Pinoleville Pomo
Cultural History
The roots of the Pinoleville Tribe go back to Potter Valley, a lush, abundant area called Be-lo-kai, meaning verdant valley. In the era just before Europeans arrived, there were three main villages, called Pomo, Sedam (or Tse tum) and Canel (or Shanel, Sanel), and several smaller villages and camps. These people all spoke Northern Pomo.
The name “Pomo” came from the village Pomo poma, where ancestors of some of the present tribal members lived. (Literally po- something valuable, mo- hole, the word for magnesite bead; poma- people.) It was chosen by an early ethnographer to name a large linguistic group of seven distinct languages. The thousands of people who spoke any of those languages later became known as Pomos.
The villages varied in size, from five to nearly a hundred houses, and were usually
made up of a few families, who often intermarried with people from other villages or tribes. Alliances were maintained with other villages through marriage and doing Ceremonies together. The villages were governed by minor councilmen called tca ka- li in Northern Pomo. They were also referred to as Captains. Leaders were chosen for their abilities or their power, and the position often passed on down the family line.
Healing was done by outfit doctors (men) and sucking doctors (women or men), using ceremony, songs, and herbs. Some kinds of healing arts were passed down the family line, other knowledge came through dreams.
Winter shelters (tca) were hem- ispherical, with floors sunken a foot or so into the ground and walls woven of willow, thatched with thick grass, tules, or wil- low. These might house any- where from one to five families. They also built small sweat houses (tca-ne), which also served as meeting places or warm winter quarters for men. The main villages had large meeting houses, or roundhous- es, some of which could hold several hundred people for cer- emonies and dances. In the summer camps, a brush shelter sufficed.
The people moved with the seasons, gathering whatever they needed where it was abundant. In spring, a journey along an extensive system of trails was made to the coast for seaweed, abalone and shellfish. These were dried and brought back for win- ter supplies. Hunting of small game, taken with ingenious traps, spears, or arrows, was done year ’round.
In the meadows they gathered clover and other greens early in the year; later they harvested many varieties of seeds to make yuhu, or pinole, one of their staple foods, breaking into smaller groups, coming and going from their main village, camping along streams and rivers, gathering food, medicines, and materials for making their household tools, fishing, or hunting.
As summer progress, trips would be made to gather berries and other plants on the hillsides. Summer was also a time for visiting neighboring villages, perhaps attending a celebration, doing some trading as far away as Clear Lake for obsidian or Stonyford for salt, or making a trip to the Coast for more seafood.
The most important staple food of the Pomo people was acorns, gathered in the fall and carefully stored for winter. Pepperwood nuts and buckeyes supplemented the winter diet. Fish, deer and elk meat were also dried for winter stores.
Winters were a time for making the implements need- ed for daily life. The Pomo people excelled in making baskets, which later became collectors’ items and world famous. Beads were fashioned from clam shells, extra valuable ones from magnesite; long strands of them served as money for the Pomos, and much trade was done using this medium of ex- change. String was made, arrow and spear points were shaped from obsidian or chert. Regalia for cer- emonies and celebrations was created with the many feathers collected throughout the year
Ceremonies and celebrations were an important part of life for the Pomo people. They held ceremonies to insure and to give thanks for a good harvest. Other ceremonies honored their religious beliefs, or marked a new phase in a person’s life. And whenev- er visitors got together, there was dancing and singing, gambling, foot races, and gen- eral good times.
Recent History
Although the coming of the Spanish, Russians, and fur traders in the early 1800’s brought sudden devastation to Native Californians and their way of life, throughout the first half of the century the Pomos in Potter Valley were mostly removed from the bat- tles, new diseases, and forced servitude, with the exception of a smallpox epidemic in the village of Canel in the 1830’s.
With the Gold Rush in 1848-50, however, Europeans came in droves, to stay. Though treaties were proposed guaranteeing lands for most California Natives, including Po- mos, they were not ratified, and California law set up all land not claimed to be public (see Legislation). Land was open to be settled by non-Native people.
Beginning in 1853, settlers arrived in Potter Valley. As land was taken up for ranching, the Pomos were forced to move their villages and camps, and lands they had always gathered their food and supplies on were suddenly taken over by livestock. They were forced out to the edges, where land was not fertile, not allowed to gather in the fields and were hard-pressed to find enough food to survive.
