Page 253 - The Lost Ways

- By Erik Bainbridge -

“It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.”

– Howard Ruff

When most people think of Native American life as it was in the old days, they

commonly think of a nomadic tribe living in tipis and having a warrior tradition. However,
this is a stereotype that wasn’t always true. There was a wide variety of Native American
cultures and languages in North America, with some very different ways of life.

Native Americans living in coastal California just north of today’s San Francisco couldn’t
have been more different than that stereotype. Living in stable villages in homes made of
materials such as tule reeds or redwood bark, each village lived within its own territory.
There was no warrior tradition or warrior class. They had no need to be migratory. Food
was generally abundant except during drought years. Salmon spawned in coastal
waterways, deer and other game were plentiful, and year-round streams provided water.
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Before Europeans arrived in the late 18 century, life had been stable there for millennia.

If you could travel back in time to before Europeans first colonized California and visited
a typical village in this area, you’d likely notice two or more hills in the village. The hills
would usually be perfectly round in shape, although they could be oval in some villages.
You might see smoke coming out of the hills. If you walked closer, you’d see the smoke
was coming from a hole on the hill and that each hill had at least one entrance.

The hills were man made. The smaller hill(s) would be one or more sweathouses, and the
large hill would be the village roundhouse. All were semi-subterranean and made by
digging a hole in the ground, building a roof over it, and covering the roof with earth. The
roundhouse served as a communal hall, a dance house, and a ceremonial house. The exact
usages could vary regionally.

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