Cahto is Northern Pomo for "lake," referring to an important Cahto village site. The Cahto called themselves Djilbi, the word in their language for that same lake and village. The Cahto are sometimes referred to as Kaipomo Indians.
Location The Cahto homeland is in northwest California, south of Rattlesnake Creek, north of the North Fork of the Ten Mile River, and between the South Fork of the Eel River and just west of the Eel River (more or less the Long and Cahto Valleys). Today, most Cahtos live in Mendocino County.
Population Roughly 1,100 Cahto Indians lived in their region in the early eighteenth century. In 1990, 129 Cahto-Pomo people lived at Laytonville. A few Cahto also lived at Round Valley Reservation.
Language Cahto was an Athapaskan language.
Historical Information
History Like other Indian people who were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and brutality of non-native Californians in the 1850s, the Cahto fought back for a brief period before being defeated. Their population declined by some 95 percent during the nineteenth century. The town of Cahto was founded in 1856, the same year reservations were created at Round Valley and Fort Bragg, in Mendocino County. The town of Laytonville was established in 1880.
Religion Cahtos prayed frequently, in part to two original beings, Nagaicho, or Great Traveler, and Tcenes, or Thunder. They also followed the Kuksu cult, which involved the acquisition of spiritual power through direct contact with supernatural beings. Tribal and intertribal ceremonies were held in winter (such as the Acorn Dance) and summer. A host who had enough food to share invited his neighbors. Then there was dancing for a week, the creation story was told, and the headman made speeches.
Government The Cahto lived in approximately 50 villages. Although most were completely autonomous, six in Long Valley were united to the extent that they called themselves "Grass Tribe." Each village was led by a headman or two. His authority was mainly advisory, and he was generally succeeded by his son.
Customs Marriage was generally a matter between the couple involved, although girls were generally prepubescent when married. The Cahto practiced polygyny as well as the taboo that prevented a man from addressing his mother-in-law directly. Divorce was easily obtained for nearly any reason. Unlike many California Indians, pregnant Cahto women observed no food taboos. Deformed children and twins were killed at birth.
The six-day girls’ puberty ceremony included dietary taboos and then a quiet life for five subsequent months. Boys, at puberty, remained in the dance house all winter to receive admonitions regarding proper behavior; "ghosts" also sang and danced for this purpose. Corpses were buried with their valuables or cremated if away from home. Both men and women mourners cut their hair, and women put pitch on their bodies.
Adult games included shinny, the grass game, stone throwing, and races. Children’s games included camping, skipping rope, and playing with acorn tops. Women enjoyed singing in chorus around an evening fire. The Cahto danced the feather and necum dances solely for pleasure. Pets included birds, coyotes, and rabbits.
The Cahto knew three types of shamans: sucking doctors, bear doctors, and singing and dancing doctors. Bear doctors were said to be strong enough to kill enemies of the Cahto. Various ceremonies, including magic, were practiced before all important events, such as hunting, war, birth, and funerals. Men owned hunting and war items; women owned their clothing, baskets, and cooking rocks. Men generally hunted and fished. Women gathered all foods except acorns; gathering acorns was a communal activity.
Dwellings Living houses, which were privately owned by up to three families, were built over two-foot-deep pits. Slabs, bark, or earth covered wood rafters, which in turn rested on four poles. Most houses were rebuilt after two years as a vermin-control measure. Larger villages contained similarly built but larger dance houses.
Diet Acorns, salmon, and deer served as food staples. Other important foods included other fish; bear; mink, raccoon, and other small game; birds; and some insects. Meat was generally broiled over coals or on a spit. The Cahto also ate a variety of seeds, tubers, and berries. They also used domesticated dogs to help them hunt.
Key Technology Stone, bone, and shell were the primary tool materials. Baskets were usually twined but sometimes coiled. Hunting tools included traps, snares, bows, arrows, slings, nets, and harpoons. Fish were sometimes poisoned. Musical instruments included whistles, rattles, a foot drum, a musical bow, and a six-hole elderberry flute.
Trade The Cahto were particularly friendly with the Northern Pomo. Some Cahto even spoke Pomo in addition to their own language. In addition to regular trade with the Northern Pomo, the Cahto gathered shellfish and seaweed in Coast Yuki territory. They also supplied these people with hazelwood bows in exchange for items such as salt, mussels, seaweed, abalone, sea fish, clamshells, and dried kelp. They traded arrows, baskets, and clothing to the Wailaki in exchange for dentalia. They also supplied clam disk beads to the Lassik and received salt from the Northern Wintun as well as dogs from an unknown location to the north.
Notable Arts Fine arts consisted of fashioning musical instruments and singing.
Transportation The Cahto used log rafts for crossing streams.
Dress Men and women dressed in a similar fashion. They both wore tanned deerhide aprons. They also wore long hair and used iris nets. Both wore bracelets, nose and ear ornaments, and, occasionally, tattoos.
War and Weapons The Cahto seldom engaged in large-scale warfare. There were, however, frequent conflicts with the Sinkyone, Yuki, Northern Pomo, Wailaki, and Huchnom, generally over murder or trespass. When fighting occurred, close fighting was avoided whenever possible. War dances were held before each battle. Weapons included the bow and arrow, deer hide sling, and spear. All casualties were indemnified following the fighting.
Contemporary Information
Government/Reservations Laytonville Rancheria (1906), in Mendocino County, consists of 264 acres. The tribal council consists of three people who serve a one-year term. The term "Cahto" refers to those eligible for tribal membership, even though some Cahtos personally adhere to other tribal affiliations.
Economy Some Cahtos work at a nearby lumber mill. However, unemployment remains high at Laytonville. The tribe has built the Ya-Ka-Ama Indian Center in Sonoma County.
Legal Status The Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria is a federally recognized tribal entity.
Daily Life Laytonville is not an isolated Indian community. Racial intermarriage is common, and Indians compete for scarce job opportunities with other local citizens. Educational levels among Cahtos are relatively low. Little remains of traditional culture, although there are Pomo dancers and basket weavers, and native language classes are held.
