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.

^ Rowley, Max; Wooden, Margaret. "Big River: A Look at the South Fork of the Trinity by Max Rowley and Margaret Wooden". Humboldt Historian. 50 (1, Spring 2002): 15–23.
^ "Chesbo family, Burnt Ranch. August 1921 1". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
^ Hupa Language Dictionary - 2nd Edition, pages iii and 100
^ Ararahih'urípih - Karuk Dictionary
^ Ethnogeographic and Ethnosynosymic Data from Northern California Tribes, by C. Hart Merriam, pages 111-112, Edited by Robert Heizer, Archaeological Research Facility, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 1976
^ Tsnungwe Place Names, by Tsnungwe Tribal Elders, 1994
^ Map by C. Hart Merriam, Bureau of American Ethnology

[1] Rowley, Max; Wooden, Margaret. "Big River: A Look at the South Fork of the Trinity by Max Rowley and Margaret Wooden". Humboldt Historian. 50 (1, Spring 2002): 15–23.

[2] "Chesbo family, Burnt Ranch. August 1921 1". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved December 24, 2020.

[3] Hupa Language Dictionary - 2nd Edition, pages iii and 100

[4] Ararahih'urípih - Karuk Dictionary

[5] Ethnogeographic and Ethnosynosymic Data from Northern California Tribes, by C. Hart Merriam, pages 111-112, Edited by Robert Heizer, Archaeological Research Facility, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 1976

[6] Tsnungwe Place Names, by Tsnungwe Tribal Elders, 1994

[7] Map by C. Hart Merriam, Bureau of American Ethnology

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