 | This article shouldspecify the language of its non-English content, using{{langx}},{{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and{{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriateISO 639 code. Wikipedia'smultilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(March 2021) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 910[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States(  California, Oregon) | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerlyTolowa andSiletz Dee-ni | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional tribal religion and mainstreamChristianity, previouslyIndian Shaker religion[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chetco andTututni[2] |
TheTolowa people orTaa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are aNative American people of theAthabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Tworancherías (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Those removed to the Siletz Reservation in Oregon are located there.
Related to current locations, Tolowa people are members of severalfederally recognized tribes:Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (Tolowa, Chetco, Yurok),[3]Elk Valley Rancheria (Tolowa and Yurok),Confederated Tribes of Siletz (more than 27 native tribes and bands, speaking 10 distinct languages, including Athapascans speaking groups of SW Oregon, like Upper Umpqua, Coquille, Tututni, Chetco, Tolowa, Galice and Applegate River people),Trinidad Rancheria (Chetco, Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, and Yurok),[4]Big Lagoon Rancheria (Yurok and Tolowa),Blue Lake Rancheria (Wiyot, Yurok, and Tolowa) as well as the unrecognized Tolowa Nation.[5]
Their homeland,Taa-laa-waa-dvn (“Tolowa ancestral-land”) lies along the Pacific Coast between the watersheds of Wilson Creek andSmith River (Tolowa-Chetco:Xaa-wun-taa-ghii~-li,Xaa-wvn’-taa-ghii~-li~, orNii~-li~) basin and vicinity inDel Norte in northwesternCalifornia. The area is bounded by the California/Oregon border to the north, and Wilson Creek, north of theKlamath River (Tolowa-Chetco:Tʽáˑtʃʽɪᵗˑʼdɜn) in California, to the south. They lived in approximately eight permanent villages on present-day Crescent City Harbor andLake Earl (Tolowa-Chetco:Ee-chuu-le' orCh'uu-let - "large body of water").[5] The most important Tolowa village isYontocket, California (Tolowa-Chetco:Yan’-daa-k’vt). Their tribal neighbors were theChetco (Tolowa-Chetco:Chit Dee-ni’ orChit-dv-ne', also:Chit-dee-ni / Chit-dee-ne),Tututni (Tolowa-Chetco:T’uu-du’-dee-ni’ orTa-́a te ́ne, also:Tu-́tutûn t̟ûn-nĕ) to the north;Shasta Costa (Tolowa-Chetco:Shis-taa-k'wvs-sta-dv-ne orSee-staa-k’wvt-sta Dee-ni’),Takelma (Tolowa-Chetco:Ghan’-ts’ii-ne),Galice Creek / Taltushtuntede (Tolowa-Chetco:Talh-dash-dv-ne') to the northeast, all of which were removed to the Siletz Reservation, andKaruk (Tolowa-Chetco:Ch'vm-ne Dee-ni', also:Ch’vm-ne Xee-she’) to the east; and theYurok (Tolowa-Chetco:Dvtlh-mvsh, also:Dvtlh-mvsh Xee-she’) to the south.
The name "Tolowa" is derived fromTaa-laa-welh (Taa-laa-wa), anAlgic name given to them by theYurok (Klamath River People) (meaning "people of Lake Earl").
Their autonym isHush,Xus orXvsh, meaning "person" or "human being".[2]
The neighboring Karuk called themYuh'ára, orYurúkvaarar ("Indian from downriver") and used thisKaruk name also for the Yurok,[6] and the Tolowa territoryYuh'aráriik / Yuh'ararih (″Place of the Downriver Indians″). Today the Karuk use also the termImtípaheenshas (fromImtipahéeniik - ″Tolowa Indian place, i.e.Crescent City, California″).[7]
They called themselves in a political sense alsoDee-ni’,Dee-ne, Dvn-’ee, Dee-te which means "(is a)citizen of ayvtlh-’i~ (polity)" or "a person belonging to a place or village."
