The Patwin (also Patween, Southern Wintu) are a band of Wintun people native to the area of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The Patwin comprise the southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500 AD. The Patwin were bordered by the Yuki in the northwest; the Nomlaki (Wintun) in the north; the Konkow (Maiduan) in northeast; the

Nisenan The Nisenan are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and an Indigenous people of California from the Yuba River and American River watersheds in Northern California and the California Central Valley. The Nisenan peopl ...

(Maiduan) and Plains Miwok in the east; the Bay Miwok to the south; the

Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Po ...

in the southwest; and the Wappo, Lake Miwok, and Pomo in the west. Patwin_reed_hut

The "Southern Patwins" lived between what is now Suisun, Vacaville, and Putah Creek. By 1800 they had been forced by Spanish and other European settlers into small tribal units: Ululatos (Vacaville), Labaytos (Putah Creek), Malacas (Lagoon Valley), Tolenas (Upper Suisun Valley), and Suisunes (Suisun Marsh and Plain). Patwin Indian remains were discovered at the

Mondavi Center The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located on the UC Davis campus in unincorporated Yolo County, California. It is named for arts patron and vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a planta ...

construction site beginning in 1999, and consequently the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

built a Native American Contemplative Garden within the

Arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, m ...

, a project honoring the Patwin.

Language

The Patwin spoke a Southern Wintuan language called Patwin.

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Wintun, including the Patwin, Nomlaki, and Wintu proper, at 12,000. Sherburne F. Cook (1976a:180-181) estimated the combined population of the Patwin and Nomlaki at 11,300, of which 3,300 represented the southern Patwin. He subsequently raised his figure for the southern Patwin to 5,000. Kroeber estimated the population of the combined Wintun groups in 1910 as 1,000. By the 1920s, no Patwin remained along Putah Creek and few were left in the area. Today, Wintun descendants of the three groups (i.e. the Patwin, Nomlaki, and Wintu proper) total about 2,500 people. Only three federally recognized Patwin (Wintun) rancherías remain.

Villages

Chief_Solano_(Namesake_of_Solano_County,_California)

* Aguasto * Bo´-do * Chemocu * Churup * Dok´–dok * Gapa * Ho´lokomi * Imil * Katsil * Kisi * Koh´pah de´-he * Koru * Kusêmpu * Liwai * Lopa * Moso * Napato * Nawidihu * No´pah * P’ālo * Putato * Si'-ko-pe * Soneto * Sukui * Suskol * Tebti * Til-til * Tokti * Tolenas * Tulukai * Ululato * Yo´doi * Yulyul

Notable Patwin people

* Mabel McKay (1907–1994), basket weaver and healer *

Sem-Yeto Sem-Yeto () was a leader of the Suisunes, a Patwin people of the Suisun Bay region of northern California. Baptized as Francisco Solano and also known as Chief Solano, he was a notable Native American leader in Alta California because of his ...

(), 19th-century leader and diplomat, also known as "Chief Solano"

Notes

References

* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976a. ''The Conflict between the California Indian and White Civilization''. University of California Press, Berkeley. * Golla, Victor. 2011. ''California Indian Languages''. University of California Press, Berkeley. * Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.

External links

"Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770"
(map after Kroeber), California Prehistory
"Patwin Language"
Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of Berkeley *For a map of regional Native American territories, see map o
Sacramento Valley Bioregion
b

an

"The Patweèns"
(1874), Stephen Powers' '' Overland Monthly'' article on the Patwin
Interview with historian Clyde Low
on Sem-Yeto and the Patwin Indian presence in Suisun Valley, part of a 2003 documentary produced by the City of Fairfield
NPR story featuring an interview with Patwin elder Bill Wright (2008)
{{authority control Wintun Native American tribes in California California Mission Indians History of Napa County, California History of Solano County, California History of Yolo County, California Sacramento Valley Vaca Mountains