A Brief History: HumanAmerican Indians
The native people of the North Coast made the redwood forests their home for thousands of years. These American Indians spoke many different languages and held many diverse identities. The descendants of these people continue to live on and off reservations in the redwood region. American Indians in the region belonged to many tribes, although no one tribe dominated. There were numerous villages that dotted the coast and lined the major rivers; each of these villages was more or less politically independent. Food sources important to the native peoples included deer, elk, fish from the ocean, rivers, and streams, nuts, berries, and seeds. Efficient and reliable hunting, fishing, and gathering methods were always paired with a deep spiritual awareness of nature's balance. American Indians Today Over the passage of time, some aspects of northwestern California Indian cultures began to merge. Many customs, beliefs, and ceremonies grew similar, but the languages have remained distinct. Four of them – Tolowa, Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk – are still living languages, spoken yet by a handful of cherished elders. In a revival that is now sweeping the area, these languages are once again being learned by members of the younger generation. New-Comers Once gold was discovered along northwestern California’s Trinity River in 1850, outsiders moved into the area in overwhelming numbers. The initial contact with native peoples was gruesome. The newcomers pushed the American Indians off their land, hunted them down and enslaved them. Resistance was often met with massacres. Militia units composed of unemployed miners and homesteaders set forth to rid the countryside of "hostile" Indians, attacking villages. Upon their return, these killers were treated as heroes, and paid by the state government for their work. Save the Redwoods League By the late 1910s, it became obvious that the last remaining stands of old-growth redwoods were about to disappear due to extremely excessive logging. Because the trees had been linked with fossil records millions of years old, they were looked upon as a living link with the past. The urge to protect these last stands came not from an aesthetic concern, but rather a scientific one. The League was formed as a nonprofit organization dedicated to buying redwood tracts for preservation. Through donations and matching state funds, the League bought over 100,000 acres of redwood forest between 1920 and 1960. The majority of these purchases consisted of North Coast redwood groves. A Brief History: GeologicalSee this page for the Geology of the parks.
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