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Population/Location

The Native Americans in 1770 had the population of 18,000 people.

The Native Americans came from Central California {Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, Madera, Kings, Tulare, Kern Counties, southern San Joaquin County.}

And also lived along the San Joaquin River and their western boundary was the Diablo Range and last but not least the eastern boundary is the Sierra Nevada.

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Homes

Each Yokut family had a fire pit and also Southern valley Yokuts have larger houses and can fit ten family’s.

Each village had a sweat houses and it was dug down in the ground and also had oval and cone shaped houses.

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Clothing

The Yokut tribe usually wore stuff made from grasses, animal skin, woven feathers, and fur. The Yokut men wore deerskin breechcloths women wore aprons. The front of the apron was woven grass the back of the apron was rabbit skin. On cold days, the men and the women also wore woven rabbit skin robes. They sometimes wore moccasins when walking over rocks or rough ground. Moccasins were one piece of leather tied at the ankle. Sometimes, women wore basket hats when they are gathering seeds and acorns. They also wore shell, beads, wood, and bone necklaces.

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Diet

Fishing was done all through the year, especially by the Northern Valley tribe.The lake trout, perch, chubs, suckers, salmon, and steelhead were caught in lakes and rivers. Waterfowls such as geese, duck, and mud hens were caught with snares in the tule marshes. Mussels and turtles were enjoyed as food by the Yokuts. Other animals and birds were killed such as wild pigeons, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and other rodents. The Yokuts may have been the only early Californians to raise dogs for food.

Acorns weren’t plentiful in all parts of Yokut lands and the Southern Valley tribes had to travel each year to find a supply of acorns, or trade with their neighbors. They roasted these nuts and ground them into flour.

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Tools/Weapons

Obsidian (volcanic glass) were made into knives and arrowheads.The chefs worked hard to keep the peace.So, the Yokut did not go to war often.Fish traps were set along rivers and streams.Spears were also used for fishing.Tule reeds were used for many things that were needed by the people.

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Customs

Yokut dances and ceremonies were held outside, with brush fences surrounding the dance area and an important part of ceremonial decoration is eagle feathers, especially from baby eagles. Chohun is a ceremonial skirt made out of eagle down and tail feathers of magpies around a base of crow feathers. The Yokut got seashells from the Coast Indians and made them into money called keha and cylinders of clamshells called humna, were valued more than keha. The Northern Valley Yokuts traded with the Costanoans for mussels, abalone shells, and the Miwok for baskets, bows, and arrows.

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Artwork

The Yokuts can use tattoos, ear and nose piercings for artwork. They were excellent basket makers. They wove storage and cooking baskets, as well as their basket hats. The women made treasure baskets that often had feathers woven into them. They used the coil, twine, or coarse weave methods. Baskets were woven with tule, willow, saw grass roots, redbud, and bracken fern. Hats were made using the coil method. The twine method was used to make necked water bottles. It was so tight it could hold water. The twine method was also used to make seed beater baskets. A coarse weave was used to make baby cradles. Fish basket traps were also coarsely woven.

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Interesting Facts

Northern Valley Yokuts traded with the Costanoans for mussels and abalone shells,and with the Miwok for baskets, bows and arrows. The Yokuts got seashells from the people who lived on the coast,and made them into money which they called keha (key-ha). Cylinders of clamshell, called humna (humm-na). It is believed that this tribe could have included as many as 50,000 members.Besides the three main divisions of the North, South, and Foothill Yokuts.

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