Native Americans of the Region
Mt. Lassen sat at the corner of the traditional territories occupied by the Yana, the Atsugewi, and the Maidu. Yana and Atsugewi people were Hokan speakers while the Maidu were Penutian speakers. All the territory you drove through from Redding to our lodge at Mt. Lassen was typical Yana territory.
The Yana
The Yana are very similar to the Wintu geographically, occupying the eastern side of the Sacramento Valley, where the Wintu occupied the western side. Their traditional habitat extended all the way up numerous stream systems flowing out of the Sierra Foothills. There were four triblet regions, and Mt. Lassen stood at the eastern border of the southern two. 
The southern-most tribelet was the Yahi, Ishi's group.
The Yana material culture was very much the same as that of the Wintu. Their staple food was acorn mush which was supplemented with meat, fish, and vegetable resources. Deer, elk, antelope, bear, and rabbits were all hunted. Salmon entered the territory's streams from the Sacramento River. Hunting was performed with bow and arrow. The bows were made from yew or juniper and were sinew-backed for additional strength. Arrow points were made from obsidian and had a distinctive serrated edge. Salmon fishing was performed with obsidian-tipped spears or harpoons. Smaller fish, such as trout, were caught in basketry traps or nets.
Housing was constructed in similar ways, depending on local resources. The most substantial structure was a semi-subterranean house made with a single large central pole and radiating roof poles going down to ground level. These were covered with smaller branches, brush, and earth. There was a smoke hole in the middle of the roof and this was the entrance as well. Further south, the Yana seem to have preferred the standard dome-shaped brush dwelling, typical of much of the state to the south. Other Yana villages used the typical foothill structure made of conically piled pine bark, caulked with brush.
Political and social life among the Yana followed along similar lines to the neighboring Wintu. A village had an hereditary male chief (or headman). His authority was expressed through his ability to represent the tribe's cultural traditions by making sure that resources were shared, that social behavior followed norms, and that important passages were correctly celebrated. The chief was always the host to traders from outside Yana country; and this would be a good point at which to mention that trading of natural resources was quite extensive throughout California.
Typical of most Californians, the family of an aspiring young man might approach the parents of a girl and, with encouragement, offer gifts. If accepted, the young man moved into the girl's family home for the initial period of marriage. But the couple usually moved back to the man's parents' house by the time a child was born, something that was hastened, undoubtedly, by the strict taboo barring the man from even looking at the mother-in-law.
Native Californians, including the Yana, were largely nudists. Clothing of any sort was a sign of wealth and status or a matter of necessity in winter. Otherwise, a simple breechcloth or apron was worn from the waist. Women's aprons were made from shredded bark, grass, tules, or human hair. Shells, colorful bird scalps, and feathers were all popular jewelry. Native women marked their faces, usually the chin, with vertical tatoos that symbolized their family lineage.
The Atsugewi
Atsugewi territory lay east of the Northern Yana between Mt. Lassen and the Pit River. The Maidu were to the south and the Paiute to the east. The Atsugewi were a small group, numbering around 850 in 1850.
Atsugewi men hunted while the women gathered. Small children were held in cradle boards that could literally be staked in the ground near where the mother was gathering foods. Their environment was less productive than those we have previously discussed so the Atsugewi seem to have stressed industriuousness and productivity as prime values in their society. Deer were hunted and venison was the most prized meat. Trout were numerous in local streams but salmon were only available in the Pit River and required permission of the Achumawi. Trout were taken with nets and with wicker fish traps (long conical baskets that fitted into the streams and offered easy access to the fish but prohibited exit). Women gathered up to 100 different kinds of vegetable foods. Acorns were not abundantly available throughout Atsugewi country so they were communally gathered and often required trips into other territories.
