, California, the Miwok.
  42. ↑ Robinson, Kim Standley (2002). "The Years of Rice and Salt". Internet Archive. p. 175. Retrieved 2025-07-06.

References