The Nomlaki (also Noamlakee, Central Wintu, or Nomelaki) are a Wintun people indigenous to what are now known as the Sacramento Valley and the Coast Range in Northern California. They were bordered by the Wintu (Wintun) in the north, the Yana in the northeast and east, the Konkow (Maiduan) in the east, the Patwin (Wintun) in the south, and the Yuki in the west.
Nomlaki groups
There are two main groups:
The River Nomlaki lived in the Sacramento River region of the valley. The Hill Nomlaki lived west of the River Nomlaki. Their territory is now within Glenn and Tehama counties and the River Nomlaki region.
Language The Nomlaki spoke a Wintuan language of the same name. It was not extensively documented, and is known only partially today. However, some recordings exist of speakers Andrew Freeman and Sylvester Simmons.
Population Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most Native groups in California have varied substantially. (See Population of Native California.) Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) put the combined 1770 population of the Nomlaki, Wintu, and Patwin at 12,000. Sherburne F. Cook (1976:180-181) estimated the combined population of the Nomlaki and northern Patwin as 8,000. Walter Goldschmidt (1978:341) thought that the pre-contact population of the Nomlaki was probably more than 2,000.
Kroeber estimated the population of the Nomlaki, Wintu, and Patwin in 1910 as 1,000.
Today The US federal government restored the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians to full tribal status in 1994. They were able to acquire land, the Paskenta Rancheria (), and establish the Rolling Hills Casino outside of Corning, California. Some Nomlaki are enrolled there, as well as the federally recognized Grindstone Indian Rancheria and Round Valley Indian Tribes.
See also
Wintun Wintu Wintuan languages Wintu-Nomlaki traditional narratives
Notes
References Cook, Sherburne F. 1976a. The Conflict between the California Indian and White Civilization. University of California Press, Berkeley. Goldschmidt, Walter. 1978. "Nomlaki". In California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 341–349. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Goldschmidt, Walter Rochs. Nomlaki Ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951. Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. (hbk); . Smythe, Charles W., and Priya Helweg. Summary of Ethnological Objects in the National Museum of Natural History Associated with the Nomlaki Culture. Washington, D.C.: Repatriation Office, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 1996. A closely related Wintun dialect directly north of the Nomlaki, the Wintu
External links Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770 (map after Kroeber), California Pre-History Nomlaki language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages