 | This articleincludes historical images which have beenupscaled by an AI process. This will have introduced speculative and possibly inaccurate details. Such imagesshould be replaced with their original versions.(March 2024) |
.jpg) A Mono couple living near Northfork, California, ca. 1920 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| approximately 2,300 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (California andNevada) | |
| Languages | |
| Mono,English | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional Tribal Religion,Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Northern Paiute,Shoshone,Bannock |
TheMono (/ˈmoʊnoʊ/MOH-noh) are aNative American people who traditionally live in the centralSierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south ofBridgeport), theMono Basin, and adjacent areas of theGreat Basin. They are often grouped under the historical label "Paiute" together with theNorthern Paiute andSouthern Paiute – but these three groups, although related within theNumic group ofUto-Aztecan languages, do not form a single, unique, unified group of Great Basin tribes.
Today, many of the tribal citizens and descendants of the Mono tribe inhabit the town ofNorth Fork (thus the label "Northfork Mono") inMadera County. People of the Mono tribe are also spread across California in: theOwens River Valley; theSan Joaquin Valley and foothills areas, especiallyFresno County; and in theSan Francisco Bay Area.
The Mono lived on both sides of the Sierra Nevada and are divided into two regional tribal/dialect groups, roughly based on the Sierra crest:
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The current tribal name "Mono" is aYokutsanloanword from the tribe's western neighbors, theYokuts, who however hereby designated the Owens valley Paiutes as the southernmost Northern Paiute band living around "owens lake" / Mono Lake asmonachie/monoache ("fly people") because flylarvae was their chief food staple and trading article[4] andnot the "Mono". This "Kucadikadi Northern Paiute Band", whose autonymKutsavidökadö/Kutzadika'a means "eaters of thebrine fly pupae", are also known asMono Lake Paiute orOwens Valley Paiute, a holdover from early anthropological literature, and are often confused with the non-Northern Paiute ethnic group of the Western mono "Mono".[5]
The "Eastern Mono" referred to themselves asNuma/Nuumu orNüümü ("People") in their Mono/Bannock language dialect and to their kin to the west asPanan witü / Pana witü ("western place" People); the "Western Mono" called themselvesNyyhmy/Nimi orNim/Nium ("People"); a full blooded "Western Mono" person was calledcawu h nyyhmy.[6]
The Owens Valley Paiute or Eastern Mono live on the California-Nevada border, they formerly ranged on the eastern side of the southernSierra Nevada across theOwens Valley[7] along theOwens Rivers fromLong Valley on the north toOwens Lake on the south, and from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the west to theWhite andInyo Mountains including theFish Lake andDeep Springs Valleys on the east. They were predominantly sedentary and settled in fixed settlements along rivers or springs (or artificial canals). The more intensive arable farming by means of partly artificial irrigation enabled them to build up food reserves and thus, in contrast to the "Western Mono bands", to feed larger groups. TheSedentism is also reflected in their socio-political organization in different "districts" (each with communistic hunting and seed rights, political unity, and a number of villages), whose name mostly ended with"patü/witü", meaning "place" or "land"; each "district" was under the command of a headman orpohenaby.
Some "Owens Valley Northern Paiute" districts:
The tribal areas of the "Eastern Mono bands" bordered in the northwest on the areas of the hostile Southern Sierra Miwok with which it often came to conflicts, in the northeast several Northern Paiute bands migrated, in the southeast and south theTimbisha Shoshone andWestern Shoshone bands, in the southwest theTübatulabal (also:Kern River Indians) and in the west the "Western Mono bands".
The Owens Valley Paiute were also more aggressive and hostile towards neighboring Indian tribes and most recently they fought the Americans in the "Owens Valley Indian War" (1862 to 1863) with allied Shoshone, Kawaiisu and Tübatulabal The Owens Valley Paiutes are The southernmost Northern Paiute Band.
