Music of local tribes was limited indeed. It was usually made by men. Only Atsugewi among the Lassen tribes possessed the drum, and this is believed to have been of recent introduction. It was a tambourine type: flat, cylindrical, a foot or so across, and with buckskin shrunken over one end.
The shamans of all tribes used cocoon rattles. These were made of large cocoons from which the moth pupae had been removed through a small hole. Pebbles or seeds were then inserted and usually five or six cocoons—among Atsugewi as many as thirty—were tied onto the end of a wooden handle and dried. Cocoon rattles were considered dangerous and were usually kept hidden out of doors, being used by shamans only when doctoring.
A single split stick clapper was employed generally for all types of singing and dancing, not being reserved for any special type of person or ceremony.
Deer-hoof rattles were made from the small hard “dew-claws” from the backs of deer legs. About twenty dew-claws were tied loosely with thongs to a strip of buckskin which was then wrapped about a stick with a plain handle. The deer-hoof rattle was operated by vigorously jerking it lengthwise, in and out. It was used exclusively in the important puberty rites when girls attained womanhood.
Deer-hoof rattle, length about ten inches (after Dixon)
Maidu split-stick clapper, twenty inches long
Maidu cocoon rattle eight inches long
Maidu bird-bone whistles
Atsugewi deer-claw rattle
Universal split-stick dancing rattle
Maidu cocoon rattle
Flute and bull-roarer of local manufacture
Atsugewi and Yana employed hunting bows as musical instruments by holding one end in the mouth and plucking the string with fingers. Mountain Maidu did so too, but like the others only for their own amusement.
Bone, cane, and elder whistles were blown at dances. Flutes, the most tuneful of Indians’ instruments, were not played at ceremonies or at dances, curiously enough, but just for self amusement, or in the case of mountain Maidu also for courting pretty girls. Flute melodies were supposed to tell stories, but words were not sung to help the interpretation. Yana made a six-hole flute; other tribes of the Lassen area used a four hole model. In all cases they were open, reedless instruments blown at an angle across one end. The flute was most frequently made of elder wood—mountain Maidu burned the holes into it with live coals.
Except for basketry designs art as such is virtually non-existent. A few simple designs were painted onto hunting bows, and some nose and ear pendants might be considered jewelry art forms, but of the lowest development. The application of face and body paints and tattooing were also simple examples of Indian art.
There appear to be no cliff or cave paintings in the vicinity of Lassen Peak, but they are abundant in Lava Beds National Monument about 75 miles to the north. A different matter is that of petroglyphs which, in California, usually have been made by striking or pecking smooth rock surfaces with small hard stones. Some of these are to be found in the Atsugewi and central Yana territories at lower elevation. However, these symbolic markings were not executed by the local tribes. Atsugewi believe them to have been made by mythological characters. It appears that the petroglyphs must have been made by the predecessors of the Hat Creek and Nozi Indians, for these people claim no knowledge of even the meaning of the rock writings. Shortly before going to press the first petroglyph known to come from the Lassen vicinity was found in the territory of the Southern Yana. The site is one where numerous obsidian chips and arrowpoints have been found on a gently south sloping, open forested portion of Lassen Volcanic National Park headquarters area at an elevation of almost 5000 feet and situated slightly west of the village of Mineral and just north of the north edge of Battle Creek Meadow.
This find on a 10 inch boulder appears to be of ancient origin. The surface has weathered considerably yet not so much that the character of the carving has been altered. It is apparent that the quarter inch deep grooves have been made by rubbing rather than by pecking with hard rocks. This is all the more interesting since the boulder bearing the carving is of a tough hard and site lava. It is indeed unfortunate that the significance of this Battle Creek Meadows petroglyph is unknown. The authorities venture the opinion that the stone may have been used in puberty ceremonies. If so, whether by the Southern Yana or their predecessors we do not know either.
Battle Creek Meadows petroglyph about nine inches long. The eye-shaped area A is a smooth flat one eighth of an inch below the level of the rest of the rock surface. The grooves bounding it are more than one quarter inch deep and of V-shaped cross-section while the other markings are much shallower troughs with rounded bottoms some being quite vague. B, C, D, and E indicate deeper rounded depressions. F is a smooth and very uniform slightly concave area.
