Background on Kashia Pomo Hunting Skills

Below are selected observations on the Kashia Pomo (Southwestern Pomo) Hunting and Fishing practices recorded from the words of Herman James by Edward Winslow Gifford, director of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. Herman James, was the grandson of Lukaria. Lukaria was about eight years old when the Russians arrived at Metini. She lived in this area for almost her entire life. She died in 1908 when Herman was in his twenties. We are fortunate that Lukaria shared her observations on her peoples' way of life.

On Fishing - In the early days no deep-sea fishes were taken since the Southwestern Pomo had no boats, balsas, or rafts even at the mouths of the Russian and Gualala rivers.

Two fish vertebrae found on the site of Meteni were from the bullhead, which the Southwestern Pomo call shinabototo [sinaboto?to; sina' "head," the rest of the word has no meaning] This fish was easily caught with hook and line, since it will bite on any kind of bait. They were fished for from the rocks on the coast.

Blue cod, haisha [hayhsa], were caught from rocks on the coast. The hook had to be baited with a small fish or a piece of octopus tentacle.

Cod would not bite on abalone meat. The Southwestern Pomo did not know cod until Fort Ross fishermen brought it in from the deep sea. Red cod were called ashakis [?ah'sakis] ("fish red").

Sea trout, matasha [mata?sa], were caught from rocks with a hook baited with abalone meat or entrails. Trout were dried raw.

Perch, gaka [kahka7], coal fish, ashakili [?ah9a kfli] "fish black," and eels, tsaka [saqa], were all caught in tidal pools by drugging. Perch and eels were cooked in an earth oven; they were not dried.

Sharks, for which Herman James had no native name, were never caught from the rocks.

The flounder, ushati [hu?u(svati?] "crooked eyes," was also not caught from rocks; it lived in deep water. This fish was unknown until Russian times.

Smelt or surf fish, hanta [hanta], and night fish, nuwesha [nuw6hsa], were taken at the mouth of the Russian River.

The Southwestern Pomo of Shechatiu (Achachatiu) south of the Russian River mouth were on friendly terms with their neighbors north of the river and allowed them to take surf fish in their territory. Smelt and night fish were cooked overnight in an earth oven. Some were dried for winter use. They were dried on the ground, not on mats. The smelt and surf fish were caught at ebb tide, either by day or night. Formerly a basket of hazel twigs, called ashabukal, was used to catch them. It had a funnel mouth to keep the fish from escaping and the handle was on the rim, running diametrically across from one side to the other. The basket was manipulated by a pole attached to it. The fisherman stood in the water, often above his waist, dipped the basket as the wave came in, then lifted it up full, walked ashore, and dumped his catch in a hole in the sand so the fish could not scatter as they jumped around. The basket was made and handled by men.

Women picked up the fish as they were dumped out on the beach, and carried them home in a burden basket. Herman had never seen one of these baskets. Nets were not used earlier but nets made of store string are used now. These string nets were first made by Kawas [qha-was], a sucking doctor from Meteni.

Herman did not know who taught him to make them but it was not an ancient Southwestern Pomo technique. Bullheads were cut open with a stone knife and the backbone was removed. They were dried without cooking for winter use. According to Herman his grandmother said salt was used to preserve them. (This contradicts an earlier statement that salt was not used as a preservative.)

The lamprey eel found in streams was called komkolo [kh6mkholo]. It was not eaten by the Southwestern Pomo, though some groups in the Russian River valley ate it. Herman James could give no reason why his people did not use it as food.

The Octopus, called pishil [pihsil] was taken in tidal pools with fish poison or speared with a sharp stick. It was never picked up with the hands while it was still active. Octopus was not dried, as it is in Oceania. It was cooked in the earth oven; it was too tough if cooked on coals. Nowadays it is boiled. Only the tentacles were eaten.

Abalone, dukash [du?Ikas], was dried raw. The dried meat was cooked in hot ashes. Fresh abalone meat was cut spirally in long strips and cooked on hot coals in an earth oven. It might be seasoned by letting it "hang" for a few days to make it tender. The guts were eaten fresh, broiled on hot coals. Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) was eaten, being kept for four or five days so it was less tough. It was then pounded and cooked. Black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii), called dukash kili [du'?ksIkili] ("abalone black"), was rare and was not eaten.