The work ethic seems to have kept the Atsugewi from enjoying much social activity and puberty ceremonies for both sexes were the only real social occasions. The ceremony for a woman was quite elaborate. She ran to the mountains and danced an "announcement" of her first menses (rather similar to the traditions of the Paiute, their eastern neighbors). By evening, dances began at the main lodge. There were three different dances, culminating in the woman's own performance. Near dawn, an older woman woke her and sent her off to demonstrate her household tasks, such as gathering pine nuts or other plant materials. The young man's "celebration" was more nearly a trial of his masculine skills. An older man usually sponsored him and helped mentor his development. Young men had to suffer various trials and beatings to demonstrate endurance and power.
The Maidu
There were three large sub-divisions of Maidu people --- the Maidu proper who occupied the mountain valleys east of the Yana and south of the Atsugewi, the Konkow Maidu whose habitat was similar to the Yana extending from the Sacramento River into the eastern foothills, and the Nisenan whose territory, similar to the Konkow, extended from the Sacramento all the way east to Lake Tahoe. All Maidu were Penutian speakers. We are interested in the Maidu proper here, and their habitat was primarily mountain terrain, above 4,000 feet in elevation. It was dry in the summer and wet in the winter. Typical vegetation was mixed pinyon-juniper forest.
The central dwelling of a Maidu village complex was a large semi-subterranean earth-covered lodge provided with a central smoke hole and side entry. Poles radiating from the central post were covered with smaller poles, branches, vegetable matter, and earth. There might be one such lodge in a village complex containing several related villages, and the headman of the group lived in that residence. The headman's "authority" was limited to advisory roles and he was the spokesperson for the complex.
The lodge was used for all ceremonial purposes, and the Maidu were preeminently social. Feasts and dances often involved large invitation lists that were sent out to distant villages well in advance. Dances were accompanied by flutes, drums, whistles, clapper sticks, and both soft cocoon rattles and louder dear claw rattles. Dance regalia involved very elaborate feather headdresses and gowns
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The Maidu's environment was colder in winter than most others of the Lassen region and they could count on a period of snow cover. As a consequence, the Maidu wore deer skin moccasins and leggings to ward off the cold. They also constructed snowshoes for transportaiton across the snow. In warmer periods, however, they were essentially nudists like all other Californians.
Subsistence for the Maidu involved essentially the same elements that we have already discussed --- acorns, nuts, and other vegetable materials; meats from hunted animals; and fish. The balance among these elements depended on location, and hunting, generally, played a larger role among the Maidu than with other groups. Because of the lack of a true staple food, the Maidu tended to move about in seasonal rounds more than others we have discussed. Thus, the semi-subterranean lodges were primarily home bases, occupied in the winter. Summer shelters were often merely brush ramadas or wind breaks.
The preeminent technologies of Maidu people were basketry (women) and weaponry (men). The Maidu women used both twining and coiling techniques for their basketry and created elegant designs in both. Men manufactured sinew-backed bows from yew trees and their bows were a valued trade item. Arrows were tipped with obsidian points. Rope and twine were made from milkweed, wild hemp, rushes, and tules. These could be woven into mats. Rabbit and other skins were also woven to make blankets. Tobacco was intentionally raised and smoked in tubular wood pipes.
History After White Contact
The Yana traditional territory was not subjected to mining operations. But cattle ranching and agriculture slowly developed on the eastern side of the Sacramento Valley. As ranching communities were established the pattern of over-grazing by domestic animals followed its normal course and the Yana lost valuable food resources. Their only alternative was to exploit domestic animals, and this quickly lead to lethal retalliation by ranchers and farmers. In the 1860s and '70s, Yana were hunted down and shot by vigilante groups, reducing their population to less than a hundred by 1884. (It is estimated that their population in 852 had been 1,800.)
This territory was not particularly attractive for either mining or ranching so settlement came somewhat more slowly than in the Central Valley and over-grazing was not a problem. On the other hand, relations with Whites were tense and hostilities precipitated on both sides periodically. Settlers attempted to re-settle Atsugewi at the Round Valley reservation but only with partial success.
The Maidu suffered direct and powerful disruption from the Gold Rush, strongest in the southern tribelets and weaker in the north. Having lost their natural habitat, Maidu resorted to working with miners and other White settlers. This, of course, exposed them to infection and alcoholism.
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