Heavy betting on games was the rule. Games were commonly played between neighboring villages or even on occasion with neighboring tribes. Gambling was an important element in these contests and large sums were bet. Sometimes nearly all of a person’s or even of a group’s possessions were at stake. Evaluation of the stakes in white man’s terms is difficult, but they are said frequently to have been of the order of several hundred dollars or even as much as a thousand dollars. Important games lasted more than one day—perhaps three or four days. The players caught brief rests only and were completely exhausted by the time the playing was over. Singing was the usual accompaniment and high quality rendition at games was much admired. Cheating was rare, maybe because it was supposed to bring subsequent bad luck.
Most games were guessing games. There was considerable variety in the character and number of gambling stones or wooden sticks used, the manner of shuffling and other details. The sticks were shuffled and then concealed in the hands of one or several players on one side. The opposition had to determine the location of the marked stick or the arrangement of several. There were many spectators and excitement ran high. Women occasionally participated along with the men who were the main contestants. Counting sticks might be supplied to each side in equal number at the beginning. More often, however, the sticks were all placed in a common pile at the outset, the successful side taking a counting stick with each win. These scoring sticks were taken and surrendered as the tide of the game changed until one side had all. The game was won at this point.
Ball games were played too. The ball was of buckskin stuffed with hair. The object was to kick the ball between the other team’s goal posts. Kicking ball races over given courses and back, or around a lake shore, were also indulged in. In some contests the men and youths on opposing sides would engage in restraining each other so that a number of individual or group wrestling bouts developed on the playing field.
Yana gambling bone, four inches long
There were foot races of distances either short or up to fifteen miles or so in length. Also archery contests and wrestling matches were held. In wrestling the object was to throw the opponent to the ground; tripping was not allowed. Contests in which heavy rocks were tossed, somewhat in the manner of today’s shot-put, and heavier rocks carried in competition over a designated line were other games in which the Atsugewi engaged.
Shinny was played by women and children as well as by men, but adult sexes played separately in all of our tribes except Yana. Among them only men participated in this game. Mountain Maidu had three players on a side; Atsugewi had five players. Straight shinny sticks curved at the striking end were used and the puck was a hide affair. Mountain Maidu used a double ball puck. An attempt was made to keep the puck in the air in play. The object, of course, was to get the puck to go between the opponents’ goal posts. The Yana used a puck of two bones linked by a string several inches long. Running with the puck on the stick as well as hitting, and throwing it down the field were permitted.
Children improvised a number of games in the same manner as our own children do today in copying their parents. They played house with limbless but dressed dolls, made and used toy bows and arrows, and made sling shots, too. They commonly tried juggling two stones in one hand, spun acorn tops by hand, and in some instances noise makers such as wooden buzzers and bull roarers were used. In play, loud noise was not condoned, however.
Small feasts might occur at any time and were perhaps the most important social gatherings of Atsugewi. They were usually sparked by a temporary abundance of food. Dancing was not included.
Child’s acorn top
Mr. Garth describes the Atsugewi “... grand occasion ... held only when a large supply of food had been accumulated, was the bagapi or ‘big time’.... The chief called a meeting to decide on the date and then sent his people to various places for deer and other foods. Knotted strings (rokuki) with a knot tied for each intervening day before the festival were sent to other villages. By untying a knot each day other chieftains knew when to start for the host’s village. The host chief stood on the roof of his earth lodge and welcomed the visitor, calling each chief by name: ‘Don’t fall down. Step carefully. I’m glad you have come to see me. Don’t be in a hurry.’... Toward evening the visitors might give a dance, after which the host chief called everyone to eat. Large baskets containing acorn mush, meat, sunflower seeds, and other foods were placed on the ground. The host proffered baskets of food to each visiting chief who in turn then distributed the food to his people. In winter two tribal groups on opposite sides of the sweat house might have a competitive sweat dance, vying to see which could endure the heat longest. In summer the sweating was usually omitted, and games of chance were begun. In the several days that followed, foot racing, archery, weight lifting, and other contests were indulged in. Large bets were made by opposing sides on the outcome of each contest, and the losing side at the end of the week’s festivities often had little property left. Surplus food was divided among the guests before they departed.”
Mountain Maidu had more dances and more types of dances than other tribes of the Lassen area. Tribes of the Sacramento Valley had many more and more complicated dance ceremonies than ours did.
Mountain Maidu had formalized sweat dances which were performed inside large dwelling lodges at night and were participated in by both sexes. As in the case of Yana, only one man, the leader, sang and hit the central pole rhythmically with a split stick rattle. The dancers performed simultaneously but in one spot until they were exhausted and took a cold swim afterwards.
