Description
Yuki, four groups of North American Indians who lived in the Coast Ranges and along the coast of what is now northwestern California, U.S. They spoke distinctive languages that are unaffiliated with any other known language. The four Yuki groups were the Yuki-proper, who lived along the upper reaches of the Eel River and its tributaries; the Huchnom of Redwood Valley to the west; the Coast Yuki, who were distributed farther westward along the redwood coast; and the Wappo, who occupied an enclave among the Pomo, some 40 miles southward in the Russian River valley.
Language
The Yuki language has been extinct since its last speaker, Arthur Anderson, died in 1983. It is distantly related to the Wappo language
Culture
The Yuki economy was based on gathering acorns, fishing, mostly for salmon, and hunting such animals as bear and deer; the Coast Yuki relied somewhat more on seafood than the other groups. Interior groups lived in domed earth-covered houses; Coast Yuki had conical houses covered with bark. All had large dance houses and sweat houses. Traditional Yuki religious beliefs centred generally on two contrasting deities—a creator, whose actions were essentially well intended, and another deity, sometimes associated with thunder, who might help but might also blunder or do evil.