Yokuts Nation

MYTHOLOGIES OF THE CHUKCHANSI/YOKUTS TRIBE

Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians

The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of indigenous people of California. They are Chukchansi or Foothills Yokuts. Picayune Rancheria is the tribe’s ranchería, located in Madera County in central California. The Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians is affiliated to Chukchansi Yokuts culture. Chukchansi Yokuts are indigenous to Central California where they have inhabited areas of the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills for more than 12,000 years. In recent times, the territory of the Chukchansi population has ranged from the Sierra Nevada foothills in the East, to the Fresno and Chowchilla river valleys in Central California, down to the Tehachapi mountains in the South. Many Chukchansi still live in these foothills about 30 miles north of Fresno; the headquarters of the tribe, Picayune Rancheria, is located there today. Chukchansi is the language spoken regionally, in which anthropologists have classified an estimated 60 tribes together as Yokuts—meaning people. Hence, Chukchansi Yokuts. However, according to the official website of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, these tribes all have similar culture and customs but have had different dialects throughout history.

Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians
49260 Chapel Hill Dr.
P.O. Box 2226
Oakhurst, CA 93644

Phone: (559) 412-5590
Fax: (559) 666-3321

Members of the tribe that operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in eastern Madera County are poised to receive a major influx of income after more than $220 million in debt against the casino was paid off this spring. But the benefits of that windfall may be blunted by another round of infighting within the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians over who is an official member of the tribe — and therefore entitled to receive cash disbursements and other perks of membership. Sources within the tribe and its administration who spoke on condition of anonymity said that since the majority of the seven-member tribal council changed hands last fall, the board under the leadership of new tribal chairperson Janet Bill has moved to amend the enrollment ordinance. The tribe’s 1988 constitution states that its membership shall consist of people listed as distributees or dependents at the time a tribal distribution plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1960; “all persons of Chukchansi Indian blood who have a special relationship with the tribe not shared by Indians in general” and who have received allotments of public land under an 1887 law; or direct lineal descendants of people living or dead who are or were eligible for membership and of Chukchansi blood.

One of California’s major gaming tribes, the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, has kicked out more than 500 members in the last year. Last week, letters went out to another 69 people, according to activist Laura Wass of the American Indian Movement. At a recent tribal-council meeting, she said, representatives of the tribe stated that another 200 people would soon get letters. All told, around 3,000 people have been kicked out of California Indian tribes since the advent of casino gaming in the state. But these former Chukchansis make up the single largest block of disenrolled tribal members in California. The numbers put the tribe at the center of a growing dispute over who gets to enjoy the newfound wealth of being a member of a California gaming tribe. Like many California tribes, the issue of who is and is not a Chukchansi can get complicated, according to activist Wass of the American Indian Movement. An explicit policy of genocide by the federal and state government reduced California’s Indian population from nearly 300,000 to less than 25,000 between 1800 and 1900. After that, many Indians were confined to rancherias and often moved around. The Chukchansi’s situation is particularly messy. The tribe was one of many in California that lost their federal status in 1960. The Picayune Rancheria joined with 16 others in a 1979 lawsuit against the federal government. This came to be known as the Tillie Hardwick case, after one of the defendants, after they forced the federal government to settle in 1983. Tillie Hardwick died in 1999. In 2003, her family was disenrolled from the Pinoleville Tribe, which had regained federal recognition via the court case that bears her name. “Disenrollment didn’t exist before the casinos,” Wass said.

Chukchansi belongs to the Yokuts language family ancestrally spoken in the San Joaquin valley of Central California and in the adjacent foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The headquarters of the Chukchansi tribe is located in Coarsegold and many members of the tribe live in and around Madera and Fresno counties. As shown in the map in Figure 1, there are three major territories of the Yokuts: Northern Valley Yokuts, Foothill Yokuts, and Southern Valley Yokuts. While the territory of the Chukchansi is in the foothills area, the dialect is linguistically Northern Valley. Yawelmani, a Yokuts language that has been a subject of extensive linguistic research, considered to be a part of a larger Penutian language family. While the status of Penutian as a macro-family is disputed, Yokuts is very likely related to the Miwok and Costanoan language families of California.