Of the less ceremonial Atsugewi sweat dance, Garth states:
“... Men danced naked except for circlets ... of twisted grass around the waist, head and upper arm, and occasionally from one shoulder diagonally across the chest.... Three or four lines of black or white paint might be drawn across the chest and upper arm. Women wore a skirt and only a small amount of paint. The dancing took place in the combination sweat, dance, and dwelling house of the chief or head man.... The fire was built high with dry mountain mahogany ..., pine ..., and sometimes with willow ..., all woods which burned without much smoke; the ventilator door was closed and the dance began. The one singer sat in a corner and beat time with a split stick rattle.... Each of ten or twelve dancers might approach close to the fire to show his ability to endure heat, pick up burning brands, one in each hand, and alternately hit one upper arm and then the other with the brands. The heat often became so intense that water had to be thrown on the center post to prevent its catching fire. There was rivalry to see who could stay inside longest, and after a time one man after another emerged and dived into the icy water nearby or rolled in the snow. There might be sweating three or four nights in succession on the occasion of a communal hunt.”
Mountain Maidu held a dance gathering each spring for Black Bear and Grizzly Bear. They believed that this dance had been done by animals in mythical “before Indian times”. This gathering lasted three days and nights, but the actual dance was in progress only one day and night. Only women danced but men participated in the ceremony dressed in bear robes. There was much feasting too.
The pre- and post-war dances are discussed under the chapter on war.
Tribes, as we think of them, were non-existent as political units, and hence there were no tribal chiefs, but there were village chiefs, in the California province.
The self governing unit was always a village or a group of small closely adjacent villages. This is the political unit which was governed by the chief. Villages might consist of from four to about twenty-five earth lodges and bark huts with populations of from twenty-five to a hundred or more persons. Influential leaders, usually of much wealth—but not necessarily so—were recognized as head-men, exercising considerable authority over the smaller villages or separated groups of houses near villages. However the head-man’s authority was subservient to that of the chief.
Chieftainship was inherited through the father’s lineage, the oldest son being the first in succession. However, if the son were too young to take over, the deceased chief’s brother was temporarily in charge. The qualities of good character and knowledge were also important qualifications for chieftainship, and a chief could be deposed if he were not a good one. Tenure was normally for life, dependent upon satisfactory behavior and performance of his responsibilities.
The chief’s relatives hunted and fished for him, but he fed visitors and provided most of the food for feasts. The chief always directed community economic activities such as group fishing, deer hunting, and root digging expeditions. For this reason chiefs had to know much about game, fish runs, ripening seasons, et cetera, and had to possess good judgement to insure success of group undertakings. Chiefs also spoke to their people mornings and evenings, and at ceremonies and the like. Chiefs furthermore declared days of rest when chores were done about home. Another function was to arbitrate quarrels among the people.
Mountain Maidu villages had assistant chiefs besides, who were sons or brothers of the chiefs. This assistant advised the chief and substituted for him as the occasion demanded. A specific duty of his was the division of food at ceremonies.
Some chiefs had secondary female chiefs who in the case of the Maidu were daughters, among Atsugewi the chiefs’ wives. A woman in this capacity supervised preparation of food for feasts and in Atsugewi villages might give orders to men.
Atsugewi chiefs appointed clowns at ceremonies who were paid. Appointed messengers were a part of every chief’s staff. They were selected on the basis of both willingness to serve and ability. Maidu had about six messengers per village while the number varied among Atsugewi. Messengers were good speakers, reliable men, and were discharged if they failed in their duties. These included not only message running, but among Atsugewi, tending fires at ceremonies. For Maidu chiefs, messengers welcomed guests and traveled about gathering news and scouting. Special fire tenders were appointed in this tribe.
Atsugewi chiefs seem to have possessed greater prestige and authority than those of the mountain Maidu, the Yana, and the Yahi. The decisions of Atsugewi chiefs were final, but these had to be diplomatic if the chief were to remain popular. If a chief were unpopular some of his people would move to another village leaving the first chief’s community numerically weaker. Chiefs were generally well obeyed by rich and poor alike. In return, chiefs unfailingly had the interests of their people at heart. Atsugewi chiefs, specifically, set examples of industry, behavior, and judgement for their people. No doubt this was generally true of the chiefs of units in other local tribes too.
Because of the greater popularity, prestige, and consequently larger following of some individual chiefs, they were considerably more powerful than other chiefs in the same tribe. Such men were influential to some extent beyond the boundaries of their own territories.
