Atsugewi

The Atsugewi were Native Americans residing in what is now northern California, United States, in the vicinity of Mount Shasta, specifically the Pit River drainage on Burney, Hat, and Dixie Valley or Horse Creeks. They were closely related to the Achomawi and consisted of two groups (the Atsugé and the Apwaruge). The Atsugé ("pine-tree people") from the Hat Creek area, and the Apwaruge ("juniper-tree people") of the Dixie Valley. They lived to the south of the Achomawi. [Waldman, Carl. "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition". (New York: Checkmark Books, 2006) p. 2]

The Atsugewi lived by hunting and gathering, and lived in small groups without centralized political authority. They spoke a Palaihnihan language.

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. "(See Population of Native California.)" Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achuwawi and Atsugewi as 3,000. A more detailed analysis by Fred B. Kniffen (1928) arrived at the same figure. T. R. Garth (1978:237) estimated the Atsugewi population at a maximum of 850.

Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achumawi and Astugewi in 1910 as 1,100. The population was given as about 500 in 1936.

See also

* Atsugewi language
* Atsugewi traditional narratives
* Achomawi

External links

* [http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/nat/ats.htm Atsugewi]

References

* Garth, T. R. 1978. "Atsugewi". In "California", edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 236-243. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
* Kniffen, Fred B. 1928. "Achomawi Geography". "University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology" 23:297-332.
* Kroeber, A. L. 1925. "Handbook of the Indians of California". Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.