Chukchansi is a member of the Valley Yokuts branch of the Yok-Utian language family. It is spoken in and near the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians in San Joaquin Valley in central California in the USA. In 2011 there were just eight native speakers. In the 1950s recordings of Chukchansi were made by Sydney Lamb, a linguist from Rice University in Huston, Texas. Since 2008 the language has been taught in a elementary school in Coarsegold in California. Classes for adults have been available since 2012. In 2012 the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians provided Fresno State University with a $1 million grant to produce a Chukchansi dictionary and other learning materials, and to provide for scholarships, classes and other efforts to revitalise the language.

Today, the U.S. Department of Interior accepted 283 acres of land into federal trust for the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians. The land includes two parcels known as Bible Story and Safari World near Coarsegold in the Sierra foothills, within the tribe’s ancestral territory. “Placing this land into trust is an exercise of our sovereignty,” said Chairwoman Claudia Gonzales. “This was the culmination of hard work by the Tribal Council and our staff to complete a complex administrative process. We will now exercise Jurisdiction and utilize this land for tribal government purposes such as housing and economic development to benefit tribal members and future generations.” “This is a major accomplishment for the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians that will significantly increase the Tribe’s land base, which will support tribal needs including housing for its citizens,” said Bureau of Indian Affairs Pacific Regional Director Amy Dutschke.

HTTP://WWW.INDIGENOUSPEOPLE.NET/YOKUT.HTM

Yokuts

The Yokuts (previously known as Mariposas) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. Some of their descendants prefer to refer to themselves by their respective tribal names; they reject the term Yokuts, saying that it is an exonym invented by English-speaking settlers and historians. Conventional sub-groupings include the Foothill Yokuts, Northern Valley Yokuts, and Southern Valley Yokuts. Yokuts tribes populated the San Joaquin Valley, from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (“the delta”) south to Bakersfield and the adjacent foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which lies to the east. In the northern half of the Yokuts region, some tribes inhabited the foothills of the Coast Range to the west. There is evidence of Yokuts inhabiting the Carrizo Plain and creating rock art in the Painted Rock area.

A Great Flood had occurred upon Earth long, long ago. While Earth was still covered with water, there were no living creatures upon the land. Then out of the sky one day glided an enormous Eagle with a black Crow riding upon its back, searching for a place to light. Around and around Eagle flew until he discovered a projecting tree stump, or what appeared to be a stump, upon which he landed to rest. There was a home at last upon the flat surface, which was amply large enough for Eagle and Crow to roost upon. From here, they surveyed the greenish gray water as far as they could see. The sky was a gorgeous bright blue with a few white drifting clouds, occasionally swirled by a passing breeze. All seemed serene to Eagle and Crow. Small fish were visible below the water, sometimes leaping out of the sea playfully. Hunger caused Eagle and Crow to swoop down, catching a meal for themselves from time to time. Soon a game developed between the two birds to see which one would be the winner in the fish-catching contest. Upon their return to the stump, however, they always shared the reward. Because of Eagle’s great size and wingspan, he soared to great heights and surveyed widely, as the two birds often flew in opposite directions exploring for land. But no land did they find. No other flying creatures did they see. But they always returned to their home base on the tree stump. Between them, they wondered “How can we possibly think of a way to make land?”

“Was this Crow’s idea of sharing the new world equally?” accused Eagle. Of course, they quarrelled all that day and the next over Crow’s unfairness. But the following day, they went back to work making their new land. Eagle decided that he must catch up. He caught two fish for Duck and put them in his usual place. Duck responded by bringing up mud twice to Eagle in exchange for his two fish. All three worked very hard for many, many moons. Gradually, Eagle’s half of the new world became taller and taller than Crow’s half, even though Crow seemed to work just as hard as Eagle. Duck was faithful to his task, never tiring in his effort to supply mud. Of course, Duck continued to give Eagle twice as much mud for his two fish. Crow never seemed to notice why Eagle’s half became higher and higher than his half. One morning, as the sun rose brightly, the two birds looked down through the water and saw what appeared to be land! “So that is where Duck finds the mud,” they bird talked. They were pleased to see that the water was subsiding. How they hoped that soon they would be high and dry on their new world.

