THE POMO OF LAKE COUNTY

CLEAR LAKE LOOKED LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO THESE SOUTHEAST POMO. THEY LOOKED LIKE THE ABUNDANT SPRINGS FROM THE EARTH. THEY HAD NO CHIEFS. EACH TRIBE SPOKE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. EVEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN PLENTY OF FOOD. THEY HUNTED ELK THAT WERE ABUNDANT. THEY HAD PLENTY OF SPAWNING FISH IN KELSEY CREEK. THE DEER CAME DOWN TO THE LAKE AND MOUNTAIN LIONS FOLLOW THEM.

AT HISTORIC TIMES THEIR WERE GRIZZLY BEARS. THE POMO HAD NO METAL BEFORE EUROPEAN CONTACT. THEIR HOUSES WERE HUTS OF TULE WITH SMOKE HOLES ON THE TOP. THEY BUILT HOUSES FOR ONE FAMILY. THEY BUILT A NETTING AREA TO DRY ACORNS ABOVE THE GROUND FOR PROTECTION.


THE WOMEN WOVE TULE MATS AND THESE COVERED THE INSIDE OF THEIR WALLS AND PACKED DIRT FLOORS. TULE HOUSES WERE NOT SAVED FROM FIRES. THEY BUILT NEW ONES. TULE SHOOTS COULD BE EATEN IN THE SPRING. THESE MARSHES HAD FISH, WATER FOWL, AND A RELIABLE RESOURCE FOR TURTLES.

IN 1948 THE LAKE COUNTY SOUTHEAST POMO WON AN EXHIBIT FOR THEIR BASKETS AND OTHER CRAFTS. SCOTTS VALLEY WAS NAMED FROM PIONEER. BY 1850 THE CALIFORNIA SQUATTERS FORCED THE NATIVES INTO MENDOCINO RESERVATION AT FORT BRAGG. IT WAS MISMANAGED SO THE NATIVES MOVED BACK TO THEIR TRADITIONAL LANDS WITHIN 10 YEARS. THEY FOUND 1000'S OF SETTLERS THERE. IN 1856 9 TRIBES WERE FORCED TO THE NOME CULT FARM IN MENDOCINO COUNTY AT COVELO. MANY HOWEVER DID NOT GO.

BY 1858 HOPS PRODUCTION WAS BIG AND INDIANS WORKED THE VINES THROUGH SEPTEMBER. MOST PICKING WAS DONE BY MACHINE. THEY USED DIESEL TO FIRE THE KILNS TO DRY HOPS.

BY 1900 THE SETTLERS BEGAN TO GROW HOPS BY BLUE LAKES. THEY OPENED A SMALL BEAN CANNERY AT LAUREL DELL. THE SOUTHEAST POMO HARVESTED BEANS. THE PICKERS MOVED FROM ONE CROP TO ANOTHER. GRAPES FOR WINE WERE ANOTHER CROP THE POMO WORKED BEFORE PROHIBITION IN 1920'S. VINE YARDS REPLACED PEAR ORCHARDS IN 199-. IN 1885 CALIFORNIA PACKING CORP HAD THE LARGEST DRY YARD FOR PEARS IN THE WORLD.

MEN MIGRANTS COMPETED WITH NATIVE AMERICANS WORKERS ON THE FRUIT CROPS DURING WORLD WAR II. PRUNES AND WALNUTS WERE HARVESTED AND DRIED FOLLOWING PEAR SEASON. IN 1875 CINNABAR AND MERCURY WERE WERE DISCOVERED HERE. SULPHUR BANKS HIRED HUNDREDS OF NATIVE AMERICANS AND CHINESE TO MINE QUICKSILVER AND OPENED PIT MINING DURING EACH WAR AND CLOSED IN 1957. IN NAPA COUNTY THEY ALSO HAD MANY MINES. THE WORK WAS DANGEROUS AND THE MERCURY WAS TOXIC.

IN 1912 THE DEPARTMENT INTERIOR BOUGHT LAND FOR RANCHERIAS, FOR SOME TRIBES - UPPER LAKE, LOWER LAKE, SCOTTS VALLEY, AND MIDDLETOWN AND BIG LAKE. BY 1917 THEY MOVED IN WHEN WORLD WAR I STARTED. TEN THOUSAND NATIVE AMERICANS SERVED OUR COUNTRY. GOVERNMENT POLICIES SERVED OUR COUNTRY . GOVERNMENT POLICIES SWITCHED REGULARLY AND THERE WERE LAWSUITS . IN A LAND CLAIM CASE, THEY WERE REIMBURSED WITH 47 CENTS PER ACRE. HOWEVER THEIR MONEY WAS NEVER SENT TO THEM.

SOME OF THE POMO LIVED TO BE 100 YEARS OLD BEFORE EUROPEAN DISEASES. CLEAR LAKE HAS A HOT SPRINGS THAT THE SE POMO ENJOYED. THE MEN USED SONGS TO HELP CATCH GOOD FISH AND THEIR VILLAGE SHARED THE CATCH. THEY TRADED MANY ITEMS.

THEIR HISTORIC INFANT MORTALITY RATE WAS 50%. EARLY IN A GIRL'S PREGNANCY THEY HAD ELABORATE GIFTING. THEY GAVE BIRTH AT HOME WITH A MIDWIFE. THEIR BABIES WERE BATHED IN WARM WATER TWICE A DAY.THEIR WILLOW BASKET WAS USED AS A SEAT AND CARRIER UNTIL THE BABE COULD WALK.

THEY USE A GAME OF CHANCE 'POMO STICK DICE'. THE STICKS ARE MADE OF ELDERBERRY AND BURNED TO DECORATE DESIGNS ON ROUNDED AND SPLIT STICKS. THE POINTS WERE VARIED BASED UPON THE STICKS LANDED WITH THE DESIGNS UP AND DOWN. ALL KINDS OF GAMES WERE PLAYED AND MANY ENDURANCE SKILLS WERE TESTED. MANY ENDURANCE SKILLS WERE TESTED. THEY HAD NO DOGS UNTIL EUROPEANS CAME THEN EACH FAMILY HAD A DOG. THEY HUNTED SNAKE AND SMALL MAMMALS. THEY VOLUNTEERED FOR THE WAR THERE WERE MANY NATIVES INVOLVED. THEY FILED SUIT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT CHALLENGING THE LEGALITY OF TERMINATING THEIR POLICY . THE SUIT WAS WON BUT BUT MOST OF THE LAND WAS LEFT TO BUYERS. UPPER LAKE ONCE HAD A DANCE HOUSE AND IT BURNED DOWN IN 1906. MANY CEREMONIES WERE HELD THERE FOR THREE DECADES DRAWING MANY DANCERS EVEN FROM SACRAMENTO.


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