Draft EIS_072312.pdf - Middle Fork American River Project ...

20120723-4002 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 07/23/2012
in granaries. Key resources such as acorns, salmon, and deer were “ritually managed” to
ensure success and equal distribution. Typical Nisenan structures were conical bark
houses with thatched roofs.
Washoe community structure consisted of a village or “bunch” of varying size.
Winter camps were the basis for a bunch, but nearby villages could be included as well.
Two lodging structures were common: a conical winter house like that used by the
Nisenan, and a summer brush house, often similar to a windbreak. Unlike the Nisenan,
the household was the main economic and political unit, and bunches did not control
natural resources. Instead, individual families had certain inherited rights to plant
gathering locations, fishing traps, and hunting of certain animals.
The Washoe calendar was divided into 3 seasons or “years”: the fishing year, the
gathering year, and the hunting year. The fishing year began in early spring when small
groups would travel to Lake Tahoe to fish. Some in the party would later bring fish back
to the winter village. As the weather warmed, other villagers would move to the lake,
and by late June, most Washoe would be found there. This was a time of great social
interaction. The gathering season started in the summer with individual family units
moving toward the western slope of Sierra Nevada lowlands to gather plant resources.
Plant gathering required almost constant movement of family groups. By the end of
summer, some family groups had moved back to the lake while others continued to
exploit plant resources and hunt deer while waiting for the onset of the acorn harvest.
The gathering year ended with the pinõn harvest, which was a main winter staple. The
pinõn harvest brought many families back together again and was a time of ceremonial
activity. The hunting year began in late summer and lasted until first snow. Communal
drives for large game including deer and antelope were organized; smaller game such as
rabbits, birds, and other animals were also taken.
Although the Nisenan and the Washoe were different in their organizational
structure, there were several similarities. Both groups exploited seasonal resources and
had similar flaked and ground stone tool technologies including knives, arrow and spear
points, clubs, arrow straighteners, scrapers, pestles, bedrock mortars, metates, pipes, and
charms. Both also constructed semi-subterranean earth lodge roundhouses for
ceremonial use and communal gatherings. The Nisenan and the Washoe frequently
interacted for trade and ceremonial purposes, but also conflicted over territories and
resources. However, while sometimes hostile, their relationship was generally described
as friendly.
The first expeditions by Euro Americans into the area were either trappers or other
men exploring the area, and Spanish explorers. Spanish exploration of the Central Valley
did not begin until the late 1700s and did not reach the Sierra Nevada until the
early 1800s.
In the 1840s, Sutter’s Fort on the Sacramento River was the main historic
settlement in the area, although individual ranches were located on the Bear River. The
discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on the American River in 1848 led to the “gold rush” in
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