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Wintu
The Wintu (also Northern Wintun) are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun (or Wintuan). There are three major groups that make up the Wintu-speaking people: the Wintu (Northern Wintun), Nomlaki (Central Wintun), and Patwin (Southern Wintun). The Wintu language is part of the Penutian language family.
Historically, the Wintu lived primarily on the western side of the northern part of the Sacramento Valley, from the Sacramento River to the Coast Range. The range of the Northern Wintu also included the southern portions of the Upper Sacramento River (south of the Salt Creek drainage), the southern portion of the McCloud River, and the upper Trinity River. Today, many Northern Wintu still reside on or near their traditional homelands in Trinity and Shasta counties.
The first recorded encounter between Wintu and Euro-Americans dates from the 1826 expedition of Jedediah Smith, followed by an 1827 expedition led by Peter Skene Ogden. Between 1830 and 1833, many Wintu died from a malaria epidemic that killed an estimated 75% of the Indigenous people in the upper and central Sacramento Valley.
Euro-American settlers, seeking to acquire Wintu land, proposed relocating the Wintu west of Clear Creek in exchange for peace, money, and citizenship. When Wintu communities refused or resisted these terms, settlers responded with enslavement, violence, and war. In 1846, John C. Frémont and Kit Carson, accompanied by local white settlers, killed several hundred Wintu in the Sacramento River massacre. At a "friendship feast" in 1850, settlers served poisoned food to local Native people, from which 100 Nomsuu and 45 Wenemem Wintu died.[citation needed] More deaths of Wintu and destruction of their land followed in 1851 and 1852, including the Bridge Gulch Massacre. The increasing population of settlers moving west during the California Gold Rush intensified pressure on Indigenous nations, including the Wintu, as settlers and state forces systematically displaced and destroyed Native communities.
The number of bands within the Northern Wintu is debated among tribal members and anthropologists, but most recognize 8 to 11 bands: Daupom/Stillwater, El pom/Kewsick, Nomtipom/Upper Sacramento River, Winnemem/McCloud River, Nomsus/Upper Trinity River, Klabalpom/French Gulch, Daumuq/Cottonwood Creek, Norelmuq/Hayfork, Puimem/Lower Pit River, Daunom/Bald Hills, and Waymuq/Mt. Shasta. The Waymuq form a transitional group in culture, language, and society between Wintu-speaking peoples and Shastan-speakers. Some anthropologists and linguists have called the same group the Okwanuchu (from the Shasta word for "distant people"). The Waymuq lived north of Salt and Nosoni Creek, extending to the southern base of Mt. Shasta, with major villages in what is now Dunsmuir, Mt. Shasta City (formerly Sisson), and along Sulanharas Creek. The anthropologist C. Hart Merriam also noted a Northern Wintu group along the South Fork of the Trinity River under the Athabaskan name "Ni-i-che." This group was culturally and linguistically close to the Norelmuq, though it is unclear whether they were a separate band.
The Wintu have close ties to the natural resources of their region. The Winnemem Wintu call themselves "Middle Water people" in their language. They say they were born from water, are the water, and fight to protect it. Hunting, fishing, and gathering remain central to their culture. They have their own customs, traditional art, and spiritual beliefs. When villages had extra food, they sometimes invited neighboring tribes to feast, dance, and play games. Dance served many purposes beyond entertainment—for example, the suneh, or begging dance, was performed when one person transferred property to another.
Wintu homes were small and semi-permanent, built along waterways. The River and Hill Patwin built dome‑shaped homes—the River Patwin using sticks, straw, and other local materials, the Hill Patwin using conical bark. Larger communities had an earth lodge used as a sweat lodge for spiritual renewal, purification, and connection to nature; unmarried men without families also slept there.
Fishing has always been central to Wintu life. Salmon from the McCloud and Sacramento rivers was the primary food source, along with Steelhead trout from the upper Trinity River. Men hunted individually or in groups, using traps for many kinds of animals. Women gathered plants for food and for making implements such as baskets. Basket weaving was a major part of Wintu culture: baskets for cooking, storing, sifting, and carrying, as well as woven hats that many women wore.
