WINTU AND THEIR NEIGHBORS

SEDENTARY PEOPLE EMERGED ABOUT 12,000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT. THEY WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS IN A DIVERSIFIED ENVIRONMENT. THEY HAD A HIGH POPULATION AND PRODUCED THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS. THESE FOLKS HAD A RELATIVELY STABLE WORLD SYSTEM IN OPERATION. THEY DID PLANT TOBACCO AND DOMESTICATED DOG. THEY INTERACTED INTENSIVELY WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS ACROSS LANGUAGE BARRIERS. THE WOMEN MADE BEAUTIFUL BASKETS. THEY MANAGED THEIR ENVIRONMENT AS WELL.


ALL THE PEOPLE TRADED LONG DISTANCE. MANY RESOURCES WERE MOVED BETWEEN GROUPS OVER 100'S OF KILOMETERS. THEY DID NOT INTERACT WITH PEOPLE WHO HAD LARGE COMPLEX CHIEFDOMS OR STRATIFIED SOCIETIES. THE ATHABASKAN TRIBES - HUPA, KAROK, YUROK, AND OTHERS PROBABLY MIGRATED FROM THE NORTH . THEIR TRADE STRETCHED TO CANADA. THE WINTU TRADE CENTER WAS LINKED TO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THEY SPOKE PENUTIAN. 1) THEY MADE PROCUREMENT TRIPS TO GATHER FOOD, RAW MATERIALS, TO VISIT NEIGHBORS, AND TO OBTAIN SPIRITUAL POWERS; 2) THEY HAD EXCHANGE EVENTS SUCH AS TRADE FEASTS, MIDWAY TRADE, AND COLLECTIVE HUNTING AND GATHERING EVENTS; 3) THEY HAD CONFLICT EVENTS - DISPUTES, RAIDS, WARS, BATTLES, AND RETALIATION; 4) THEY HAD CELEBRATIONS, WAR DANCES, DREAM DANCES, BIG TIMES, PUBERTY CEREMONIES, AND CULT GATHERINGS; 5) SETTLEMENT PATTERNS - BOUNDARIES BETWEEN LINGUISTIC GROUPS. THERE VILLAGES HAD ABOUT 250 PEOPLE AND THEIR ENTIRE POPULATION AT CONTACT WAS AT 5300 PEOPLE. THEY HUNTED BOTH SMALL AND BIG GAME, GRUBS, AND GRASSHOPPERS. THEY REALLY RELIED ON THE SALMON. VILLAGES WERE LOCATED NEAR ONE ANOTHER ALONG THE RIVERS AND CREEKS. THE POPULATION WAS QUITE HIGH COMPARED TO OTHER HUNTERS AND GATHERERS.

SOME OF THEIR BASKETS WERE SO TIGHTLY WOVEN THEY WERE USED FOR CARRYING WATER AND COOKING. THESE FOLKS PROBABLY FIRST SETTLED NEAR THE PRESENT TOWN OF REDDING. THEY USED HOPPER MORTARS LATER FOR GRINDING ACORNS. THEIR SOCIAL LIVES WERE ORGANIZED INTO TRIBELETS. HEADMEN OR LEADERS COULD MARRY MORE THAN ONE WIFE , FREQUENTLY A SISTER OF HIS WIFE! TEMPORARY LEADERS WERE APPOINTED FOR COORDINATING HUNTING PARTIES OR LEADERSHIP IN A LARGE WAR.

THE WINTU USUALLY BURNED SHELL BEAD MONEY, BASKETS, AND PROPERTY OF A DECEASED DURING CREMATION. OBSIDIAN AND SEA SHELL BEADS WERE TRADED TO DISTANT NEIGHBORS PREHISTORICALLY. AFTER 1500 A.D. THEY TRADE CLAM SHELL BEADS AS A MAJOR ACTIVITY. THEY WERE PART OF A LARGER INTER SOCIETAL PRESTIEGE GOODS GROUP THAT LINKED THEM TO OTHER TO OTHER DISTANT TRIBES. THEY HAD MULTI - VILLAGE HUNTING, FISHING, AND GATHERING EVENTS.







CHRISTOPHER DUN/KELLEY MANN