Tsnungwe

Tsnungwe
tse:ning-xwe
	łe:lding xontah - mouth of the South Fork of the Trinity River, principal Tsnungwe village
Total population
	150-200
Regions with significant populations
	California (Salyer )
Languages
	Hupa, Chimariko

The Tsnungwe (current Hupa-language orthography, own name: Tse:ningxwe - "Tse:ning-din (Ironside Mountain) People") or Tsanunghwa are a Native American people indigenous to the modern areas of the lower South Fork Trinity River (yisinch'ing-qeh), Willow Creek (xoxol-ding), Salyer (miy-me'), Burnt Ranch (tse:n-ding/tse:ning-ding) and New River (Yiduq-nilin) along the Trinity River (hun' 'river') in Trinity and Humboldt County in California.^[1] The Tsnungwe were a bilingual Hupa-Chimariko-speaking people and are known by the Hupa-speaking peoples as tse:ning-xwe.^[2] The primary language was the Tsnungwe dialect of Hupa, and the secondary language was Chimariko, although spoken with a Hupa accent.^[3]

The Tsnungwe include two sub-groups called łe:lxwe ('People of łe:l-ding') after their most important settlement and religious center, and the Chima:lxwe'/Chimalakwe/Tł'oh-mitah-xwe ('grass, prairies-amongst-people') along New River. The Karuk living north of the Salmon River Divide called the Chima:lxwe'/Chimalakwe/Tł'oh-mitah-xwe Akráak va'ára ('New River People').^[4] The Norelmuk Wintu from Hayfork called the Tsnungwe Num-nor-muk.^[5]

Because their language is a dialect of the Hupa language, they are also called South Fork Hupa. Other tribal names refer to their territories occupied: South Fork Indians, Burnt Ranch, South Fork Trinity Tribe, and Kelta/Tlelwe/Hlelwe/Tlelding/Leldin Tribe or Tlohomtahhoi, Chaltasom.^[6]

Neighboring tribes to the Tsnungwe include the Yurok, Redwood Creek Hupa, Hoopa Valley Hupa, Wiyot, Chimariko, Shasta, Karuk, and Wintu. Often times, Tsnungwe spoke many Native languages.^[7] C. Hart Merriam referred to Tsnungwe leader Saxey Kidd as "a well-known polyglot," speaker of many languages.

Federal recognition

The Tsnungwe descendants are members of the Tsnungwe Council : recognized by both Humboldt and Trinity counties, previously recognized by the United States of America, and working to have that federally-recognized status restored.^[8]^[9]

Culture

The traditional Tsnungwe diet included salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey "eels," black tail deer, and other local animals and plants.^[10]^[11]

Language

The language of the Tsnungwe is considered a dialect of the Hupa language of the Pacific Coast Athabaskan language group of North American native languages. This language (Dining'xine:wh 'Hupa-speaking people', 'Hupa Indians') with various dialects is spoken (Tse:ning-xwe, dialect of South Fork and New River areas); (na:tinixwe 'Hoopa Valley Hupa'); (Chilula/Whilkut/Me:w-yinaq/Whiyłqit 'Redwood Creek Hupa').^[12]^[13]

Villages

Willow Creek area villages

misqine:q'it/nisking-q'it, nants'ing-tah (Clover Flat), niskin-ji-ding/niskinje:ndihding (upriver from Willow Creek), da:chwan'-ding (opposite niskin-ji-ding), da:chwan'-ding mima:n-ch'ing (opposite of da:chwun'-ding, Camp Kimtu), saqe:q'it (alternative: so-ke'a-keit, sock-kail-kit), saqe:q'it mima:n-ch'ing (opposite of saqe:q'it), yinaq-xa:-ding/yinuq xa:-ti-nit (all three at Willow Creek), tł'ohday-kyoh-q'it, xowiyk'iłxowh-ding (formerly: k'iqin-sa'an-ding, Knight's Trailer Park), tse:-ding (opposite xowiyk'iłxowh-ding/Knight's Trailer Park), xoxo:ch'e:lding (at the mouth of Willow Creek), minq'it-ch-ding (Enchanted Springs), q'aykist ch'e:xahsding (Gambi's, formerly: China Flat), t'unchwing-tah (alternative: tash-huan-tat, tash-wan-ta), d'ahilding (alternative: a-hel-tah, ta-hail-ta, Whitson's), yinaq-xa:-ding (just above the mouth of Willow Creek).^[14]^[15]

South Fork Trinity area (yisinch'ing-qeh) villages

łe:l-ding (also: Tlelding 'place where the rivers (South Fork and Trinity) meet', about one mile downriver from today's Salyer, largest and leading Tsnungwe settlement; ancient times: a k'ixinay village), including the three sub-villages me:łchwin-q'it, ta:k'iwe:ltsil-q'it (on the other side of the mouth of the South Fork), ta:ng'ay-q'it (old name was mituq'-q'it-ding); ch'iłte:l-ding, chway-me' (Sandy Bar), dahchiwh-ding (about 12 miles above the mouth of the river), dilchwehch-ding (also: hay nahdiyaw tehłchwin-ding 'place where the money grows', once an important rich settlement at the mouth of Campbell Creek),łichiwh-ding, tł'oh-wa:ne/xołtsowch-ding (Saxey Ranch), niłtuq-tah-ding (mouth of Mosquito Creek into Grouse Creek), qosta:n-ding, yahts'ame', yidahtich'inahding (Ammon Ranch), yunihting (Todd Ranch).

Trinity River (South Fork – Cedar Flat area) villages

hun'-kya:w-qeh (at Trinity River), ti-dił -ding (downstream from Salyer), xoling-kyoh-miye, miy-me' (alternative: me'-yemma, me-em-ma, Old Campbell Ranch/Fountain Ranch), k'inunq'-ding, tse:-q'it (Swanson's), no:k'iwowh-ding (downstream from tse:-q'it/Swanson's), kin-sa'an-ting (Irvings, Hawkins Bar), tse:łe:nga:ding (downstream from kin-sa'an-ting/Irvings), ta:wha: wh-ding (Gray's Flat), xowung-q'it (at a lake, near xweda'ay-sa'an-me'/Chesbro's), xweda'ay-sa'an-me' (Wells, Chesbro's).

Burnt Ranch and New River area villages

tse:n-ding/tse:-nung-din (Burnt Ranch, large settlement), tse:nung-axis-ding (near China Slide, upstream from yinuq-dinung-ting/McDonald's at Burnt Ranch), yinuq-dinung-ting (McDonald Ranch, Burnt Ranch), ch'e:nantiłting (at the mouth of the New River), ch'e:na:dawhding (Dyer's, Bell's Flat), ch'ixe:ne:wh-din (also: 'xolish na:xoxuynta' – Martha Dyer Ziegler's, upstream from qowh-ding), k'iłna:dil mito' (Hoboken), k'iyawh-michwan (at China Creek, also: xolish ch'ena:xolxolding – China Creek), łige:y de:-dilła:t-ding (upstream from tł'ohne:s-ding/Quimby), tł'ohne:s-ding (at the mouth of Quinby Creek, Ladd's, Thomas', Quimby), qowh-ding (south of Panther Creek), tł'ohsch'il'e:n-ding (Daily's, before: Moses Patterson), tse:na:ning'a:ding (at the confluence of East Fork and New River), yiduq-nilin (New River), yiduq-łe:na:lding (at the forks of the New River upstream from Denny), tł'oh-mitah-xwe (Hupa speakers in New River villages).