Wars were commonly small scale encounters and might be either within tribes or between tribes. Atsugewi were not often aggressive. Most tribes at one time or another had differences with neighboring tribes, but friendly relations were usually re-established soon. Certain tribes, however, were repeatedly or traditionally enemies, as for instance, Klamath, Paiute, or Modoc against Atsugewi; Washoe against mountain Maidu; Achomawi or Wintun against the Yana tribes; and mountain Maidu or Wintun against Yahi. Tribes sometimes helped each other in wars, and either payment or reciprocal aid was usually forthcoming.
Causes of hostilities in the Lassen area were usually revenge for murders (if uncompensated), abduction of women and children, or insults to chiefs. Mountain Maidu, Yana, and Yahi also waged wars on account of poaching, rape, alleged witchcraft, and the like. All able bodied men normally went to war, but mountain Maidu left some at home to protect the women.
Chiefs generally did not participate in the fighting although they often went along on the war expedition. Instead of leading the battles themselves, chiefs appointed special warrior leaders who were principal targets of the opposition. Such battle leaders were often head-men, but always were men competent to lead the fight and who had good arrow dodging power.
Shamans habitually went to war, but did not fight actively except on occasion. They were busy singing during battle and urging the warriors on or exhorting supernatural help. The Atsugewi shaman reportedly “stayed behind a tree all the time giving out his power”.
Preparation for war consisted of practicing dodging arrows, shooting arrows, in some cases at effigies, and in dancing. The main purpose of the preparation was to incite enthusiasm for the fight. This was so successful that quite a commotion developed in the community, to the extent that such incidents occurred as warriors with knives chasing women and a man shooting his own dog with an arrow! Preparatory war dances were held outside near the villages. Both men and women participated and shamans sang. Mountain Maidu sustained their dances for several days. Warriors spoke to their arrows addressing them as persons. Atsugewi men painted themselves with white and black stripes on faces, limbs, and bodies. Yana used red and white war paint. Mountain Maidu wore head nets and bands. Dried untanned skins of bear, elk, and such were worn at dances as well as in battle, as were waistcoat armors of strong vertical sticks lashed together. Leather helmets were worn by some warriors.
The enemy was usually attacked just at dawn using the element of surprise to the fullest extent possible. Some battles were pre-arranged in which a number of participants faced each other in well formed lines. Such conflicts were subject to “calling off” if too many men were injured or killed. Serious raids, however, did not give quarter and men, women, and children were killed. Booty was taken and scalps, too, were stripped from fallen victims. Scalps were later burned by Atsugewi, but mountain Maidu dried human scalps on frames. This tribe also took entire heads from bodies on occasion. Prisoners were taken too: Atsugewi not infrequently adopted captured children. Captive women might be mistreated and raped, then killed. Adult prisoners might escape with relative ease because there was no suitable way to confine them permanently, and some were returned voluntarily.
While the war party was away on its expedition, the women at home danced individually in the manner of the war dance. They sang and prayed to help the men at war. Atsugewi women dancers carried feathers, bows, and arrows, but rattles were not used in these morale dances.
Upon return of the war party a victory dance was held in or near the village in the open air. Men and women danced independently, but together at the same time. Atsugewi men painted themselves red and white instead of the black and white used for the pre-war dance. They wore headdresses of all sorts and the warriors carried their bows, arrows, armor, and other fighting gear while dancing. The victory dance took place around a fire. Next to the fire Atsugewi planted a short pole on which the new scalps were displayed while mountain Maidu danced with the scalps secured to hand-carried sticks. It is worth noting that while some readers may consider this gloating over human scalps to be a primitive morbidity, it is true that often white men—the very pioneers we eulogize—took and coveted human scalps themselves.
Warriors, particularly those who had killed adversaries, purified themselves by swimming, rubbing aromatic plants on their bodies, praying for luck. They did not eat meat for from a few to many days, depending on the tribe. Among Atsugewi they also sweated with the same end in view, and women brushed the men’s bodies with plant materials to aid the purification process.
Surprisingly, the eating of hot foods and any form of meat was taboo to wounded warriors. This seems strange, since these are the very foods which we consider beneficial to injured persons.
When an attack appeared likely upon an Atsugewi village, the whole population retired to high ground which was easily defended. Such sites were prepared in advance and might be considered crude forts as they were surrounded by rock walls and provided with shelters for the non-combatants.
In intertribal wars there was usually no compensation as such made where the encounter had been motivated by the satisfaction of securing revenge. In the case of feuds or murders within the tribe payment was made to relatives of the slain. If persons on both sides were slain compensation was made for all the dead. The chief or head-man supervised the peace negotiations. Payment was usually in beads or money, but Atsugewi sometimes paid off in women or in the amount of the usual price of a bride. In this tribe too, the amount of compensation was made according to the wealth of the victim. A poor man’s life was not considered to be worth as much as a rich man’s. Atsugewi had a settlement dance meeting in which both sides were present and wore fighting regalia. These dancers disarmed themselves after the payment had been made.
