The Plains and Sierra Miwok were once the largest group of California Indian Miwok people , Indigenous to California . Their homeland included regions of the Sacramento Valley , San Joaquin Valley , and the Sierra Nevada .
29-825: The Plains and Sierra Miwok traditionally lived in the western Sierra Nevada between the Fresno River and Cosumnes River , in the eastern Central Valley of California . As well as in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region at the confluences of the Cosumnes River, Mokelumne River , and Sacramento River . In the present day, many Sierra Miwok live in or close to their traditional territories and Indian rancherias , including at: The Plains and Sierra Miwok lived by hunting and gathering , and lived in small local tribes, without centralized political authority. They are skilled at basketry and continue
58-579: A gaping mouth." Those living in awahni were known as the Awahnichi (also spelled Awani , Ahwahnechee , and similar variants), meaning "people who live in awahni". The naming of the Ahwahnee Hotel was derived from the Miwok word. The authenticated Southern Sierra Miwok villages are: After Euro-Americans entered Yosemite Valley and the adjacent Sierras, and established Yosemite National Park ,
87-746: A portion of the Central Valley's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and adjacent plains in modern southern Sacramento County , eastern Solano County , and northern San Joaquin County . They spoke Plains Miwok , a language of the Miwokan branch of the Utian language family. Classical anthropologists recorded a number of specific Plains Miwok villages, but it remained for work by Bennyhoff in the 1950s and 1960s to recognize multi-village territorial local tribes as
116-482: Is flood control, but it is also used to regulate flows for irrigation and groundwater recharge . In 1978, the lake was opened to the public for recreation and is a popular boating and fishing destination for locals. Below Hidden Dam, the Fresno River provides water to Madera Lake via an unnamed distributary. Excess flow from the lake is returned to the Fresno River by the lake's dam. Further downstream, on
145-580: Is a Southern Wintuan language. As of 2021, one Patwin person was a documented first-language speaker of Patwin. Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Wintun, including the Patwin, Nomlaki, and Wintu proper, at 12,000. Sherburne F. Cook (1976a:180-181) estimated the combined population of
174-592: Is when water levels are high enough to spill over the dam. West of Road 17 in Madera County , the Fresno River's natural riverbed has been subject to much intervention by man and as a result, the natural riverbed has many gaps in it, which are now connected by man-made canals. At Road 17, the natural riverbed has been modified to divert most flows into a manmade canal, which leads to the Eastside Bypass . Water can also be allowed to continue flowing down
203-492: The Eastside Bypass . The river exits the bypass then flows generally northwest to its confluence with the San Joaquin River, just north of Highway 152 . Hidden Dam is the only major storage dam on the Fresno River. The dam forms Hensley Lake , a 90,000 acre-foot (110,000,000 m ) reservoir . The United States Army Corps of Engineers built the earth-fill dam, which was completed in 1974. Its primary purpose
232-626: The Mono Lake Basin, and entered Yosemite from the east. The Mono name for the Southern Miwok was qohsoo?moho. Miwoks occupied the lower western foothills of the Sierras and entered from the west. Disputes between the two tribes were violent, and the residents of the valley, in defense of their territory, were considered to be among the most aggressive of any tribes in the area. When encountered by immigrants of European descent ,
261-521: The 'Fresno' River, it is one of the largest and longest river systems in Madera County. Headwaters: The Fresno River forms in the Oakhurst valley, near the western border of city limits. The primary source of the Fresno River is Lewis Fork Creek, which gathers water far northeastward into the hills adjacent to Fish Camp. Lewis Fork Creek itself has a major tributary from Nelder Creek, coming from
290-415: The Fresno River gets out of the foothills, it creates a gently sloped river valley down to the border of the Central Valley. At one of the widest sections of the river, Hidden Dam was constructed and Hensley Lake created. Now a popular recreation spot, the lake covers a considerable area when full from late spring snow melts. Central Valley: Below the lake, the river flows southwest to Madera , then west to
319-588: The Fresno River receives the water from the following streams: Towns along the Fresno River include: There are numerous crossings over the Fresno River in Madera and Merced Counties. Crossings are listed here beginning at the source and working downstream: Patwin The Patwin (also Patween and Southern Wintu ) are a band of Wintun people in Northern California . The Patwin comprise
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#1732776548284348-671: The Indian people at that mission, and by 1830 they had reached 42% of the mission's population. In 1834 and 1835, hundreds of Plains Miwok survivors of the Central Valley's 1833 malaria epidemic were baptized at Mission San José. By the end of 1835, Plains Miwok was the native language of 60% of the Indian people at the mission. Between 1834 and 1838 the Alta California missions were secularized (closed as religious and agricultural communes). Many Plains Miwoks moved back to their home areas, where between 1839 and 1841 John Sutter played
377-477: The Patwin and Nomlaki at 11,300, of which 3,300 represented the southern Patwin. He subsequently raised his figure for the southern Patwin to 5,000. Kroeber estimated the population of the combined Wintun groups in 1910 as 1,000. By the 1920s, no Patwin remained along Putah Creek and few were left in the area. Today, Wintun descendants of the three groups (i.e. the Patwin, Nomlaki, and Wintu proper) total about 2,500 people. Patwin Indian remains were discovered at
406-634: The Plains and Sierra Miwok is one of the most extensive in the state. These groups participate in the general cultural pattern of Central California. Miwok mythology is similar to other natives of Central and Northern California. The Plains and Sierra Miwok believe in animal and human spirits, and see the animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote is seen as their ancestor and creator god . There were four definite regional and linguistic sub-divisions: Plains Miwok, Northern Sierra Miwok, Central Sierra Miwok, and Southern Sierra Miwok. The Plains Miwok inhabited
