Miwok

Infobox Ethnic group


caption = "A Sierra Miwok cedar bark " umuucha " cabin reproduction in Yosemite Valley. [Craig D. Bates "Museum Anthropology" 17(2):13 (June 1993)] "
group = Miwok People
poptime = 1770: "over 11,000"
1910: "670"
1930: "491"
popplace = California: "Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley, Marin County, Sonoma County, Lake County, Contra Costa County"
langs = Utian languages:
Miwok family
rels = Shamanism: Kuksu
Miwok mythology
related=Subgroups:
*Valley & Sierra Miwok
*Coast Miwok
*Lake Miwok
*Bay Miwok

Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) can refer to any one of four linguistically-related groups of Native Americans, who lived in what is now Northern California, who spoke one of the "Miwokan" languages in the Utian family. The word "Miwok" means "people" in their native language.

In 2008, Ancient Mi Wuk artifacts were unearthed, some as many as 5000 years old in Calaveras County. Many of the artifacts will be reburied with a special ceremony. Mi Wuks believe the artifacts belong to the land. [ [http://cbs13.com/local/calaveras.county.artifacts.2.705413.html Ancient Artifacts Found At Construction Site] Retrieved: April 26, 2008]

Culture

Generally, all Miwok were a hunting and gathering people who lived in small bands without centralized political authority before contact with European Americans in 1769. Generally, Miwok mythology and narratives were similar to other natives of Northern California. Miwok believed in animal and human spirits and saw the animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote was their ancestor and creator god.

In 1770, there was 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 a serious undercount; for example, he did not identify the Bay Miwok. Cook, 1976, pages 236-245.]

Groups

There are four geographically and culturally diverse ethnic subgroups of Miwok people:

*"Valley and Sierra Miwok": from the western slope and foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

*"Coast Miwok" : from present day location of Marin County and southern Sonoma County. (This includes the "Bodega Bay Miwok" and "Marin Miwok").

*"Lake Miwok": from Clear Lake basin of Lake County.

*"Bay Miwok": from present-day location of Contra Costa County.

Federally recognized tribes

The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognizes nine tribes of "Miwok", "Mi-Wuk" or "Me-Wuk" descent in California, as follows:
* "Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians" [ [http://buenavistatribe.com/ Buena Vista Rancheria - Me-Wuk Indians] ]
* "California Valley Miwok Tribe" (formerly known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians) [ [http://www.californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov/ CVMT GovPortal - Official Website of the California Valley Miwok Tribe] ] [ [http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us/ CVMT WebPortal - Officially Sponsored Website of the California Valley Miwok Tribe] ] [http://www.califoniavalleymiwok.com/ California Valley Miwok]
* "Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians"
* "Ione Band of Miwok Indians", of Ione [ [http://www.ionemiwok.org/ Ione Band of Miwok Indians] ]
* "Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians"
* "Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians", of Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract) [http://www.shinglespringsrancheria.com/ Shingle Springs Rancheria] ]
* "Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians", of the Tuolumne Rancheria
* "United Auburn Indian Community", of the Auburn Rancheria [ [http://www.auburnrancheria.com/ Welcome — United Auburn Indian Community] ]
* "Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria", formerly known as the "Federated Coast Miwok" [ [http://www.gratonrancheria.com/ Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria] ]
* "Middletown Rancheria" (Members of this tribe are of Pomo, "Lake Miwok", and Wintun descent)

Non-federally recognized tribes

* "Miwok Tribe of the El Dorado Rancheria"
* "Nashville-Eldorado Miwok Tribe"
* "Wilton Rancheria of Miwok Indians"
* "Colfax- Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe"
* "Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation"
* "Calaveras Band of Mi-Wuk Indians"

ee also

*Utian languages

Notes

References

* [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/california/miwokindianhist.htm "Access Genealogy: Indian Tribal records, Miwok Indian Tribe"] . Retrieved on 2006-08-01. Main source of "authenticated village" names and locations.
* Cook, Sherburne. "The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization". Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1976. ISBN 0-520-03143-1.
* Kroeber, Alfred L. 1925. "Handbook of the Indians of California". Washington, D.C: "Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin" No. 78. (Chapter 30, The Miwok); available at [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/kroeber/ Yosemite Online Library] .
* Silliman, Stephen. "Lost Laborers in Colonial California, Native Americans and the Archaeology of Rancho Petaluma". Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8165-2381-9.

External links

* Barrett, S.A. and Gifford, E.W. "Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region". Yosemite Association, Yosemite National Park, California, 1933. ISBN 0-939666-12-X
* [http://www.californiahistory.net/2_natives/miwok.htm California Historical Society]
* [http://www.californiaprehistory.com/tribmap.html Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770] (map after Kroeber)
* [http://www.angelisland.org/miwok.htm Tribe information] from Angel Island State Park
* [http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs]