Description
The Cahto (also spelled Kato) are an Indigenous Californian group of Native Americans. Today most descendants are enrolled as the federally recognized tribe, the Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, and a small group of Cahto are enrolled in the Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation. Cahto (Kato) means loosely "People of the Lake" or "Lake People," and may derive from the Northern Pomo word for "lake", which referred to an important Cahto village site, called Djilbi. Therefore the Cahto are sometimes referred to as the Kaipomo or Kato people. The Cahto (Kato) called themselves Tlokyhan, or "Grass People." Today they use Koo?yoohaangn or Cahto Tribe as tribal designation.
Language
The Kato language is one of four Athabaskan languages that were spoken in northwestern California. The others were Eel River Athabaskan (to which Kato is most similar), Mattole-Bear River, and Hupa-Chilula. Most Kato speakers were also bilingual in Northern Pomo.
Culture
Traditionally, the Cahto made such articles of stone, bone, horn, wood and skin. The primitive costume for both men and women was a tanned deer-skin, wrapped about the waist, and a close-fitting knitted cap, which kept in place the knot of hair at the back of the head. Both men and women generally had tattoos on their faces and the chest. Each village had its chief, dog sled, and some villages, a second chief. Generally, the chief’s son succeeded to the office, but if a headman died without sons, the people, by common consent and without formal voting, selected from among themselves the man whom they regarded as best fitted for the place. 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.