Miwok

Introduction - (OSL-Abbey)
The Miwok lived on the coast of California. They had no form of government. The name Miwok means ‘The People’ and the languge they speak is clled Miwokien. In 1813 the Miwok battled with Spain under Arguleo at Consumes River. When 1819 came they were attacked by Sanchoz and 27 Miwoks were killed. Then in 1826 the Sanchoz attacked again but this time 40 were killed. In 1827 they were attacked by Soto; many people were killed in this 5 hour battle. In 1850 the California Gold Rush came along, conflict and genocide followed, this led to an attack led by Chief Tenaya. Then in 1851 there was The Mariposa Indian War.

[[image:http://www.mle.matsuk12.us/american-natives/sw/wickiup.jpg width="132" height="132" align="right" caption="Wickup"]]
Habitats and homes are one of the basic units of life. The Miwok Indians, who lived on the coast of California, had to make do with what they had. They lived in houses called wickups. Wickups frames were made of redwood trees. Redwood is a very important resource for Miwok homes. The wickups were covered in grasses and the doorways were made of animal skins.The Miwoks only lived in houses for a short time and only one family lived in a wickup.

The Miwoks lived in the California-Intermountian Region. An important resource besides redwood is acorns. Acorns grew on trees near redwood so it was easy to collect acorns. Some of the animals that lived there were bighorn sheep, trout, gray wolfs, and beavers. There were also many plants some of them include huckleberry, cattail, mesquite, and acorns. Many Miwoks still live in ancient territory along the coasts of California.

Dress - (SLL-AlainaC)
The Miwok used deerskin for clothing. The men wore breechcloths and the women wore skirts made of tanned deerskin. During the months of summer, the children wore no clothing. During the winter they would all bundle up in blankets made of fur from rabbits, bears, deerskin, mountain lions, or coyote. The shoes that they wore were moccasins made of buckskin. Normally they would wear their hair long and bound behind. Flowers or feathers were sometimes worn in their hair. They liked body jewelry. The women liked to wear earrings,bracelets and necklacs made of bone, shell and wood.

Food - (SLL-AlainaC)
The Miwok Native Americans relied on the natural resources that were around them. They lived near the water so they built canoes and went to catch many diferent kinds of seafood such as clams, mussels, crabs, and crayfish. In the spring, the Miwok ate buckeyes that were boiled and mashed. In the summer, they got kelp at lowtide and ate it. In fall, they picked hazelnuts and peppernuts and made a spicy relish. All year long they caught quail, and other birds. They ate the honey from bees, sweet sap from white and black oak trees, native clover, and hunted elk and deer. To catch small animals such as rabbits, rodents, and squirrels, they used traps, nets made out of grass fibers, spears, and clubs. Cooking was normally done in water-proof baskets. Rocks were heated and mush and water were placed in the basket and rocks were added carefully being replaced as they grew cold.Meat, fowl, and fish were broiled over such fires. To catch birds, the women would make woven baskets. To catch fish, they would place bulbs in the water to stun the fish. When they would skin an animal that was hunted, they would scrub the bodies with angelica and mugwort to take away the oder.


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Customs - (SLL-CoryK)
Most California Native Americans stayed close to their homes. With the exception of village leaders and designated traders, many Native Americans lived and died within sight of their birthplace, never having encountered more than a few hundred people. Each considered their home to be the center of the world and regarded outsiders with suspicion. Relations between communities were limited to a few well-defined activities. People from nearby villages sometimes came together to harvest acorns or other shared assets and to praise the powers that brought them such bounty. Some of these get-togethers provided an opportunity for young people from different places to meet one another and led to marriages that reinforced bonds between related villages. Also, trade in salt, fish, acorns, and other essentials was common both within tribal groups and between them, allowing those whose territory was rich in one particular resource to compensate for deficiencies. Villagers in the volcanic areas of northern California, for example, had ready access to obsidian, which made fine arrow points, and they traded that prized stone for goods they lacked. Coastal groups offered their inland neighbors shell beads that circulated widely in California as currency some beads made their way as far east as the Great Plains, where they were put to decorative use.They felt very intensely about ownership. The Village would claim enough land for everyone to have enough food from the land. They would mark the boundaries with manmade and natural boundaries. Some villages killed trespassers. Property did not always mean land often it meant food-bearing trees, or hunting and fishing rights. Individuals could own bows and arrows, musical instruments and other personal possessions.

Tool and Weapons - (SLL-CoryK)
One of the weapons in the Miwok tribe are the simple bows and arrows. They don’t have shields nor armor and they dodge their enemy’s missiles. One member of the clan collects the arrows shot by the enemy but missed and principal weapon is also bow and arrow. The arrow is just used for normal hunting. They also used nives,clubs,traps,nets,spears,and baskets which either carried there ammo or small kill. When they were hunting far from home, they build lodges to get rid of the human smell. They caught birds in baskets and plant bulbs in the water to stun the fish. They also set nets to catch salmon, geese, seaguls, and other animals. They also made beautiful coiled baskets with flared-out sides and black designs. During the gold rush some white men shot Indians at sight and their transportation was their feet. The idea of their hunting to was retreat and lure, rather than chase and flee. They used their natural resources to create tools: wood, obsidian, bird and animal bones, feathers, green chalcedony stone, lupine, soft grasses and moss. They made knives, bows and arrows, mortars and pestles, spears, nets, net chest slings, paddles, circular dip nets and small weirs with long basket traps fixed to their openings. They traveled by canoes built from bundles of tulle bound together. These canoes would eventually get saturated with water and would either be dried out or abandoned.



