Description
The Pomo are a Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small group, the Tceefoka, lived in the vicinity of present-day Stonyford in Colusa County, separated from the core Pomo area by lands inhabited by Yuki and Wintuan speakers. Pomo territory also included the adjacent coastlands and the interior highlands near Clear Lake. A small detached group lived in the Sacramento River valley surrounded by Wintun people.
Language
Hokan-speaking
Culture
Pomo were a comparatively wealthy people, well supplied with food and other natural resources. Fish, waterfowl, deer, acorns, bulb plants, seeds, and other wild foods were plentiful. Northeastern Pomo settlements held a lucrative salt deposit, and southeastern settlements had magnesite, a substance that was combined with ground shells and made into the beads that were used as standard currency in north-central California. Pomo basketry, considered by some to be the finest in California. The Pomo people participated in shamanism; one form this took was the Kuksu religion, which was held by people in Central and Northern California.