Native American Migration Facts

Where did they come from?

• The Miwok Indians were located near the California coastline in what are now the Marin and southern Sonoma Counties. There were also Miwok populations located further inland towards central California.

• The Pomo Indians were located in various areas of Northern California, farther north than the Miwok tribes.

Reasons for Migrating

• For the most part, migration of the Native American tribes in California was not by choice. This group was enslaved by explorers and pioneers who used them as labor and moved them as they wished. As their land was taken from them by the government they were forced to find new places to settle.
  
  

Where did they settle?

• Both groups were relocated various times by different groups of settlers (such as the Mexican-Spanish missionaries and the Russian fur traders) who used them as labor.

• Later on, their lands were being continually redistributed by the government and they were forced to find homes wherever they could, usually on the outskirts of developed areas on land that no one else wanted.
  
  

What happened as a result of their arrival?

• As a result of their enslavement and continual relocation, some parts of the Miwok and Pomo cultures were lost. They were not able to preserve their land, and so important parts of their history were never recovered.
  
  

Intersections with Nature

• In the early 1800s the Russian fur traders who had invaded the Native American land in northern California had almost completely destroyed the sea otter population. There were so few sea otters, in fact, that these fur traders turned to agriculture and raising animals instead of hunting as their main occupation.

For More Information About Native American Migration Visit These Websites:

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/art/basket/pomohist.html

http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=22538