Pomo

Location: Pomo is a word believed to be derived from Poma, the village name given by anthropologists at the beginning of the century.  The Pomo originated in California and were divided into three regions, the coast, the valley, and the lake regions of northern, central and southern California. They inhabited Mendicino, Sonoma and Lake counties. They also resided in the Russian River Valley and still reside in these areas today. The northern Pomo are named the Bokeya, the central are the Yokiya, and the southern Pomo are the Kashia.

Language: It is believed that there were originally seven different languages but only three are still spoken including Hokan.

History: In the early 1800's, the Pomo had become close allies with the Russian fur traders and constantly traded items between the two camps. The Russian fur traders believed having Indians on their side was to their advantage. The Pomo were forced into Spanish missionaries or onto Indian reservations. During the 1830's & 1840's, they were subjected to numerous raids by the Mexican camps who attempted to secure slaves. There was also dramatic increases in the number of people who contracted smallpox and other deadly diseases. In 1857, the U.S. government set up a reservation for the Pomo Indians at Fort Bragg, California. Ten years later it was deserted and the Pomo were sent to live on other reservations throughout California.

Daily Life: The daily life of the Pomo was all based on simplicity. The men were often naked and the women wore short, thick kilts and shirts made of deerskin. One source of warmth during cold weather came from rabbit robes. Their houses were shaped like an elliptical circle and consisted of three layers held by poles. Their daily diet included acorns, berries, fish and  meat. The Pomo had two ceremonial rituals including the “Ghost Dance,” during which the dead were recognized and the “Far South,” which was a rite of passage for children of the tribe.

Because the Pomo Indians lived in a variety of environments, there was a large variety of food available to them. The communities living inland made journeys to the coast for sea food, and the coastal communities made journeys inland to gather foods not found in their local environment. The Pomo Indians ate nuts from acorns, chestnuts, buckeyes, pepperwood, and conifer trees. They also ate wild grapes and berries. “Almost all species of mammals, birds, fishes, etc. were utilized, chiefly as sources of food.” (Material Aspects of Pomo Culture. page. 96). Among these were land birds like quail, pigeons, doves, woodpeckers, and blue jays. The clear lake communities had access to ducks, geese, swan, cormorants, cranes, egrets, herons, bitterns, and snipe. There were also certain animals that were considered taboo to hunt or eat. Here is a small list of some of these animals and reasons not hunted.

The hunting of game was done using a variety of tools. They used snare, nets, spears, clubs, Bola (used in taking geese), sling and clay balls, and the bow and arrow. They used a V-shaped fence for corralling deer, and they would smoke out, or drown out ground squirrel out of their burrow.

Land: The Pomo Indians did have property lines and personal areas. The entire community usually owned Land, but family units may have owned individual trees. Good fishing spots were another community owned area. If other communities wanted to fish these areas, all they had to do was ask. “If a boundary had to be marked, they simply tied a girdle of leaves around the trees along the line, at intervals of about a mile.” (Material Aspects of Pomo Culture. page. 50). Boundaries where agreed upon by community leaders in elaborate ceremonies.

The Pomo were very peaceful, only when property rights were disregarded did village units go to war. This was a last resort and many warnings were given before force utilized. The Pomo’s wealth came from fifty miles of lakeshore, and over one million acres of land. From this land the mined, traded, and sold Megnasite, or Indian gold.

Today: The Pomo only have a mere fifty acres of tribal land. The decline was caused by a few factors; the treaties signed were never accepted by the state of California, thus when the gold rush hit they sold a lot of the Pomo Indians land to anyone willing to buy. Second, was a terrible misrepresentation of the Pomo Indians in court by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). This caused a loss of 80, 000 acres of land, including the island tribal ceremonial grounds.

There are seventy known tribes within the Pomo group. They are known as skilled basket weavers, both men and women participated in the process of shape, material and technique.

References:

Barrett, Samuel Alfred. Material Aspects of Pomo Culture. (1952)

Billy, S.  Pomo People: Brief History. http://www.kstrom.net/isk/art/basket/pomohist.html#buttons.

The Pomo Indians. http://www.gualala.com/history/pomo.htm

Curtis, E. The North American Indian. http://curtis-collection.com/tribe%20data/pomo.html

http://www.elemnation.com/index.html

By Danielle Owrak and Jared Smasal