WAPPO INDIANS

MISHEWAL WAPPO IN ALEXANDER VALLEY. THERE ARE 340 MIXED WAPPO HERE. THE WORD WAPPO MEANS BRAVE. IN 1851 THERE WERE 8000 WAPPO WHO LIVED IN SONOMA AND NAPA VALLEY EXPANDING FROM THE RUSSIAN RIVER TO SAN PABLO. THEY WERE WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR BASKETS MADE FROM GREY WILLOW, BULRUSH, REDBUD, SEDGES AS WELL AS GLASS BEADS, AND QUAIL FEATHERS. THEY HAD BLACK AND YELLOW DESIGNS. THE MEN MADE WILLOW BASKETS FOR THEIR BABIES.

THE MEN MADE NETS FOR CATCHING FISH. THE NETS WERE PROBABLY MADE FROM DOG BANE. THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THE WAPPO COMMUNITIES WAS THAT THEY USED VARIOUS ECOTONES FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE LOWER VALLEYS. EACH TRIBELET HAD ACCESS TO ALL THREE OF THESE ECOLOGICAL ZONES SO THEY COULD CATCH FISH, HUNT VARIOUS ANIMALS, AND COLLECT MANY SEEDS. THEY HUNTED DEER, GRIZZLY AND BLACK BEAR, SQUIRRELS, AND CAUGHT SOME FISH WITH THEIR BARE HANDS. THE WOMEN COLLECTED AND CRUSHED ACORNS MOSTLY FROM TAN OAK TREES (THEY PREFERRED THEM). OTHER FOODS THEY ATE INCLUDED ABALONE, CLAM, CRAB, MUSSELS, TURTLE, SALMON, TROUT, GEESE, QUAIL, WOODPECKER, CRANE, FOXES, RABBITS, SQUIRRELS, GOPHERS, AND GRASSHOPPERS AND OTHER INSECTS.

MOST OF THESE FOLKS DID NOT WEAR MUCH CLOTHING. WHEN THEY DID THE WOMEN WORE DOUBLE APRONS FROM GRASSES AND TULE. DURING THE WINTER THEY MADE CAPES AND LEGGINGS FROM DEER HIDES. THEY WORE BONE AND SHELL JEWELRY FROM THE OCEAN OR TRADED OTHER TRIBES FOR THESE ITEMS. THEY MADE CLAM SHELL BEAD NECKLACES. THEY COLLECTED NATIVE PLANTS FROM THEIR ECOTONES SIMILAR TO THOSE IN THE POMO AREA. THESE INCLUDED CALIFORNIA BLACK OAK, HAZELNUT, MADRONE BERRIES, CATTAIL, WILLOW FOR TEA, AND ANGELICA ROOT, BAY NUTS, SOAP ROOT BULBS AND LEAVES, MAZANITA BERRIES, YERBA SANTA, ELDERBERRY BERRIES, BUCKEYE, AND WILD TOBACCO.

THERE HOUSES WERE SIMILAR TO THE POMO - THEY USED A FRAMEWORK OF BRANCHES IN A DOME SHAPE AND COVERED THEM WITH WITH TULE. WOMEN GATHERED THE POLES AND THE MEN BUILT THE STRUCTURES. THEY WERE BURNED DOWN WHEN THEY GOT DIRTY.

THEIR WINTER STRUCTURES WERE MADE FROM MUD AND BRANCHES AND WERE MORE PERMANENT.. THEY MADE THEIR TOOLS FROM GLASS MOUNTAIN ALONG THE SILVERADO TRAIL. THEY MADE PROJECTILE POINTS, DRILLS, SCRAPERS, BIFACES FOR CUTTING FUR OFF OF ANIMALS, AND FOR STRIPPING WILLOW CANES, AND FOR MAKING BASKETS. THEY ALSO USED BASALT MORTAR AND PESTLES TO GRIND THEIR ACORNS AND BUCKEYES. THEIR PROJECTILE POINTS HAD DIFFERENT SHAPES THAN THOSE IN THE MENDOCINO, LAKE, AND SONOMA COUNTIES.

THEY HAD NO WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND USED VERBAL COMMUNITIES TO SHARE IDEAS AND STORIES. YOU CAN VISIT THIS SITE TO SEE SOME OF THEIR WORDS.


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