Mohave [mOhä'vE] Pronunciation Key

Mohave , indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Yuman branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the mid-18th cent. they lived on both banks of the Colorado River, in Arizona and California. They then numbered some 3,000. The Mohave were semisedentary farmers who generally cultivated bottomland along the river. They lived in low brush dwellings. Most of the Mohave now live on the Colorado River Reservation in Arizona, which was established in 1865. In 1990 there were close to 1,400 Mohave in the United States.

Pomo

Pomo, Native Americans of N California, belonging to the Hokan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock. The Pomo were the most southerly Native Americans on the California coast not brought under the mission influence of the Franciscans in the early 18th and 19th cent. The Pomo have been especially noted for their basketry arts, and many of their works are now valued art objects in museums and private collections. Of these arts, the Pomo developed feather-covering, lattice-twining, checker-work, single-rod coiling, and several other specializations. They now occupy several reservations in N California; the reservation near Clearlake oaks is the site of gambling casinos. In 1990 there were about 5,000 Pomo in the United States.

Yurok [yoor'ok]
Pronunciation Key

Yurok , Native North Americans who in the mid-19th cent. occupied parts of NW California, particularly the area around he Klamath River. They were of the California cultural area but had some Pacific Northwest Coast traits (see under Natives, North American); they subsisted on salmon and acorns, and for money they used the dentalium shell, which they received from tribes living farther north. Their property laws were unique among Native Americans, pertaining only to the realm of the individual; the Yurok recognized no public claim to property. By 1855 a reservation was set aside for them; they then numbered some 2,500. Presently they live on several reservations in California. In 1990 there were some 4,400 Yurok in the United States. The Yurok and their southern neighbors, the Wiyot, speak languages of the Ritwan group that belong to the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock and possibly to the Algonquian branch of this stock