Tolowa people

The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherías (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Those removed to the Siletz Reservation in Oregon are located there. Related to current locations, Tolowa people are members of several federally recognized tribes: Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (Tolowa, Chetco, Yurok), Elk Valley Rancheria (Tolowa and Yurok), Confederated Tribes of Siletz (more than 27 Native Tribes and Bands, speaking 10 distinct languages, including Athapascans speaking groups of SW Oregon, like Upper Umpqua, Coquille, Tututni, Chetco, Tolowa, Galice and Applegate River people), Trinidad Rancheria (Chetco, Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, and Yurok), Big Lagoon Rancheria (Yurok and Tolowa), Blue Lake Rancheria (Wiyot, Yurok, and Tolowa) as well as the unrecognized Tolowa Nation. History Their homeland, Taa-laa-waa-dvn (“Tolowa ancestral-land”) lies along the Pacific Coast between the watersheds of Wilson Creek and Smith River (Tolowa-Chetco: Xaa-wun-taa-ghii~-li, Xaa-wvn’-taa-ghii~-li~, or Nii~-li~) basin and vicinity in northwestern California Del Norte. The area was bounded by the California/Oregon to the north and Wilson Creek, north of the Klamath River (Tolowa-Chetco: Tʽáˑtʃʽɪᵗˑʼdɜn) in California, to the south. They lived in approximately eight permanent villages including on Crescent Bay and Lake Earl (Tolowa-Chetco: Ee-chuu-le' or Ch'uu-let - "large body of water"). The most important Tolowa village is Yontocket, California (Tolowa-Chetco: Yan’-daa-k’vt). Their tribal neighbors were the Chetco (Tolowa-Chetco: Chit Dee-ni’ or Chit-dv-ne' , also: Chit-dee-ni / Chit-dee-ne), Tututni (Tolowa-Chetco: T’uu-du’-dee-ni’ or Ta-́a te ́ne, also: Tu-́tutûn t̟ûn-nĕ) to the north; Shasta Costa (Tolowa-Chetco: Shis-taa-k'wvs-sta-dv-ne or See-staa-k’wvt-sta Dee-ni’), Takelma (Tolowa-Chetco: Ghan’-ts’ii-ne), Galice Creek / Taltushtuntede (Tolowa-Chetco: Talh-dash-dv-ne' ) to the NE, all of which were removed to the Siletz Reservation, and Karuk (Tolowa-Chetco: Ch'vm-ne Dee-ni' , also: Ch’vm-ne Xee-she’ ) to the east; and the Yurok (Tolowa-Chetco: Dvtlh-mvsh, also: Dvtlh-mvsh Xee-she’ ) to the south. The name "Tolowa" is derived from Taa-laa-welh (Taa-laa-wa), an Algic name given to them by the Yurok (Klamath River People) (meaning "people of Lake Earl").