The natural function of birth obviously varied only in details of handling the situation, delivery assistance, disposition of the afterbirth, and methods of cutting and treating the child’s umbilical cord. The baby was born in a separate hut which contained a trench heated with coals. These were covered with grass and pine needles or fir boughs. On this warm green bed the woman lay at least a part of the time during labor and also after delivery.
Children were desired and a barren woman was looked down on socially. Inability to produce children was grounds for divorce. The behavior of both parents during pregnancy was believed to closely affect personality and health of the child.
After giving birth, the mother remained in isolation for from nearly a week to a month or more. Many taboos were imposed upon her. Bathing in streams and sweat baths, eating fresh or dried meat or fish, grease, and often salt were forbidden to her. Most tribes of the Lassen area also prohibited combing of the mother’s hair by herself during the period of isolation. Also taboo was scratching herself with her hands, making baskets, preparing food, or traveling.
Front and side views of Atsugewi cradle basket for a very young baby. (tseh-nay-gow)
Atsugewi young baby carrying basket or teseh-nay-gow
There were restrictions on the father of the newly born child too. Among Atsugewi and Yana he stayed with the mother, but mountain Maidu fathers stayed away for periods of a week or less. Immediately after the birth had taken place, the father ran to the woods to break up and bring home quantities of fire-wood. Hunting and fishing of all kinds and traveling were taboo for several weeks in most cases. Atsugewi and mountain Maidu new fathers were also forbidden to smoke and gamble, and like their wives, were denied eating fresh or dried fish, meat, and grease for varying periods up to a month. Release from taboos occurred with sweating and bathing among Atsugewi and mountain Maidu. Fathers in these tribes also gave away the first kill when they resumed hunting.
The mother generally massaged the infant to improve the shape and proportion of nose, face, limbs, and torso. Shedding of the baby’s umbilical cord was an important event which the Indians wished to occur as soon as possible. A variety of odd practices to this end were employed. The occurrence of the event relieved the parents of some, or in other cases of all, the post birth taboos. Among most of our tribes the dried cord was saved until the child reached manhood or womanhood. It was customarily secured to the cradle basket, but frequently was subsequently lost. Earlobes might be pierced in early infancy especially if the child were prone to cry much.
Atsugewi older baby carrying basket or yah-birr-dee. Note the rounded bottom on A, a modernization. Partial illustration B shows old style construction with a pointed bottom for thrusting into the ground.
Two cradle baskets were used. Mountain Maidu made two of similar oval shape, but the first and smaller one was without a hood. Atsugewi and Yana tribes made two different types, but both with rounded carrying handles and sunshades on top. These were constructed of willow ribs, pine root, and buckskin. The first small basket was called tseh-nay-gow by Atsugewi and was used for several months. It was short and with a distinctly rounded basketry shelf or lip at its lower end. The larger baby basket was called yah-bih-dee and was practically identical to that of the mountain Maidu. This was made of the usual twined basketry materials, but was of different construction. Willow ribs were lashed onto a sturdy one-piece forked branch frame, the joint being at the bottom. The base or stem of this Y-piece stuck out below for several inches being sharpened so that it could be stuck into the ground near the mother in camp or when she was out digging roots in the fields. Boo-noo-koo-ee-menorra tells of an interesting modification of the yah-bih-dee today. Its frame is now simply rounded at the bottom instead of having the pointed end described above. “Most people have cars now a days” she says, “and that point poked a hole through the seat of the car. So now we make the round kind.” Our visitors to Lassen Volcanic National Park are always interested in names of the “papoose basket”. This term and the words moccasin, wampum, and so on are no doubt of Indian origin being the actual words or reasonable facsimiles thereof used by some eastern tribe for the objects concerned. English speaking Americans have adopted these names as meaning those particular articles for all Indian tribes. It may be recalled that earlier in this book, it was pointed out that each tribe had its own distinct language and so, obviously, each tribe would have had its own distinct names for these objects. Hence there is no all inclusive “Indian name” for the cradle basket or anything else.
Maidu baby carrying basket about thirty five inches long.