Their self-designation isNuma, Numu, orNüümü, meaning "People" orNün'wa Paya Hup Ca'a' Otuu'mu—"Coyote's children living in the water ditch".[8]
The "Western Mono" bands in the western southern Sierra Nevada foothills in theSan Joaquin Valley (San Joaquin River was calledtypici h huu' – "important, great river"),Kings River andKaweah River (in today's counties of Madera, Fresno and Tulare) lived mostly as typical semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers of fishing, hunting and gathering as well as agriculture. In the winter, several families descended into the river valleys and built together fixed settlements, most of which were used for several years. In the summer, the family groups migrated as hunters and gatherers to the more sheltered and cooler altitudes of the mountains. Therefore, these smaller groups are sometimes considered socio-politically not as bands but as local groups.
The tribal areas of the "Western Mono" bordered the (mostly) hostileSouthern Sierra Miwok in the north, the "Eastern Mono" settled in the east, the Tübatulabal in the southeast and the Foothill Yokuts in the west.
Some "Western Mono" bands formed bilingual bands or units with "Foothill Yokuts" and partly took over their culture, so that today – except for one – each "Western Mono" band are only known under its "Yokuts" name. Even in the ethnological literature the original ethnic classification of the bands listed below is controversial; partly they are listed as "Foothill Yokuts bands" (who adopted the "Mono language" and culture through the immigration of the "Western Mono" and soon became bilingual) or as "Western Mono" bands (who would have adopted the language of the dominant "Foothill Yokuts"). In particular, the classification of the two Kings River bands – the Michahai / Michahay and Entimbich[11] – is difficult.
The Western Mono self-designation isNyyhmy, Nimi, Nim orNium, meaning "People" orcawu h nyyhmy.
By contact with the Europeans, the following bands (or local groups) could be distinguished (from north to south):[12]
If theEntimbich andMichahai are counted as "Kings River Yokuts" then beside the above-mentioned bands sometimes the following bands are listed:
The two clans of the North Fork Mono Tribe are represented by the golden eagle and the coyote. Mono traditions still in practice today include fishing, hunting, acorn gathering, cooking, healing, basket making, and games. The Honorable Ron Goode is the Tribal Chairman for the North Fork Mono Tribe, which is not a federally recognized tribe. The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians is the federally recognized tribe in North Fork and their chairperson is Elaine Fink.
Ceremonies are performed at the Sierra Mono Museum[15] inNorth Fork, California, and an annual Indian Fair Days festival takes place on the first weekend of August every year to revive many traditions and rituals for tribal kin and tourists alike to enjoy.
The Eastern Mono speak the Mono/Bannock language dialect, which together with theNorthern Paiute language (adialect continuum), forms theWestern Numic branch of theUto-Aztecan language family. Due to the geographical separation as well as the interaction with neighboring tribes and peoples (incorporation of loanwords and/or frequentBilingualism) two very different dialects developed in the course of time which are difficult tounderstand for each other.The native language of the Mono people is referred to as "Nim."
Mun a hoo e boso. Mun a hoo e num. Mun a hoo to e hun noh pa teh can be translated as "Hello to my friends. Hello to the Mono people. Hello to the people from all over."[16]
Today, the Mono language (including its two dialects) is critically endangered. Among about 1,300 "Western Mono (Mono or Monache) people", only about 20 active speakers and 100 half speakers speak "Western Mono" or the "Monachi/Monache" dialect (better known as: "Mono/Monache" or "Mono Lake Paiute"). Of the 1,000 "Owens Valley Paiute (Eastern Mono) people" there are only 30 active speakers of the "Eastern Mono" or "Owens Valley Northern Paiute" dialect left.
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially.(SeePopulation of Native California.)Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) suggested that the 1770 population of the Mono was 4,000.Sherburne F. Cook (1976:192) set the population of the Western Mono alone at about 1,800. Kroeber reported the population of the Mono in 1910 as 1,500.
Today, there are approximately 2,300 enrolled Mono people. The Cold Springs Mono have 275 tribal members.[17] The Northfork Mono's enrollment is 1,800, making them one of California's largest native tribes. The Big Sandy Mono have about 495 members.[citation needed] The Big Pine Band has 462 tribal members, but it is difficult to determine how many of these are Mono.[18]
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