The mussel Mytilus californianus, called no'koh or noko [no?q'o], was eaten from October to May, beginning with the first rain. Herman James said these mussels were poisonous in summer. The live mussels were laid on hot coals. As the valves opened, a stick was inserted between the valves and the shells were removed from the fire. They were too difficult to open while the animals were alive. The meats were then extracted and, if not eaten at once, were laid out on swept, hard ground to dry.

About a week of sunshine dried them, but they were brought indoors at night to avoid the moisture of fog and dew. When dried, they were packed in grass-lined baskets and stored. The Southwestern Pomo did not use the mussel shell like an artificial thumbnail to split fibers from iris leaves, as the Yurok did.

“Wilted, slender stems of kelp were used as cordage and fish line, being tougher than the fresh stems. Dry kelp was too brittle for this purpose.”_

– On Hunting –

Elk were killed for food and for the hides and antlers. The hides were laid over a pile of canvas to lay things on to dry. The antlers were used for prying off pieces of redwood bark for houses and also as tools for digging a depression for a bed or a house pit. A piece of antler, like wood, was burned a proper length for its purpose instead of being cut.

The Columbian Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus columbianus columbianus), called bishe [bihse], was snared or was tracked when fresh marks were seen by the hunter. Sometimes a hunter, with his bow and arrows, lay in wait at a spring, concealed in a brush blind on the leeward side. When stalking deer, a hunter wore deer horns and carried two sticks to knock together to attract the attention of a buck.

The deer-head disguise, called nacholon, was used in the season before the bucks shed their antlers. Does' heads were never used as a disguise. Snares were set for deer. If the snare caught the deer around the neck, the animal usually strangled as it struggled to free itself. If the snare caught around the body, the animal had to be dispatched with an arrow. In butchering deer, the hunter pulled the windpipe up through an incision in the neck and tied it in a knot. He then cut the throat and cut off the head before eviscerating the animal. A wounded deer was killed by knocking in its head with a rock; to use a stick for this purpose would bring bad luck. Sometimes a hunter might carry a round rock with him to knock out a disabled deer.

When hunters hunted together, they divided the kill. The meat was divided between them, and the actual killer got the hide, head, sinews, and horns. Sometimes stay-at-homes received some of the meat. Sinews were taken only from the back. They were used for cords for a sling, meshen [mehsen], the belly of the sling being made of buckskin. One end of the cord was looped over a finger or wrist. Herman never heard of a sling used in war.

Deer bones were burned. Ears, eyes, brains, and other parts, even hooves, were eaten. The hooves were peeled, and the interior part was pounded and cooked on hot rocks. Ears and eyes were cooked on hot coals of dry manzanita wood. Brains were spread on hot rocks and cooked; these were eaten only by old people, because they were supposed to turn the hair gray.

If a man violated the taboo by hunting at the time of his child's birth or when his wife was menstruating the deer might take him into the sweathouse and he would lose his mind. After such an experience a man might see deer around his house which no one else could see. He could be cured by a shaman, a sucking doctor not an outfit doctor (yomta). There was no taboo against hunting if some other woman in his family, a daughter for example, was menstruating.

Herman James gave names for two small bears: mima, a brown bear; butaka, a black [bear] one [butaka "grizzly," nowadays "any bear"]. These are probably dichromatic forms of one species. They were hunted for food and for skins for bedding. The young ones were considered especially good for food. The meat might be eaten fresh, broiled on hot coals, or it might be dried in the sunshine, like venison. Dried meat of either bear or deer was cooked lightly, then pounded on a rock to tenderize it.

Bears were killed with the bow and arrow. Winter, when the bears were hibernating, was regarded as a good time to kill them. Their dens were usually in hollow trees. Bear hides were stretched and staked in the sun to dry, with the inside of the skin up. When dry, the hide was scraped with a stone blade to remove any fat that adhered. It was then rubbed with a rough stone, like sandpaper, to soften it. Bear hide was not tanned.