The baby was wrapped in tanned buckskin or soft furs, normally wildcat by the Atsugewi. A pad of grass or padded bark was placed on the cradle board or basket and then the child was lashed into the tshe-nay-gow with buckskin straps in a sitting position on the sill with its feet hanging down. Most tribes used dry grass, pounded until soft, for diapers, but mountain Maidu used skin material for the purpose. Babies were kept in the cradle baskets until they were able to walk. The cradle frame was carried on the mother’s back with a tump-line passing over her forehead or chest. A series of larger cradle baskets were made as the child grew, usually three before the child was allowed to crawl or walk.
The newborn infant was never fed the colostrum from its mother. The baby was either let go without food or given a cooked meat gruel for nourishment for the first two days or so until bonafide milk was produced in the mother’s breasts. Children were nursed as often as they wished and until they were quite large: even three or four years old.
Names were given to children usually at the age of about a year. Yana waited even longer, however, until ages of four to six years before giving real names which for this tribe were habitually of a hereditary nature. In the meantime, temporary descriptive nicknames were given. Many real Atsugewi names had meanings, while those of mountain Maidu and Yana normally did not. Nevertheless, Yana and to a certain extent other Indians too, might acquire additional nicknames and descriptive names later in life, even in adulthood.
Twins were unwanted among all local tribes, probably because of the double care and feeding responsibilities involved. Mountain Maidu thought that twins were bad luck and actually feared them. It was generally believed that twins were caused by the mother having eaten twinned nutmeats. These, therefore, were carefully avoided.
Killing newborn babies whether illegitimate, twins, crippled, or when the mother died in childbirth, was practiced only on very rare occasions. Certainly infanticide was not the rule among any of the local tribes, but of course was practiced in certain other areas.
Yana baby cradle basket for young baby.
A girl’s attainment of puberty or womanhood was an event of obvious importance and it was recognized as such by all tribes of the Lassen region with extensive formal ritual and ceremony for each individual girl. Only the more important and generally employed taboos and rites are noted below. There was considerable variation in details of such matters even among the four tribes with which we are dealing.
The girl was secluded in a separate hut for from three to six days and sometimes during the nights too. The taboos she observed during this time were much like those imposed on a mother giving birth, but were even more extensive. The young lady must eat from her own special baskets, not cross streams, avoid contacting men—especially hunters, refrain from gazing at the sun or moon, et cetera. Among things she must do were to wear a basketry cap, or special head bands among some tribes, and have her hair put up in two knobs wrapped over her shoulders. This had to be done for her as she was not allowed to touch her own hair. Carrying the deer-hoof rattle she must run races with other girls, and dance much also, scratch her head only with a special scratcher, have her earlobes pierced if this had not already been done, and frequently her nose septum was punctured too, being kept open by insertion of a round stick. Among Wintun tribes of the Sacramento Valley some taboos lasted for from one to three years!
For several nights public dances were held which lasted all night. Since there was no special ritual for anyone but the girl for whom the dances were held, these ceremonies were of a joyous nature and were popular and well attended. In the middle of the night food provided by the girl’s family was served to all present. Singing with deer-hoof rattle accompaniment was carried on all night. Intimate affairs between couples were not unusual during such dances. During the daytime as well dances were held, but these were of short duration and participated in chiefly by the women of the village. At the end of the ordeal the girl bathed and was given new clothes, ending her taboos.
There was no formal ceremony when boys attained manhood except that the youths were generally sent alone into the neighboring mountains for several days to seek special “powers” to give them skill and luck in certain pursuits such as deer hunting, archery, fighting, shamanism, and the like.
During menstruation all women had to observe many taboos too. These included eating alone and living in seclusion. They could eat no meat or fish, fat, or salt, and must not cook. They must avoid sick persons and hunters, and could not scratch themselves except with the scratching stick. At the end of the taboo periods of four or five days, they usually bathed in streams for purification.
Curiously, wives’ menstruations had to be observed by their husbands in a number of ways. Most common was prohibition of smoking, and they must eat lightly. Among mountain Maidu the husband could hunt and fish, but could not eat any flesh; among Atsugewi the reverse was true.
Marriage itself was not formalized with any ceremony. It was common practice for parents to arrange marriages when children were young and these arrangements, which involved some exchange of gifts or payment, were usually honored later. Most other marriages were arranged by parents later when the children had reached maturity and generally these recognized the children’s wishes. Both of these types of marriages were the basis for extensive exchange of presents and visits, details of which differed among the several tribes. In addition there was almost universal payment for the girl—about ten strings of clamshell disks was standard. The boy and girl became husband and wife simply upon starting to live together, but the new status was usually marked by a feast participated in by the families concerned. Generally there followed a period of residence of the couple with one or both of the in-laws. On occasion marriages grew from intimacies with no parental negotiations, but such matches were not well regarded by the community.
