Mondo's NAT #254

Native American Tribes series.

Kato

The name Cahto (Kato) means loosely "People of the Lake" or "Lake People," and refers to an ancient lake shore where parts of the Cahto people once lived, although the inhabitants of the six villages of the Long Valley, called themselves the Tlokyáhan, or "Grass People." Historically, the principal language of the Cahto was Wailakian. Unfortunately, this particular Athapascan language has been mostly lost through the intervention of the white man and his culture over the years.

Like other California tribes, their ancestors were hunters and gatherers. Besides gathering the plentiful nuts, seeds, berries, roots, bulbs, and tubers, they hunted for deer, rabbits, quail, and fish to provide additional food for their people. The dog was their only domesticated animal. They were a partially nomadic culture as they traveled within their traditional homeland to where the food was plentiful, taking yearly treks to the Mendocino coast, for instance, to harvest seaweed and fish. Today, once a year the Cahto retrace the yearly migration to the coast using "sacred" trails in remembrance of the ancient tradition.

The traditional Cahto house was circular, built over a circular excavation about two feet deep similar to this Tule shelter. The space between the supporting posts was stuffed with slabs of wood and bark. An opening in the roof served to carry off smoke, and the doorway was a narrow opening in front. A whole family would live in one of these little houses, and for summer camps, brush lean-tos were set up.

Their government was fairly simple, each village had a chief or headsman. The duty of a village chief was basically to be an advisor. When anything of great importance was to be decided, the village chief would summon the council, which was comprised of all the elder men. After each expressed his opinion, the chief normally would go along with the majority decision. Generally, the village chief’s son would succeed his father, but if a chief died without sons, they selected a new leader.

The Cahto were not professional warriors, fighting for pleasure and glory, but when their rights were challenged, or their lands were invaded, they could make war with ferocity. The commonest cause of war was trespass, as their northern and eastern neighbors would sometimes set fire to the brush on Black Rock mountain, either by accident or with the intention of making a game drive. Their fighting, while often fierce, seldom resulted in any fatalities. Following the Gold Rush of 1849, White settlers, armed with their technology and diseases, devastated the traditional ways of life.

Approximately 1,100 Cahto people lived in the Laytonville area in the early 18th century in about 50 separate village sites. Today, the only remaining Cahto tribal homeland is the 202 acres of land of the Cahto Rancheria in Laytonville which was purchased in 1908 for the Cahto Tribe by missionaries. The Rancheria currently has a population of 250 residents, with 52 being voting members of the Cahto tribe.