The raccoon, kadus [qha?dus], was killed for food. It was smoked out of its den, under a log or in a hollow tree, and was clubbed as it emerged. Raccoon was cooked on hot coals. The backbone was pounded with a stone to keep it straight while it was being cooked. This was done also when squirrels, jackrabbits, and cottontail rabbits were cooked.

The ring-tailed cat or civet, kadus hibakoyi [qha?dfis hiba- ko?yi; literally "raccoon tail ring"; not the name, just a descriptive term], was not eaten but was sometimes killed for its skin, which was used to make a quiver (matso). The fisher, we'ke [wehke], was killed to make a soft fur bag in which to keep arrowheads, stone drills, stone knives, and other such objects. In modern times it was used for clamshell money.

The weasel, kaltsa [qhalvsa], was not killed. Its bite, like the rattlesnake's, was believed to cause death. Herman James said it would attack a person if molested when it had young.

The mink, a'kashibashi [iahqha sf?'basi "water animal"; a descriptive phrase, not the name of the species], was not eaten but was killed for its skin, which was sometimes used in the cradle of a small child. No otter was known except the sea otter, which was called we'ke, like the fisher. It was never caught in early times until the Russians took to killing them.

The common skunk, napeh [nuphe.], was killed with a stick while it was digging. The animal must be struck a fatal blow at once, or it would discharge its scent. For that reason it was not shot with the bow and arrow. The skins were not used nor was the meat. The animal was killed only for its fat. ft was cut open and the fat was removed and dried. The oil from the fat was used to prevent gray hair and baldness. The fat was warmed at the fire and the oil was rubbed on the hair by both adults and adolescents.

The small striped skunk (Spilogale tenax), called batsisi [basisi], was not used for anything.

The Redwood Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus sequoiensis), hakau' [haqaw], was a "bad animal." It sometimes foamed at the mouth; then its bite was poisonous. This species was not killed unless it was feared that the animal was rabid. Sometimes rabid skunks attacked human beings. (At this writing, 1955, foxes and skunks in California are commonly afflicted with rabies.) [The name of the fox wasn't mentioned if there were small children around or they would grow up "tricky."]

Coyote, duwi, was not hunted or killed in early times.

The mountain lion, yamut [yahmu?], was feared by the Southwestern Pomo. It was hunted with the bow and arrow for food; its skin was used for a blanket. Some of the meat was dried for later consumption. When a mountain lion killed a deer and ate only a little of it, it covered the uneaten portion with leaves and returned to it later. When a hunter found a deer' s carcass thus covered, he lay in wait for the mountain lion' s return.

The bobcat, dolom [dolom?], was killed with the bow and arrow but was not eaten. The hide was used for a quiver.

Herman James named two kinds of bats. The smaller of the two, kachatinana [qahca ifna'?na; qahca "knife"], he said was the "barn bat." The larger bat he called shiijotinana [ siyofina?na; siyo "deep forest"]. He said it spent the daylight hours hanging in grooves in the bark of redwood trees. This species was not molested, as it was supposed to cause blindness.

The mole, ka'wa [qha?wa?], was not eaten but the skins of albino moles were supposed to bring good luck in gambling. Ordinary mole skins were not used. The little animals were dug from the ground in search of albinos, the albino skins being kept in a skin bag like a quiver. Shamans, however, did not use these skins in their profession

A tiny mammal, smaller than a mouse and with a shorter tail (probably a shrew), was called kachata [qahcd?ta]. It was found on rotten logs and was not killed, not because it would bring bad luck but because it was not used. The limb bones of the tree squirrel were used as awls in sewing small hides.

The ground squirrel, mamkolo [mamkolo], was eaten. This is the gray, not the spotted, squirrel. Herman identified it as the California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus grammurus be cheyi) shown in plate of Anthony' s Field Book of North American Mammals. It was snared with a spring trap baited with acorns or other nuts cracked in half.

The chipmunk, basimsi, is too small to eat. Its skin was not used. A red squirrel, shiyoko [siy6kko], which is larger than a chipmunk and lives in trees, was eaten.

