LASSIK

The Lassik occupied the drainage of the main Eel River between the mouths of Dobbyn and Kekawaka creeks and the territory east of there to the crest of the Coast Range. There is almost no ethnographic information on this group in the literature except a few notes gathered by Essene (1942) when he was compiling a Culture Element List for the area. Even the geographic information on this group is weak. Merriam does not seem to have spent much time among them. Goddard may have recorded their villages but, if so, I have been able to find only a small part of his data. What there is I give below.

Merriam records only random notes on the Lassik. His informant from that group was Lucy Young, the same woman Essene worked with so effectively (Essene, 1942; see also Kroeber's data, App. II). According to Merriam, she lived with her daughter, Mrs. William Clark, on a ranch about two miles south of Zenia; Mrs. Clark's husband came originally from Hyampom. Merriam seems to have visited Lucy Young in 1922. His only statement on the group follows.

Sit-ten-biden keah ... Main Eel River from Fort Seward region on north, southerly to Harris and Kekawaka Creek; westerly to South Fork Eel River; easterly to Forest Glen and South Fork Trinity River near Kelsey Peak.

TRIBELETS

Merriam's notes contain no systematic information on the tribelets of this group but do give the following miscellaneous data.

Kos-kah-tun-den ka-ah is the Settenbiden name for a related tribelet in the Blocksburg region [the territory E of Alder Pt.], now extinct. Their language is the same as that of the Bridgeville group but with many words different from Settenbiden.

Sa-tahl-che-cho-be is the Settenbiden name for the band on the east side of the Main Eel River just below the mouth of Kekawaka Creek. This tribelet is the "sko-den ke-ah" of the Eel River Wailaki. Neither Merriam nor Goddard was sure whether the group ought not more properly to be included in the Lassik or the Wailaki.

Taht-so keah is the name of a tribelet to the north of the Eel River Wailaki which the latter said was related to them. This group, together with the sa-tahl-che-cho-be, is said to constitute the then-chah-tung tribelet of the Lassik.

VILLAGES

For the most part the Lassik villages recorded by Merriam (and listed below) cannot be located, hence they have not been placed on the map.

Kahsh-bahn. A Lassik village on the W side of the main Eel R. about 2 mi. above (S of) the mouth of Jewett Cr. This was a big town and there were lots of acorns near there.

Kes-tah-che. On the E side of the main Eel R. nearly opposite (a little above) the mouth of Jewett Cr.

'Ki-che-be. On the site of the present (1923) store at Ruth on the Mad R. This was a big town with many houses and a sweathouse. There were lots of deer, bear, and acorns in this area. During the cold weather, usually in January, a dance, which lasted three nights, was held in this village.

Sa-cho-yeh. A large village on the E side of the main Eel R. about 2-1/2 mi. S of Alder Pt.

Sa-tahl-che-cho-be. The name means "red rocks." On the E side of the main Eel R. about 1/2 mi. or a mile below the mouth of Kekawaka Cr. There were falls and a whirlpool there.

Tah-kah-ta-cho-be. On the E side of the Mad R. on a flat near the Hay place about 10 mi. above Ruth. It was a big town with a sweathouse.

Taht-so. On the Underhill ranch, which was owned by Glenn or Green at the time Merriam was in the area (1920's). Evidently it was somewhere in the Harris region W of the main Eel R.

Tha-cho-yeh. On the main Eel R. on a flat under a high standing rock. The rock is now called Cain Rock. It is on the E side of the river about 3 mi. S of Alder Pt.

Tha-ken-nes-ten. The name means "talking rock." The village was on the E side of the main Eel R. near a big rock which stood at a bend of the river at the Johnson place (near a big white house). It was a big town with a sweathouse.

Tha-tah-che. A large winter village in Soldier Basin on the North Fork of the Eel (near present Gilman place). This was a big town but had no sweathouse. In the winter they hunted deer and bear here.

To-be-se-a-tung. On the E side of the Mad R. above the Bushman place. It was about a mile above the river.

To-sos-ten. On the E side of the main Eel R. a mile or two above Alder Pt.

There is some ambiguity in Merriam's notes on the status of the Lassik living in the western part of their territory near the South Fork of the Eel. The Sinkyone George Burt told Merriam that a group called the To-kub´-be ke´ah or To´-kah-be held the land on the east side of South Fork from Rocky Glen Creek south to above Garberville. This tribe was said to be centered on the east branch of South Fork and in the Harris region and to be a different tribe from the one on the main Eel River at Alder Point and Kekawaka Creek, but Merriam himself has refused to accept this assertion.

Goddard's information indicates that the east bank of South Fork was owned by the Sinkyone, and it is so detailed that it has been accepted here (see p. [164]).

Goddard's unpublished material on the Lassik consists of a single map (here reproduced as map 8), which apparently shows the locations of 27 villages. A list of what are presumably the village names accompanies it, but Goddard changed the numbers on his map. Hence on our map the correct name may not be assigned to each site.

Goddard's Lassik Villages

1. gastcīkdûñ
2. kōnteltcīdûñ
3. satcinītcīdûñ
4. naslintce
5. ist'etatcīdûñ
6. tōkseye
7. kiñk'ûtekōnteldûñ
8. k'ûctōtōdûñ
9. dīyīckûk
10. nûndûkkatûndûñ
11. kōnteltcīdûñ
12. gōsnōlindûñ
13. tōtcadûñ
14. saitōtcī
15. nûnsûnltcīkkinneεdûñ
16. yīstcûttcadûñ
17. toisībī
18. lesbatcītdûñ
19. k'ûstcīkdûñ
20. tcûggûstatcīε
21. lesbaitcīε
22. setatcīε
23. kastōntcīεdûñ

Goddard lists other names, presumably for the Lassik villages, as follows: sekûƚne, tectatalindûñ, dûltcīkyacdûñ, t'o-todûñ, k'ûsnesdûñ, ne ga bī, kûttantcītcōdûñ. The sites corresponding to these names cannot be located.

Map 7. Presumed Nongatl villages in the Bridgeville region.

Map 8. Lassik villages in the Alder Point region.