Indian men frequently married women from other villages and occasionally even women from other tribes.
If a wife died her sister was generally obliged to marry the widower. Likewise, if the husband died it was customary that his brother would marry the widow. A wise institution was the relationship of the husband and wife with their in-laws. Neither could speak to nor hand things directly to the in-law of opposite sex, or in some cases even to the brothers and sisters of the in-laws; such things had to be done by a third party. In some instances the mother-in-law even avoided looking at her son-in-law even though she might like him. Such arrangements no doubt prevented many arguments and quarrels, but as far as their own evaluation of these customs were concerned, the basis lay in the belief that a bear might eat either or both of the violators of the in-law taboos.
The practice of having more than one wife at a time was common. One man might have three or four wives, but rarely had more than two at a time. Rich men or head-men and chiefs were most apt to have more than two wives.
Divorce was simple indeed. The man just sent the girl back home if she were barren, lazy, promiscuous, or the like. If he had good reasons for wanting to get rid of his wife, her purchase price might be refunded by her family, or else the ex-wife’s sister might be sent to him in exchange, or, sometimes, in addition with no additional payment. On the other hand, the wife might leave her husband if she had been badly mistreated, or if the husband did not provide enough meat and clothing for the family or if he were unfaithful. In divorce the children were divided. Usually, but not always, the girls remained with their mother and the boys with their father. However, divorce was not common among Indians of this region.
On the whole, morals were high and sexual deviations were infrequent, although the whole range of such practices were known to the aborigines. It appears beyond argument that divorces, moral laxity, and sexual aberrations increased with the coming of white man.
Atsugewi and mountain Maidu left the corpse in the house for one day. They prepared it for burial by dressing it well and adding bead necklaces, then wrapping it in a hide. Yana did the same, washing the body first, and although also adorning the corpse with jewelry, they always removed decorative nose ornaments, replacing these with simple sticks. According to Voegelin, Atsugewi removed the body for burial prone and feet first through the wall of the house, but Garth states that the body was removed through the southern ventilator passage or through the regular entrance way in the roof.
The mountain Maidu, Yana, Yahi, and usually the Atsugewi bent the body into a position called flexed. The arms were folded across the chest and the knees were drawn up against the stomach before wrapping the corpse in a robe which was then sewn shut. The mountain Maidu sometimes put the wrapped cadaver into a large basket. Voegelin was of the opinion that Atsugewi buried their dead lying flat on their backs, and if so, always with the head toward the east. It is thought that this prone burial might be a recent innovation learned from white man.
Mourners among all of our local tribes wailed aloud and brought gifts for the dead. Women, especially the older ones, mourned vigorously. To quote Garth again on Atsugewi, of their mourning he states:
“The deceased’s close relatives mourned the hardest, but friends might also mourn——‘to make them feel better.’ Mourners cried and rolled on the ground, throwing dirt and hot ashes in their faces and hair. Some, in their grief, tried to commit suicide, and a close watch had to be kept over them to prevent their doing so. Favorite methods were to swallow small bits of (obsidian) or to eat a certain kind of spider. Mourners were warned not to cry around the house near the body but to go to the hills to cry, and also not to look down when crying or to cry too much. Otherwise they were subject to bad dreams in which spirits would plague them and possibly kill them. A mourner might acquire power at this time. A widow, with possibly a sister to help her, would wail for a time at daybreak and again in the evening. This lasted for two or three months, sometimes longer. A widower seldom cried more than two or three weeks. The widow visited places at which she had camped with her husband, broke up utensils left there, burned down the brush where he was accustomed to cut wood, and piled up rocks where they had slept together. A widower behaved in similar fashion.... If death occurred in a village, no entertainments could be held for a time; otherwise relatives of the deceased had the right to break things up and throw them around. A man would not sing or attend a ‘big time’ gathering until at least a year after death of a close relative.”
If the lodge were to be lived in again, after a person had died in it, Atsugewi brought in juniper boughs, and these were burned to purify the house. Bark huts, however, were always burned down after an occupant had died.
Mountain Maidu children were kept away from the dead and from the funeral proceedings. In that tribe and probably among all local tribes, if the deceased were rich the funeral would be much larger and more pretentious than if the person had been poor. In the former case the ceremony was followed by a feast. Other tribes buried the dead in the evening generally within twenty-four hours after death, but Yana waited three or four days. Mountain Maidu grave diggers put grass in their mouths. Small shallow graves sufficed for poor people, in fact, among Atsugewi, at least, poor people were often buried in small depressions in lava flows and covered over with convenient rocks.