435-600: The local groups off against one another in order to gain control of the lower Sacramento Valley. Other Plains Miwok families remained in the San Francisco Bay area, intermarried with Ohlone , Patwin , and Yokuts peoples, and found work on local Mexican ranchos . The Northern Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the Mokelumne River and the Calaveras River . One settlement site is within
464-722: The lower banks of the Merced River and the Chowchilla River , as well as Mariposa Creek . They spoke Southern Sierra Miwok , a language in the Utian linguistic group. The Merced River flows from the High Sierras , through Yosemite Valley , and into the San Joaquin Valley near present-day near Livingston . The Mono tribe people (considered Northern Paiute ) occupied the higher eastern Sierras and
493-619: The lower-montane Nelder Grove area and Speckerman Mountain (7,600 ft). The other major tributary is China Creek, which acts as a drainage for the ridges around the Teaford Saddle. After Oakhurst, the Fresno River runs northwest until it reaches the end of the sloped valley at the calm topography of the Fresno Flats. There the valley and hills start to meet, and the Fresno crosses Potter Ridge at around 2,000 feet. Foothills: As
522-557: The main river channel (north of the man-made canal), but that water now ends up in the bypass as well. Once in the bypass, water can exit via a small channel at a diversion dam and continue west along the natural riverbed the rest of the way to the San Joaquin River. Between the Eastside Bypass and the San Joaquin River, the riverbed (which is almost always dry) has been subject to straightening, but more or less follows its natural course. In addition to many small unnamed streams,
551-513: The neighboring Southern Sierra Miwok tribe referred to the Yosemite Valley residents as "killers". It is from this reference and a confusion over the word for "grizzly bear" that Bunnell named the valley Yosemite. The native residents called the valley awahni . Today, there is some debate about the original meaning of the word, since the Southern Miwok language is virtually extinct, but recent Southern Miwok speakers defined it as "place like
580-699: The northeast edge of Madera, is the John Franchi Diversion Dam , a 15-foot (4.6 m) high, 263-foot (80 m)-wide earth and steel dam that is used to divert water into the Big Main Canal. The dam was built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1964 and is operated by the Madera Irrigation District. From this point, the river is normally dry. The only time water is released past here
609-686: The population was estimated at 670. Fresno River The Fresno River ( Spanish for "ash tree") is a river in Central California and a major tributary of the San Joaquin River . It runs approximately 83 miles (134 km) from the Sierra Nevada Range to the San Joaquin River if measured from the source of Rainier Creek, near Raymond Mountain in Yosemite National Park. Although called
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#1732776548284638-614: The present day Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park near Volcano . They spoke Northern Sierra Miwok, a language in the Utian linguistic group. The authenticated Northern Sierra Miwok villages are: The Central Sierra Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the Stanislaus River and the Tuolumne River . They spoke Central Sierra Miwok , a language in the Utian linguistic group. The authenticated Central Sierra Miwok villages are: The Southern Miwok inhabited
667-435: The residents were of both Paiute-Mono and Miwok origin. They had either fought to a stalemate or agreed to peaceful coexistence and had intermixed to a limited extent. Alfred L. Kroeber estimated there to be 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok combined in 1770, but this is an arguably low estimate. Richard Levy estimated there were 17,800. In 1848 their population was estimated at 6,000, in 1852 at 4,500, in 1880 at 100, and in 1910
696-616: The river carves its way through the ridge, it creates several windy canyons and gulches. This area was mildly popular during the Central Sierra era of the Gold Rush, throughout the early to mid-1850s. Past the ridge, the Fresno River descends the foothills mildly. The harsh canyons ease up and start to widen. It crosses Road 415 at around 1,000 feet elevation, an intersection known as the Fresno Crossing. Hensley Lake: Once
725-508: The signature land-use organization of the Plains Miwok. The published specific village locations were: Among the important landholding local tribes at the time of Spanish colonization in California were: The majority of the members of the Plains Miwok local tribes moved to colonial Franciscan Mission San José , in some cases through attraction and in other cases through intimidation, between 1812 and 1833. By 1815 they represented 14% of
754-743: The southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500. Today, Patwin people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes : The Patwin were bordered by the Yuki in the northwest; the Nomlaki (Wintun) in the north; the Konkow (Maidu) in the northeast; the Nisenan (Maidu) and Plains Miwok in the east; the Bay Miwok to the south; the Coast Miwok in
783-538: The southwest; and the Wappo , Lake Miwok , and Pomo in the west. The "Southern Patwins" have historically lived between what is now Suisun , Vacaville , and Putah Creek . By 1800, the Spanish and other European settlers forced them into small tribal units: Ululatos (Vacaville), Labaytos (Putah Creek), Malacas (Lagoon Valley), Tolenas (Upper Suisun Valley), and Suisunes (Suisun Marsh and Plain). The Patwin language
812-553: The traditions today. The original Plains and Sierra Miwok people world view included Shamanism . One form this took was the Kuksu religion that was evident in Central and Northern California, which included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual morning ceremony, puberty rites of passage , shamanic intervention with the spirit world, and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms. Kuksu
841-504: Was shared with other indigenous ethnic groups of Central California, such as the Pomo , Maidu , Ohlone , Esselen , and northernmost Yokuts . However, Kroeber observed less "specialized cosmogony " in the Miwok, which he termed one of the "southern Kuksu-dancing groups", in comparison to the Maidu and other northern California tribes. The record of myths, legends, tales, and histories from
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