But all was not so easy, for that very night lightning flashed across the waters and thunder rolled and rolled from one horizon to the other followed by a heavy, drenching rain. Eagle and Crow sought shelter in holes they dug into the sides of their mud piles. All night long the rain continued to fall, washing away much of the new world into the sea. As the rain stopped and the sun rose, Eagle and Duck looked out upon the waters and saw an arc of many colours reaching from one edge of the horizon across the sky to the other horizon. This brilliant display held their eyes in wonderment. What did it mean? They marvelled at how long the colours lingered in the sky. Eagle flew toward the scene for a closer look, returning when the arc disappeared. In bird talk, Eagle and Crow decided that the storm of the night before must have been a clearing shower. They began their land- building project again, hoping that Duck would resume his work as mud-carrier. Soon the sun’s rays burned strong and hot, packing the mud until it was hard. Duck appeared and the team of three continued to build the two halves of the new world. Day by day, the waters subsided and new land began to show above the waterline but far, far below the new creation by Eagle and Crow. Eagle’s half became taller and taller and hard packed by the hot sun. Crow’s share of the new world was still great, but never could become as large as Eagle’s half of the new world. In retelling this creation story, Yokut tribal historians always claim that Eagle’s half became the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains. They also tell how Crow’s half became known as the Coast Mountain Range. Yokut historians end their tale by saying that people everywhere honour the brave and strong Eagle, while Crow is accorded a lesser place because of his unfair disposition displayed during he creation of the new world by Eagle and Crow.

California Creation Story

A Tachi Yokut Myth

A Tachi had a fine wife who died and was buried. Her husband went to her grave and dug a hole near it. There he stayed watching, not eating, using only tobacco. After two nights he saw that she came up, brushed the earth off herself, and started to go to the island of the dead. The man tried to seize her but could not hold her. She went southeast and he followed her. Whenever he tried to hold her she escaped. He kept trying to seize her, however, and delayed her. At daybreak she stopped. He stayed there, but could not see her. When it began to be dark the woman got up again and went on. She turned westward and crossed Tulare Lake (or its inlet). At daybreak the man again tried to seize her but could not hold her. She stayed in the place during the day. The man remained in the same place, but again he could not see her. There was a good trail there, and he could see the footprints of his dead friend and relatives. In the evening his wife got up again and went on. They came to a river which flows westward towards San Luis Obispo, the river of the Tulamni (the description fits the Santa Maria, but the Tulamni are in the Tulare drainage, on and about Buena Vista lake). There the man caught up with his wife and there they stayed all day. He still had nothing to eat. In the evening she went on again, now northward. Then somewhere to the west of the Tachi country he caught up with her once more and they spent the day there. In the evening the woman got up and they went on northward, across the San Joaquin river, to the north or east of it. Again he overtook his wife. Then she said: ‘What are you going to do? I am nothing now. How can you get my body back? Do you think you shall be able to do it?’ He said: ‘I think so.’ She said: ‘I think not. I am going to a different kind of a place now.’ From daybreak on that man stayed there. In the evening the woman started once more and went down along the river; but he overtook her again. She did not talk to him. Then they stayed all day, and at night went on again.

Now they were close to the island of the dead. It was joined to the land by a rising and falling bridge called ch’eleli. Under this bridge a river ran swiftly. The dead passed over this. When they were on the bridge, a bird suddenly fluttered up beside them and frightened them. Many fell off into the river, where they turned into fish. Now the chief of the dead said: ‘Somebody has come.’ They told him: ‘There are two. One of them is alive; he stinks.’ The chief said: ‘Do not let him cross.’ When the woman came on the island, he asked her: ‘You have a companion?’ and she told him: ‘Yes, my husband.’ He asked her: ‘Is he coming here?’ She said, ‘I do not know. He is alive.’ They asked the man: ‘Do you want to come to this country?’ He said: ‘Yes,’ Then they told him: ‘Wait, I will see the chief.’ They told the chief: ‘He says that he wants to come to this country. We think he does not tell the truth.’ ‘Well, let him come across.’ Now they intended to frighten him off the bridge. They said: ‘Come on. The chief says you can cross.’ Then the bird (kacha) flew up and tried to scare him’, but did not make him fall off the bridge into the water. So they brought him before the chief. The chief said: ‘This is a bad country. You should not have come. We have only your wife’s soul (itit). She has left her bones with her body. I do not think we can give her back to you.’ In the evening they danced. It was a round dance and they shouted. The chief said to the man: ‘Look at your wife in the middle of the crowd. Tomorrow you will see no one.’