Some Potter Valley ranchers were friendly with the Pomo people, some set aside land for them or gave them work, some married Native women. But inevitably troubles arose between Na- tives and some of the settlers, as was happening all over northern California. In 1871 most of the re- maining Potter Valley Pomos were rounded up by militia and brutally forced to walk to Round Valley Reservation. The Pomo people call this tragic event Bloody Run because the Eel River ran red with their blood. Few escaped Bloody Run, some were taken in and stayed with ranchers.
Conditions were bad in Round Valley Reservation too, with broken promises of land and support. In 1878, a large group of Potter Valley Pomos left the Reservation and purchased 51 acres of land on the north side of Ukiah. It was called ke-buk ke-bul, but soon came to be known as Pinolville.
However, the Ukiah townspeople complained about the ceremonial cremation and loud wailing, which, in the traditional way, went on for days when there was a death. In 1893, the Pinoleville captains joined with other Northern Pomo captains, and traded their land at $10 for 100 acres between Ackerman Creek (ya-mo-bida—wind hole creek), and Orr springs Road. Their new home was named ya-mo for the persistent winds coming out of the canyon.
Here the Pinoleville Pomo people settled. Many of the scattered Pomo people still needed homes. Families from other tribelets arrived and the cap- tains allowed them to live on Pinoleville. In 1905, a BIA survey assessed the privately owned land as overcrowded, and through the Homeless, Landless Indian Act, a Rancheria was purchased next to the private land in 1911. Ukiah Ranche- ria, as it was first called, later became known as Pinoleville Rancheria.
Some Pinoleville people took up farming their land, others found work in surrounding areas. Men and women became part of the primary labor force for agriculture in the Ukiah Valley, with a reputation for being skilled, hard workers. Women continued to weave their excellent baskets.
A day school was built on the private land; a second school and a Catholic church were built later, on the Rancheria. The BIA began efforts to organize the tribe in the 1930’s.
In the 1950’s, the US government decid- ed to follow a policy of integration of the Native people living on the rancherias into the general population. Through the Rancheria Act of 1958, the BIA guaran- teed help towards independence by bringing housing and water systems up to the standards of the nearest metropoli- tan area. In 1966, Pinoleville Rancheria was terminated, and the land, already divided into parcels, was deeded to indi- viduals. The privately purchased land remained held in trust for the Pinoleville
Tribal Government
When Pinoleville Tribe was first formed, the people governed themselves as they had always done traditionally. Several headmen served as a council, meeting together to make decisions for the group by consensus.
After the Bureau of Indian Affairs became involved through buying the Rancheria, they tried to or- ganize the tribe. Although draft Constitutions were prepared for Pinoleville in 1936 and 1937 as part of the Indian Reorganization Act, and for the Pinoleville Improvement Association in 1947, they were never approved by the BIA.
With Termination in 1966, the tribe was disbanded from the federal government’s point of view. In 1983, Pinoleville was part of a class action suit against the federal government (Tillie Hardwick, et al vs. US) which won federal recognition for 17 terminated tribes on the grounds that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had not fulfilled the agreements made at the time of termination.
In 2003, The Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted a reorganization of Pinoleville which in turn forced us to do further historical research and document our legitimate base roll.
On June 26, 2005, The Tribe conducted an election that approved the Constitution by the eligible class of voters. Pinoleville Tribe is now governed by an elected council of seven members who each serve a term of 4 years.
In 2006, the Tribe signed a Title IV compact with the USA, and is now recognized as a Self- Governance Tribe. To qualify as a Self-Governance Tribe, you must demonstrate financial stability and management capability for 3 consecutive fiscal years. During the three year period, The Tribe must have no uncorrected or significant material audit exceptions in the required annual audit of contracts. Under Self-Governance, negotiations are conducted on a government-to-government basis, allowing for each tribe’s unique priorities.
Pinoleville is one of ten independent Sovereign tribes in Mendocino County, each governed by their own constitution and tribal laws.
Mission Statement
The Pinoleville Pomo Nation secures tribal government, affirms and pro- tects tribal sovereignty, and maintains government-to-government relation- ships. The Nation is dedicated to developing and maintaining co-operative alliances that benefit the Nation and local community. The Nation is com- mitted to the preservation of its history, culture, and traditions. The Nation provides for the health, safety, and general welfare of its citizens, while promoting economic self-sufficiency and personal independence.
Mailing address: 500 B Pinoleville Drive Ukiah, CA 95482
Phone: (707) 463-1454 Fax: (707) 463-6601