Okwanuchu
Encyclopedia
Shastan languages
The Shastan family consisted of four languages, spoken in present-day northern California and southern Oregon.-Family division:# Konomihu # New River Shasta # Okwanuchu # Shasta ...
-speaking tribes of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, who were closely related to the adjacent larger Shasta
Shasta (tribe)
The Shasta are an indigenous people of Northern California and Southern Oregon in the United States. They spoke one of the Shastan languages....
tribe. The Okwanuchu occupied territory south, southwest, and southeast of Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...
, California, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including the present-day cities of Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta is a city in Siskiyou County, California, located at around 3,600 ft on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the summit of its namesake volcano...
, McCloud, California
McCloud, California
McCloud is a small town and census-designated place in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,101 at the 2010 census, down from 1,343 at the 2000 census.-Commerce and tourism:...
and Dunsmuir, California
Dunsmuir, California
Dunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2010 census, down from 1,923 at the 2000 census. It is currently a hub of tourism in Northern California as visitors enjoy fishing, skiing, climbing, or sight-seeing...
, the upper Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
downstream to North Salt Creek, the Squaw Valley Creek drainage, and the upper McCloud River
McCloud River
The McCloud River is a river that flows east of and parallel to the Sacramento River, long, in northern California in the United States. It drains a scenic mountainous area of the Cascade Range north of Redding...
downstream to where it meets Squaw Valley Creek.
The Okwanuchu were speakers of the older Hokan-speaking family of languages, with archaeological sites associated with their range dating back in excess of 5000 years. Members of the Penutian-speaking family of languages, especially the Wintu
Wintu
The Wintu are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun . Others are the Nomlaki and the Patwin...
, arrived in central Northern California in the vicinity of Redding, California
Redding, California
Redding is a city in far-Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA. With a population of 89,861, according to the 2010 Census...
about 1200 years ago, likely from southern Oregon. The Wintu possessed superior technology, were out-competing their Hokan-language family neighbors, and were expanding Wintu territory at the expense of the Okwanuchu and the Achomawi
Achomawi
The Achomawi are one of eleven bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA....
to the north, and the Yana
Yana people
The Yana people were a group of Native Americans indigenous to Northern California in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, on the western side of the range. The Yana-speaking people comprised four groups: the Northern Yana, the Central Yana, the Southern Yana, and the Yahi...
to the east. It appears likely that even if Europeans and Americans not intervened (beginning in the 1820s), the Wintu would have absorbed or otherwise eliminated the Okwanuchu over the course of the coming centuries.
Anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber suggested in 1918 that the Okwanuchu had become extinct. Although their language was closely related to that of the main Shasta tribe, it contained some elements of Wintu and Achomawi. Very little is known about the location of their villages and settlements, or about their culture, other than a presumed similarity to their Shasta and Achomawi neighbors.
Famed author Joaquin Miller (honored in Oakland California) lived among the Okwanuchu and wrote an historic novel about it, but due to the then newsworthy "Modoc Indian War", named it Life Amongst the Modocs--a better sell than "the Okwanuchu". A probable main village site is the Dunsmuir City's Tahlindali Park, named after one of the last tribesmen resident in the area.