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Wintu
The Wintu (also Northern Wintun) are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun (or Wintuan). There are three major groups that make up the Wintu-speaking people: the Wintu (Northern Wintun), Nomlaki (Central Wintun), and Patwin (Southern Wintun). The Wintu language is part of the Penutian language family.
Historically, the Wintu lived primarily on the western side of the northern part of the Sacramento Valley, from the Sacramento River to the Coast Range. The range of the Northern Wintu also included the southern portions of the Upper Sacramento River (south of the Salt Creek drainage), the southern portion of the McCloud River, and the upper Trinity River. Today, many Northern Wintu still reside on or near their traditional homelands in Trinity and Shasta counties.
The first recorded encounter between Wintu and Euro-Americans dates from the 1826 expedition of Jedediah Smith, followed by an 1827 expedition led by Peter Skene Ogden. Between 1830 and 1833, many Wintu died from a malaria epidemic that killed an estimated 75% of the Indigenous people in the upper and central Sacramento Valley.
Euro-American settlers, seeking to acquire Wintu land, proposed relocating the Wintu west of Clear Creek in exchange for peace, money, and citizenship. When Wintu communities refused or resisted these terms, settlers responded with enslavement, violence, and war. In 1846, John C. Frémont and Kit Carson, accompanied by local white settlers, killed several hundred Wintu in the Sacramento River massacre. At a "friendship feast" in 1850, settlers served poisoned food to local Native people, from which 100 Nomsuu and 45 Wenemem Wintu died.[citation needed] More deaths of Wintu and destruction of their land followed in 1851 and 1852, including the Bridge Gulch Massacre. The increasing population of settlers moving west during the California Gold Rush intensified pressure on Indigenous nations, including the Wintu, as settlers and state forces systematically displaced and destroyed Native communities.
The number of bands within the Northern Wintu is debated among tribal members and anthropologists, but most recognize 8 to 11 bands: Daupom/Stillwater, El pom/Kewsick, Nomtipom/Upper Sacramento River, Winnemem/McCloud River, Nomsus/Upper Trinity River, Klabalpom/French Gulch, Daumuq/Cottonwood Creek, Norelmuq/Hayfork, Puimem/Lower Pit River, Daunom/Bald Hills, and Waymuq/Mt. Shasta. The Waymuq form a transitional group in culture, language, and society between Wintu-speaking peoples and Shastan-speakers. Some anthropologists and linguists have called the same group the Okwanuchu (from the Shasta word for "distant people"). The Waymuq lived north of Salt and Nosoni Creek, extending to the southern base of Mt. Shasta, with major villages in what is now Dunsmuir, Mt. Shasta City (formerly Sisson), and along Sulanharas Creek. The anthropologist C. Hart Merriam also noted a Northern Wintu group along the South Fork of the Trinity River under the Athabaskan name "Ni-i-che." This group was culturally and linguistically close to the Norelmuq, though it is unclear whether they were a separate band.
The Wintu have close ties to the natural resources of their region. The Winnemem Wintu call themselves "Middle Water people" in their language. They say they were born from water, are the water, and fight to protect it. Hunting, fishing, and gathering remain central to their culture. They have their own customs, traditional art, and spiritual beliefs. When villages had extra food, they sometimes invited neighboring tribes to feast, dance, and play games. Dance served many purposes beyond entertainment—for example, the suneh, or begging dance, was performed when one person transferred property to another.
Wintu homes were small and semi-permanent, built along waterways. The River and Hill Patwin built dome‑shaped homes—the River Patwin using sticks, straw, and other local materials, the Hill Patwin using conical bark. Larger communities had an earth lodge used as a sweat lodge for spiritual renewal, purification, and connection to nature; unmarried men without families also slept there.
Fishing has always been central to Wintu life. Salmon from the McCloud and Sacramento rivers was the primary food source, along with Steelhead trout from the upper Trinity River. Men hunted individually or in groups, using traps for many kinds of animals. Women gathered plants for food and for making implements such as baskets. Basket weaving was a major part of Wintu culture: baskets for cooking, storing, sifting, and carrying, as well as woven hats that many women wore.