Enroute to Atsugewi burials no one was permitted to look back, and water was sprinkled along the path to prevent the dead person’s spirit from returning to the village. At the grave the dead were asked aloud please not to look back, for if they did other members of their families would die soon.
Cremation, that is, burning of corpses was rare among tribes of the Lassen area. At the battlefield and in other instances of death far from home, especially in the case of mountain Maidu, burning was done occasionally. After this the bones were collected, wrapped in buckskin, and then buried.
The flexed bodies of the dead were always placed in graves facing eastward. Widows customarily attempted to throw themselves into the graves, but were restrained from doing so. A basket of water was invariably placed next to the body, and most personal property of the deceased was broken and also placed in the grave. The amount of property so disposed of varied with the tribe. Mountain Maidu and especially the Yana tribes put practically everything in the grave. The latter even went so far as to include many gifts of a nature not normally associated with the sex. Aprons and baskets, for instance, might be placed in a man’s burial. Among Atsugewi the relatives retained some of the property of the deceased. Atsugewi might place some food on the grave and mark it with a vertical stick, but it was not tended later, and the site was generally soon lost.
In winter a person might be buried shallowly in the floor of a living house. Next spring the house would be torn down and the dirt walls caved in. There was variation not only between, but within tribes as to the final disposition of houses of the deceased. They might be burned down, a common practice, or they were torn down, abandoned, temporarily deserted, or torn down and rebuilt. If to be lived in again, purification of some sort was always practiced, either by burning juniper boughs in the house, smoking tobacco, bringing in aromatic plants, or treating the main beams. Among Yana tribes the family seems to have habitually abandoned the house right after the funeral and to have burned the whole thing including property and food of all the inmates, retaining only the barest necessities of life such as sleeping robes.
Among Atsugewi all mourners had to deny themselves meat and fresh fish for one day; then they sweated and swam after the funeral. Mountain Maidu mourners, including all persons who had had any part in the funeral, had to undergo four or five days taboo on eating all flesh. They also had to eat alone and from separate dishes, do head scratching with special sticks only, were allowed no hunting, gambling, intercourse, or smoking. Purification of those persons contaminated by participation in burial included swimming and washing every day that the taboos were in effect.
Only Atsugewi, of all local tribes, are said to have practiced suicide, though unquestionably it did occur on occasion among all California Indians.
Mentioning the name of the deceased in the presence of his relatives was considered very poor taste, and was actually forbidden in some cases.
It was forbidden that the widow touch the corpse, so that relatives had to prepare the body for burial. After the funeral, the widow always cut her hair off closely. If an Atsugewi, she made a belt out of it, and the hair belt was then often decorated with shells. In all local tribes the widow traditionally covered her whole head and face with pitch and covered this with white diatomaceous earth or black charcoal. Touching her head or face (the whole body for mountain Maidu) with fingers was taboo; she could do this only with the scratching stick which mountain Maidu widows wore around the neck. Raggedy, ill-looking clothes were worn by the survivor, and Atsugewi widows put pitch on old basketry caps to be worn. A mourning necklace was worn at all times, made of lumps of hard pitch strung onto a fiber string. This was worn until remarriage, which was usually two or three years for Atsugewi and one to three years for mountain Maidu. Pitch on the face and head was normally left on until it wore off of its own accord.
The mourning conduct of grieving men who had lost their wives in death was not nearly so lengthy or as rigorous as was that of widows. Widowers cut their hair too, but among Atsugewi the only other observance required was abstinence of flesh eating for a day. Mountain Maidu widowers spent one sleepless night out in the mountains. Widowers did not generally sing at dances and at “big times” for about a year, but this was not compulsory. The Yana are said to have stayed away from dances for two or three years.
Parents mourning the loss of children cut their hair slightly and placed some pitch on hair or faces. The Atsugewi mother observed a three day meat taboo and the Maidu father went to the hills to seek power. However, loss of a baby in birth or before its navel cord dropped off was considered a more serious situation. Such bereaved parents gave all of their belongings away in order to make a fresh start.
Anniversary mourning rites were not conducted in the Lassen region. An exception was the rare instance among Atsugewi when a child was sick at a time just three years after the death of its parent. Under such circumstances a shaman sang over the child and the whole remaining family and relatives mourned, later washing themselves. With respect to the general lack of mourning anniversaries it is of interest that the foothill (northeast) Maidu held elaborate annual burnings for several years after death of relatives. At these great mourning dance ceremonies large quantities of valuable possessions were burned as sacrifices to honor the dead.