1. In discussing political organization among Indians of the California region, Kroeber wrote,

The extreme of political anarchy is found in the northwest, where there is scarcely a tendency to group towns into higher political units, and where even a town is not conceived as an essential unit. In practice, a northwestern settlement was likely to act as a body, but it did so either because its inhabitants were kinsmen or because it contained a man of sufficient wealth to have established personal relations of obligation between himself and individual fellow townsmen not related to him in blood. The Yurok, Karok, and Hupa, and probably several of the adjacent groups, simply did not recognize any organization which transcended individuals and kin groups. (Kroeber 1925:830) [BACK]

3. These are called tsekteya or tsekwel in Yurok (Kroeber 1976:381), and they are known in English as "stone seats" or "stone chairs." They are semicircular walls built of unmortared stones, piled about three or four feet high. These were made as places to cry and shout for help, especially for female Indian doctors seeking to obtain their power-enabling vision. There are photographs of a similar structure in Kroeber and Gifford (1949:143). [BACK]

4. This name is also given to an amulet for taking salmon (Spott and Kroeber 1942:169). [BACK]

5. In modern times, Indians often clap this way while playing the gambling game and singing. Though it adds another dimension to the music, they say it is only for luck. [BACK]

6. Sources on Yurok shamanism include Erikson (1943:261-265), Kroeber (1925:63-68), Powers (1877 [1976]:25-26), Spott and Kroeber (1942:153-166, 219-223), and Valory (1970). [BACK]

7. The role of confession in Yurok doctoring is described in Erikson (1943:261-262) and in Spott and Kroeber (1942:157-158). [BACK]

8. The Yurok word uma'a refers both to the Indian devil and to the arrows or "pains" that are shot into the victim. As noted in chapter 3, the uma'a itself is a nonhuman creature, but its magical "arrows" ( uma'a ) are sometimes obtained by human beings who can then use them to kill or sicken their enemies. [BACK]

9. In another example cited by Erikson, the Indian doctor saw a man having sex with a woman, even though he had recently been praying forgood luck (1943:262). [BACK]

10. Despite its offensive tone, I quote at length from Powers's account, since it sheds more light on the process used in determining the source of the patient's illness. The methods described here differ slightly from those described in the text above, but variability in such things is to be expected.

There are two classes of shamans—the root doctors and the barking doctors—the latter reminding one of the medieval spagyrics. It is the province of the barking doctor to diagnose the case, which she [most doctors are women] does by squatting down like a dog on his haunches before the patient, and barking at him like that noble and faithful animal for hours altogether. . .

It will be perceived that the barking doctor is the more important functionary of the two. In addition to her diagnostic functions, she takes care of the "poisoned" cases, which among these superstitious people are very numerous. They believe they frequently fall victim to witches, who cause a snake, frog, lizard, or other noxious reptile to fasten itself to the body and grow through the skin into the viscera. In this case the barking doctor first discovers, secundem artum , in what portion of the body the reptile lurks, then commences sucking the place, and sucks until the skin is broken and blood flows. Then, she herself takes an emetic and vomits up a frog or something, which she pretends to have drawn from the patient, but which, of course, she had previously swallowed.

In a case of simple "poisoning," the barking doctor gives the sufferer an emetic, and causes him to vomit into a small basket. The basket is then covered and held before the patient while he names in succession the various persons he suspects of having poisoned him. At each name mentioned the doctor uncovers the basket and looks in. So long as wrong names are mentioned the vomited matter remains; but when the right one is hit upon, presto! it is gone, and when the doctor looks in the basket it is empty. (Powers 1877 [1976]:26) [BACK]

11. This analysis is based on that of Kroeber (1925:63). While Kroeber found the function of stage three "obscure" at this stage in his research, Spott and Kroeber specifically state that the "pains" come in pairs and that the second must be obtained through a vision quest in the high country (1942:156). [BACK]

12. These include Erikson (1943:262-267), Spott and Kroeber (1942: 158-164), and Valory (1970:32-72). Erikson's account is based on interviews conducted with Mrs. Founder during a brief field trip in the early 1940s, while Spott's narrative is based on long familiarity with Mrs. Flounder, who was evidently a relative of his. Valory's version is the most detailed; it was based on a biography that was recorded from Robert Spott by Sylvia Beyer, a student of Kroeber's, in 1934 (Valory 1970:32). Valory's bibliography indicates that the Beyer manuscript can be found in the University of California Archives (Bancroft Library), but I was unable to locate the document there. [BACK]