Abstract
The Klamath.— In 1925 and 1926 Mr. Leslie Spier visited the Klamath of southern Oregon to study their religion and social organisation, now a thing of the past, but of which the memory still exists among some of the elder people who still occupy their old home. The results of the investigation are published as vol. 30 of the University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. The Klamath are the northern of two major dialectic groups of the Lutuami linguistic stock, of which the southern is the Modoc. The Klamath have the richer and more specialised culture. They were first visited by whites in 1825 and 1826, at a time when the Snake Indian raids were at their height. These raids probably account for the fact that country between the Klamath and the Dalles on Columbia river was unoccupied. It is probable that in historic times their highest number was about 1200. Owing to lack of adequate informa-tion relating to the tribes of the region, it is difficult to place the Klamath in relation to surrounding cultures. Their food habits and material culture generally follow the plateau peoples. Although their river- the Williamson river- was a minor stream, they are as much a river people as the Thompson, Lilloet, and Sushwap. Their staple food was fish, supplemented by roots and seeds. Deer and other game, though abundant, was not hunted. Their mode of living was arbitrary and not decided by geographi-cal conditions. Klamath and Modoc represent the southern boundary of the plateau culture, but they have a strong leaning toward north-eastern California. The basis of their religious experience is that of the northern interior, the Columbia basin, and the north-west coast. Specifically the resemblance appears in the circumscription of spirit-possession to the mid-winter month. Details of shamanism, on the other hand, link with north-eastern California. Social organisation is simple and like that of the basin and plateau in every particular.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 127, 178–180 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127178a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127178a0