The Western gray squirrel, chuma [cuma?], was eaten. Both this and the red squirrel were taken with snares of the spring type, with a noose held in place by four pegs. The gray squirrel' s hide was sometimes used for a small baby basket.

The gopher, alame [?alame], was eaten. It was caught in a spring snare baited with acorn. It was thrown whole on the coals and after a little cooking the hair was scraped off. Then the body was opened and eviscerated. The backbone was pounded and the gopher was broiled over hot coals.

The field mouse, kadishoko [qa?di s6qo9; qa?di "grass," so4ov "mouse"], a dark-colored, short-tailed animal which nests in the grass, was killed with a stick and eaten. It was singed in coals, scraped, and opened. The backbone was pounded before it was cooked.

The house mouse, hopune [hophfine "long-eared field mouse" ], was not eaten.

The wood rat, mi'yo [mihyo9], was eaten. The Indians first took the stored hazelnuts and acorns from the rats' nest and then destroyed it. When the rats took refuge on twigs, they were speared with sharp ash sticks.

The jackrabbit, amala [7ama1la], was shot with bow and a small arrow, not caught in a trap. It was cooked like other small mammals and eaten. Sometimes, if many jackrabbits were killed, the meat was sun dried and stored in baskets. The brains of all mammals were cooked and eaten, except those of dried animals. The fur, laid over a deerskin in a basket, was used as a covering for a baby. Blankets were made of twisted rabbitskin, with lupine-root twine for weft. The rabbitskin warps ran lengthwise. Herman James had never seen one made. These blankets were about three feet wide and were not used for clothing.

The "cottontail" rabbit, presumably the Redwood Brush Rabbit, numi, was eaten. It was knocked over with a club or speared, like the wood rat, with a sharp-pointed stick, from ten to twelve feet long, called hochi. It was prepared for eating like other small mammals. Its fur also was used for blankets, twisted around lupine or sinew string.

Whales [pu-su] were not eaten. (Herman did not know whether Point Arena people ate whale.) Whale ribs were used as medicine for rheumatisia or paralysis. A fire was allowed to burn down to coal. The ribs were chipped, the chips sprinkled on the hot coals, and pigeon-berry branches were placed on them. The sufferer lay on these.

Bone from the mouth of a whale, kishi [perhaps kikhi, "a cartilaginous substance just before the gills of any fish, which is harder, like a bone, in the whale" ], was not used. A hunter carried a piece of whalebone as a protection against rattlesnake bite.

Herman's grandmother once saw a huge whale with barnacles on its back at a place a little south of Fort Ross. Herman related a story about a Dukashal man who violated the first-born taboo and went fishing for salmon. The man found a whale in fresh water on Soule Creek, an affluent of the middle fork of the Gualala. He came back and told people he had seen a whale. All the men fixed their salmon harpoons, which could be used for whale also, and went with him to see what they could do about it. They saw the whale in a big pool (where they catch salmon). The whale leaped up and looked as though it were standing upright. Salmon came out of the whale's womb and filled the stream. Then the whale went up on dry land. Then the people went after the salmon and caught more than they could pack. So they sent a messenger to bring whole families for a big salmon feast. They brought acorn mush, bread, and other food. They camped there nearly a month and dried salmon, as well as eating it fresh. This was in the springtime. After a while they went back home laden with dried fish. After this they believed that salmon were produced by whales. Herman had not seen any whalebones at this place. He thought the whale had been stranded there by a great flood.

Herman told of a horned sea creature, tiwintutu [thiwinsu-su], fifteen to sixteen feet long, which killed whales. Its horns were branched like elk horns. It was only seen swimming. Herman once saw it off Fisk's Mills and Salt Point.

The Southwestern Pomo did not kill or eat seals and sea lions, although the Central Pomo of Point Arena did so. The common seal was called kabfshe [qhabihse; qha < tahqha "water," bihse "deer"], but Herman James knew nothing of the fur seal.

He said there were two kinds of sea lion. One, called sohoi [sohoy], was reddish brown in color. It was seen on the rocks at Point Arena. The other, called kabutaka [qhabfitaqa] ("sea bear"), was bigger than the sohoi and blackish. It was seen only in the water, never on the rocks.