1. California Kashaya Pomo
By: Tyler Boling, Axel Jagoe, Tyler Smiley, and Ibraheem Murtaza

2. Environment - Geography
The Kashaya Pomo lived on the coast of California
Their land extended 30 miles from the Gualala River and a few miles south of the Russian River
Their lands also included many wooded lands, plains, and rivers

3. Environment - Climate
The Kashaya Pomo lived in an area that was mostly oceanic and has continental climates.
The area in which they lived in was usually warm and received lots of rain.

4. Environment - Resources
The Kashaya Pomo had a large amount of resources in their area. They had a lot of food and building materials around them.
Since they lived in wooded and coastal areas they used wood to make lots of tools and shelters. The Pomo used the ocean and rivers for food and transportation.

5. Shelter
The area that the Kashaya Pomo live in has a lot of redwood trees that can be used for housing.
Therefore, the Kashaya Pomo built cone shaped houses out of redwood poles and slabs of redwood bark.
These houses were usually single-family homes that ranged from 8 to 15 foot in diameter.

6. Food
The Kashaya Pomo lived near 2 different types of landscape allowing them to have 3 different food supplies.
The Pomo ate fish, shellfish, seaweed, seals, and sea lions from the Pacific Ocean nearby.
The Pomo also hunted deer, elk, and other small animals from the redwood forest to eat.
Lastly, The Kashaya Pomo gathered acorns, nuts, berries, and seeds from the nearby areas.

7. Clothing
They used tule and bark from trees like redwood in their area for clothing
The women wore long skirts and capes
The men wore nothing, sometimes an apron
The wealthy wore deerskin skirts
They all wore ornaments of shells, woods, bird bones, and feathers

8. Social Organization
The family and extended kin (close social group) was most important to the tribe and people, and the people closely interacted with their kins on a regular basis.
Women were considered equal to men
Adults of childbearing age were responsible for providing food for the group
The elderly, seniors, uncles, aunts, and the parents were typically responsible for raising the children.

9. Political Organization
The largest political unit was entire tribe or villages
The Pomo had many chiefs (hereditary and elected)
Villages often a head chief among many chiefs
The political organization had many responsibilities like counseling, negotiating, distributing, etc.

10. Religion
The Pomo believed that one “creator” made the world. The tribe equated the creator with the coyote.
They believed that there was a time in the distant past when all animals could speak and had other human features and then changed to their present form with the help from spirits.
When someone died the mourners would bring gifts such as beads and robes and burn them with the dead. They would also burn all personal belongings with the body. This being because they believed in the afterworld.

11. Trade
The Pomo would use clamshell beads as currency. They were able to understand and use numbers up to the thousands.
Commonly traded items were; food, bows and arrows, arrowheads, obsidian blades, belts, robes, feathers, and skins.

12. Customs
A great ceremony that consisted of several days of dancing was called the “haikil”. Both men and women wore colorful dance costumes that were usually made by the men.
The Pomo sang love songs, lullabies, hunting songs, gamboling songs, and religious songs.
The Kashaya Pomo also made music with flutes, whistles, clapper sticks, rattles, and drums made out of hollow logs.