Tolowa facts for kids
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 910 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States(  California,  Oregon) |
|
| Languages | |
| English, formerly Tolowa and Siletz Dee-ni | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional tribal religion and mainstream Christianity, previously Indian Shaker religion |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chetco and Tututni |
The Tolowa people, also called Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’, are a group of Native American people. They speak a language from the Athabaskan family. Today, some Tolowa people still live in their traditional lands in northwestern California. These areas are called rancherías, like Smith River and Elk Valley. Other Tolowa people live on the Siletz Reservation in Oregon.
The Tolowa people are part of several federally recognized tribes. These include the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, Elk Valley Rancheria, and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. They are also part of the Trinidad Rancheria, Big Lagoon Rancheria, and Blue Lake Rancheria. There is also an unrecognized group called the Tolowa Nation.
Contents
History of the Tolowa People
The traditional homeland of the Tolowa people is called Taa-laa-waa-dvn. This means “Tolowa ancestral-land.” It is located along the Pacific Coast in Del Norte in northwestern California. This area is between Wilson Creek and the Smith River. The land stretches from the California/Oregon border in the north to Wilson Creek in the south.
The Tolowa lived in about eight permanent villages. These villages were located near present-day Crescent City Harbor and Lake Earl. The most important village was Yontocket, California. The Tolowa had neighbors like the Chetco and Tututni to the north. To the east were the Karuk people. To the south were the Yurok people.
The name "Tolowa" comes from the word Taa-laa-welh. The Yurok gave them this name. It means "people of Lake Earl." The Tolowa people call themselves Hush, Xus, or Xvsh. These words mean "person" or "human being." They also used the name Dee-ni’ to mean "a citizen of a place" or "a person belonging to a village."
In the past, there were more than 10,000 Tolowa people. But in the 1800s, new infectious diseases like smallpox spread. These diseases caused many Tolowa people to die. This happened even before they met non-native people directly. In 1828, Jedediah Smith and his group were the first known non-natives to meet the Tolowa.
From 1872 to 1882, the Tolowa followed the Ghost Dance religion. They hoped this would help them deal with the growing presence of European-Americans.
Challenges and Changes
In 1770, the Tolowa population was about 1,000 people. By 1910, it had dropped to only 150. This big decrease was mostly because of deliberate killings. These events are now recognized by California as a genocide. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom apologized for these terrible events.
The Yontoket massacre greatly harmed the Tolowa people. Yontocket was a cultural center where people gathered for celebrations. Survivors were forced to move to a village called Howonquet. Killings of Tolowa people continued for several years. Many massacres happened during their Needash celebrations. These events contributed to the Rogue River Indian war.
In 1855, many Tolowa people were held at Battery Point. This was to stop them from joining an uprising. In 1860, after the Chetco/Rogue River War, about 600 Tolowa were forced to move. They were sent to Indian reservations in Oregon, like the Siletz Reservation. Some were later moved to the Hoopa Valley Reservation in California.
Many more Tolowa people were killed after the Yontoket Massacre and Battery Point Attack. These massacres included the Chetko Massacre, Smith Creek Massacre, Howonquet Massacre, Achulet massacre, and Stundossun Massacre. In total, 902 Tolowa Native Americans were killed in just seven years. This means over 90% of the Tolowa population was killed. There are no records that anyone was ever punished for these killings.
Tolowa Language
The Tolowa people traditionally spoke Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni' Wee-ya. This is also known as the Tolowa language. It is part of the Athabaskan languages family.
At the Siletz Reservation in Oregon, many different tribes were brought together. They spoke 10 different languages. In the early 2000s, the main native language spoken there was Siletz Dee-ni. This language is related to Tolowa.
In 2007, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians worked with the Living Tongues Institute. They created a "talking dictionary" for the Siletz Dee-ni language. This helps to save and teach the language. Alfred "Bud" Lane, one of the last fluent speakers, recorded 14,000 words for this project.
Tolowa Culture
The Tolowa people got their food from rivers and the ocean. They also gathered acorns, which they called san-chvn. Their society did not have strict social classes. However, being wealthy was very important to them.
Tolowa villages were led by a headman. Villages usually had men who were related. This was a patrilineal system, meaning that inheritance and status passed down through the male family line. Men would marry women from neighboring tribes. Often, sisters would marry into the same family. This helped keep wealth within the paternal families.
Tolowa Population Today
Estimates for the number of Tolowa people before European contact vary. Some say there were as few as 450 people in 1770. Others estimate up to 2,400.
In 1910, there were only about 150 Tolowa people reported. The 1920 census counted 121 Tolowa left in Del Norte County, California. By 2009, the population had grown to about 1,000 Tolowa Indians.
See also
In Spanish: Tolowa para niños
- Tolowa language
- Tolowa traditional narratives
- Eunice Bommelyn, Tolowa historian, genealogist and language advocate
- Loren Bommelyn
