Achumawi or Pit River Native Americans

The Achumawi Native American tribe was a collection of autonomous villages bonded by the mutually intelligible Hokan language, along with similar cultural and religious practices. The Achumawi indigenous peoples occupied the drainage basin of the Pit River. The name, according to Stephen Powers in Tribes of California, is derived from a-cho’-ma, which means river. Traditionally, the Achumawi homeland was bounded by Mount Shasta to the northwest, Lassen Peak to the southwest, and the Warner range to the east.

Controlled by a hereditary chief, nine villages originally formed the Achumawi Native American tribe. Connected by intermarriage, trade, and exchange, the Achumawi were historically divided into the following nine groups: the Madesi from the densely populated lower reaches of the Pit River; the Achumawi from Fall River; the Ilmawi from the south side of the Pit River; the Atwamsini from Big Valley; the Astariwawi from Hot Springs Valley; the Hammawi from the swampy valley around the south fork of the Pit River; the Kosalektawi from the confluence of the north and south forks of the Pit River; the Hewisedawi from north of Pit River and around Groose Lake; and the Itsatawi from Goose Valley and the lower Burney Valley. In the 1800s it is estimated that their population numbered around 3,000; today that number is around 1,753. The descendents of the Achumawi Native American live on in areas surrounding their traditional homelands maintaining their culture.

Name: Achumawi (also spelled Achomawi). Subgoups include: Atwamsini, Madesi, Ilmawi, Astariwawi, Itsatawi, Hammawi, Kosalektawi, and Hewisedawi. They are also known as the Pit River Indians.

Location: Around the Pit River in Northern California

Population: 3,000 in the early 1800s; 1,753 as of the 1990 US Census.

Language Family: Hokan

First Contact by Euroamericans: 1827

Current Tribal Status: The tribe received federal recognition as the Pit River Indians, together with the Atsugewi.

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