Now the man stayed there three days. Then the chief said to some of the people: ‘Bring that woman. Her husband wants to talk to her.’ They brought the woman to him. He asked her: ‘Is this your husband?’ She said.- ‘Yes.’ He asked her: ‘Do you think you will go back to him?’ She said: ‘I do not think so. What do you wish?’ The chief said: ‘I think not. You must stay here. You cannot go back. You are worthless now.’ Then he said to the man: ‘Do you want to sleep with your wife?’ He said: ‘Yes, for a while. I want to sleep with her and talk to her.’ Then he was allowed to sleep with her that night and they talked together. At daybreak the woman was vanished and he was sleeping next to a fallen oak. The chief said to him: ‘Get up. It is late.’ He opened his eyes and saw an oak instead of his wife. The chief said: ‘You see that we cannot make your wife as she was. She is no good now. It is best that you go back. You have a good country there.’ But the man said: ‘No, I will stay.’ The chief told him: ‘No, do not. Come back here whenever you like, but go back now.’

Nevertheless he man stayed there six days. Then he said: ‘I am going back.’ Then in the morning he started to go home. The chief told him: ‘When you arrive, hide yourself. Then after six days emerge and make a dance.’ Now the man returned. He told his parents: ‘Make me a small house. In six days I will come out and dance.’ Now he stayed there five days. Then his friends began to know that he had come back. ‘Our relative has come back,’ they all said. Now the man was in too much of a hurry. After five days he went out. In the evening he began to dance and danced all night, telling what he saw. In the morning when he had stopped dancing, he went to bathe. Then a rattlesnake bit him. He died. So be went back to island. He is there now. It is through him that the people know it is there. Every two days the island becomes fall. Then the chief gathers the people. ‘You must swim,’ he says. The people stop dancing and bathe. Then the bird frightens them, and some turn to fish, and some to ducks; only a few come out of the water again as people. In this way room is made when the island is too full. The name of the chief there is Kandjidji.

A.L. Kroeber, Indian Myths of South Central California,
University of California Publications,
American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. IV, no. 4 (1906-7), PP. 216-18
Yokut Legends collected by A. L. Kroeber [1907]

Yokuts were originally thought to be a distinct linguistic family but are now considered a part of the large Penutian family. They occupy the entire floor of San Joaquin Valley of central California from the mouth of the San Joaquin River to the foot of the Tehachapi Mountains and adjacent to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, up to an altitude of a few thousand feet. Their environment lends itself to agriculture and forestry. In 1770 the estimated population of the Yokuts was 18,000 and in 1910 only 600. Today dozens of small bands and villages are spread over a wide area.

Timpoochee Barnard

YOKUT LEGENDS

Origin of the Sierra Nevadas and Coast Range

Once there was a time when there was nothing in the world but water. About the place where Tulare Lake is now, there was a pole standing far up out of the water, and on this pole perched Hawk and Crow. First Hawk would sit on the pole a while, then Crow would knock him off and sit on it himself. Thus they sat on the top of the pole above the water for many ages. At last they created the birds which prey on fish. They created Kingfisher, Eagle, Pelican, and others. They created also Duck. Duck was very small but she dived to the bottom of the water, took a beakful of mud, and then died in coming to the top of the water. Duck lay dead floating on the water. Then Hawk and Crow took the mud from Duck’s beak, and began making the mountains. They began at the place now known as Ta-hi-cha-pa Pass, and Hawk made the east range. Crow made the west one. They pushed the mud down hard into the water and then piled it high. They worked toward the north. At last Hawk and Crow met at Mount Shasta. Then their work was done. But when they looked at their mountains, Crow’s range was much larger than Hawk’s.

Hawk said to Crow, “How did this happen, you rascal? You have been stealing earth from my bill. That is why your mountains are the biggest.” Crow laughed. Then Hawk chewed some Indian tobacco. That made him wise. At once he took hold of the mountains and turned them around almost in a circle. He put his range where Crow’s had been. That is why the Sierra Nevada Range is larger than the Coast Range.

From: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest
Compiled and Edited by Katharine Berry Judson, 1912The Lizard-Hand

It was Coyote who brought it about that people die. He made it thus because our hands are not closed like his. He wanted our hands to be like his, but a lizard said to him:

“No, they must have my hand.” He had five fingers and Coyote had only a fist. So now we have an open hand with five fingers. But then Coyote said: “Well, then they will have to die.”

From: Kroeber, University of California Publications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology, iv, 231, No. 38

Map: California Tribal Groups

Notes from “The North American Indian” by ES Curtis
The Piercing of the Yokut Shield
The Tachi Yokut Tribe
Yokut Indians-Dumna (Cassons) and Kachayi Band
Yokut Information to year 2000 / Links
The Yokuts (California Historical Society)

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