The Tolowa or Dee-ni’ population exceeded 10,000. In the 19th century, epidemics of newinfectious diseases, such assmallpox, broke out among the Tolowa, resulting in high mortality. These occurred before they had face-to-face encounters with non-natives because of contact through intermediaries. In 1828 the AmericanJedediah Smith and his exploration party were the first known non-natives to contact the Tolowa.
The Tolowa embraced theGhost Dance religion from 1872 to 1882, in hopes of getting relief from European-American encroachment.[2]
In 1770 the Tolowa had a population of 1,000;[8] their population soon dropped to 150[8] in 1910; this was almost entirely due to deliberate mass murder in what has been called genocide[9] which has been recognized by the state of California.[10] In a speech before representatives of Native American peoples in June 2019, California governorGavin Newsom apologized for the genocide. Newsom said, "That’s what it was, a genocide. No other way to describe it. And that’s the way it needs to be described in the history books."[10] Among these killings theYontoket Massacre left 150[9] to 500[9] Tolowa people recorded dead. Because their homes had burned down, the place received the name "Burnt Ranch". TheYontoket massacre decimated the cultural center of the Tolowa peoples. The natives from the surrounding areas would gather there for their celebrations and discussions. The survivors of the massacre were forced to move to the village north of Smith's River called Howonquet. The slaughtering of the Tolowa people continued for some years. They were seemingly always caught at their Needash celebrations. These massacres caused some unrest which led in part to the Rogue River Indian war. Many Tolowa people were incarcerated at Battery Point in 1855 to withhold them from joining an uprising led by their chief. In 1860, after the Chetco/Rogue River War, 600 Tolowa were forcibly relocated toIndian reservations in Oregon, including what is now known as theSiletz Reservation in the Central Coastal Range. Later, some were moved to theHoopa Valley Reservation in California. Adding to the number of dead from the Yontoket Massacre and the Battery Point Attack are many more in the following years. These massacres included the Chetko Massacre with 24[9] dead, the Smith creek massacre with 7[9] dead, the Howonquet Massacre with 70[9] dead, theAchulet massacre with 65 dead[11] (not including those whose bodies were left in the lake) and the Stundossun Massacre with 300[9] dead. In total, 902 Tolowa Native Americans were killed in 7 years. There are no records that any of the perpetrators were ever held accountable.[9] This means over 90% of the entire Tolowa population was killed in deliberate massacres.
They have traditionally spokenTaa-laa-wa Dee-ni' Wee-ya' (Tolowa Dee-ni' Language), theTolowa language, one of theAthabaskan languages.
At theSiletz Reservation in central Oregon, tribes speaking 10 distinct languages were brought together in the mid-19th century. In the early 21st century, the remaining native language spoken is known as Siletz Dee-ni, related to Tolowa, although many of the original tribes spokeSalish languages.[12]
In 2007, in coordination with the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, theConfederated Tribes of Siletz Indians produced a "talking dictionary" in this language to aid in preservation and teaching.[12] Alfred "Bud" Lane, among the last fluent native speakers of Siletz Dee-ni on the reservation, has recorded 14,000 words of the language in this effort.[13]
The Tolowa organized their subsistence around the plentiful riverine and marine resources and acorns (san-chvn[14]). Their society was not formally stratified, but considerable emphasis was put on personal wealth.[15]
Tolowa villages were organized around a headman and usually consisted of related men, in apatrilinealkinship system, where inheritance and status passed through the male line. The men married women in neighboring tribes. The brides were usually related (sisters), in order for the wealth to remain in the paternal families.
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially.[16] Various estimates for the 1770 population of Tolowa have ranged from as low as 450 to an upper end around 2,400.[17][18][19][20]
In 1910, there were reportedly 150 Tolowa.[17] The 1920 census listed 121 Tolowa left inDel Norte County, California. By 2009, there were approximately 1,000 Tolowa Indians.[5]
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