Hupa

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History

Hupa are Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Athabaskan language family. Hupa tradition suggests that they lived in the Hoopa valley for over 4,000 years, but their language suggests that they are relatively recent immigrants from what is now western Canada.Hupa also spoke Yurok (another language).

In the 19th century, they occupied the South Fork of the Trinity River to the Hoopa valley to the Klamath River in California. Their red cedar-planked houses, dugout canoes, basket hats, and many elements in their mythology identify them with the Northwest Coast culture, of which they are the southernmost representatives; however, some of their customs (the use of a sweat house for ceremonies and the manufacture of acorn bread) are not characteristic of that culture area.

In 1864, the United States government signed a treaty that recognized the Hupa tribe's sovereignty to their land. The United States called the reservation the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, where the Hupa now reside next to the territory of their neighbors, the Yurok at the connection of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in northeastern Humboldt County. The reservation has a land area of 365.413 km² (141.087 sq mi) and a resident population of 2,633 persons in the 2000 census.

Culture

The Hupa's clothing was made from various materials such as animal skins and bark skirts.The majority of clothing was made of deer skin. The men wore loincloths, leggings, robes,and moccasin boots. They made their homes from redwood and cedar. Their houses looked like longhouses. Hupa ate salmon,seeds,deer,and,elk.

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber thought that the 1770 population of the Hupa was 1,000 and that the Chilula and Whilkut accounted for another 1,000. Kroeber estimated the population of the Hupa in 1910 as 500. [Kroeber, p.883] In 1943, Sherburne F. Cook proposed an aboriginal population of 1,000 for the Hupa and 600 for the Chilula. [Cook 1976, p.170] He subsequently suggested a population for the Hupa alone of 29,000. [Cook 1956, pp.99-100] William J. Wallace felt that the latter estimate was "much too high", and allowed 1,000 for the Hupa, 500-600 for the Chilula, and 500 for the Whilkut. [Wallace, p.176]

ee also

*Hupa traditional narratives
*Hupa language

Notes

References

* Cook, Sherburne F. 1956. "The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California". "Anthropological Records" 16:81-130. University of California, Berkeley.
* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976. "The Conflict between the California Indian and White Civilization". University of California Press, Berkeley.
* Goddard, Pliny E. 1903. "Life and Culture of the Hupa". "University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology" 1:1-88.
* Kroeber, A. L. 1925. "Handbook of the Indians of California". Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
* Wallace, William J. 1978. "Hupa, Chilula, and Whilkut". In "California", edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 91-98. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CHECK_SEARCH_RESULTS=N&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=Y&-transpose=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=28000US061490&-search_results=28000US061490&-fully_or_partially=N&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y Hoopa Valley Reservation, California] United States Census Bureau

External links

* [http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov/ Hoopa Valley Tribe]
* [http://bss.sfsu.edu/calstudies/NativeWebPages/hupa.html San Francisco State University - Hupa]
* [http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov/departments/museum.htm Hoopa Tribal Museum]