The Achumawi
The Achumawi, along with the Atsugewi, comprise the two main language groups of the Pit River Indians who inhabited the volcanic uplands and valley basins of the Pit River drainage from southern Goose Lake to Big Bend, in Shasta County.
The Achumawi consist of nine independent bands each speaking a distinct dialect; the Crooks Canyon area is home to the Hammawi band who occupied South Fork Pit River Valley, near the town of Likely. At the time of Euro-american intrusion into the South Fork Pit River Valley, there are estimated to have been 250 Hammawi occupying approximately nine separate villages.
Hammawi territory is east of the distributional limit of oaks, so that no acorns were directly available, and upstream of the Pit River salmon run, which ended at Fall River because of natural obstructions. Fishing therefore focused on local species, such as pike, suckers, trout, lamprey, and minnows. Men fished with spears in spring and summer, and set nets through the ice in winter. Deer hunting was excellent in the Warner Mountains, as well as on the plains north of the Pit River. While fall was the prime deer-hunting season, deer could be taken throughout the year, even in the snow with snowshoes. More distant groups were invited to take part in the fall deer drives held in the Warner foothills, and these guests brought dried salmon and acorns in exchange for this invitation.
The marshes of the Pit River also sustained enormous quantities of waterfowl, including year-round resident populations as well as migratory flocks. These wetlands provided numerous tubers and roots, which were supplemented by many other vegetal resources in the surrounding grasslands and forests. Plant foods were gathered as they became seasonally available, beginning in the spring with the collecting of roots. Epos was collected on the tablelands surrounding Crooks Canyon, and on the borders of the Madeline Plains. Camas roots and other bulbs were gathered from the marshy lowlands, and later in the season salmon berries, bear berries, juniper berries, wild plum, and wild buckwheat were available in the highlands. Dried and ground supplies of these resources were stored for winter use.
The Pit River peoples were intimately familiar with their territories and thus were able to take advantage of the resources available to them: "No feature of the landscape of noticeable size seems to have been without a name . . . This knowledge of the country was utilized in hunting, warfare, and travel" (Kniffen 1928:307).
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