Wappo

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title: "Wappo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wappo", "indigenous-peoples-of-california", "mission-indians", "native-american-tribes-in-lake-county,-california", "history-of-napa-county,-california", "history-of-sonoma-county,-california", "st.-helena,-california"] description: "Native American tribe in California" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wappo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Native American tribe in California ::

::data[format=table title="infobox ethnic group"]

Field	Value
group	Wappo people
image	[[Image:Edward S. Curtis Collection People 080.jpg
caption	A Wappo Woman
from Edward S. Curtis Collection.
population	1770: 1,000–1,650
1850: 188–200
1910: 73
1977: 50
popplace	California (Clear Lake, Napa Valley, Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley)
langs	English, historically Wappo
rels	traditional tribal religion
related	Yuki people
::

| group = Wappo people | image = [[Image:Edward S. Curtis Collection People 080.jpg|220px|A Wappo Woman, from Edward S. Curtis Collection]] | caption = A Wappo Woman from Edward S. Curtis Collection. | population = 1770: 1,000–1,650 1850: 188–200 1910: 73 1977: 50 | popplace = California (Clear Lake, Napa Valley, Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley) | langs = English, historically Wappo | rels = traditional tribal religion | related = Yuki people The Wappo (endonym: Micewal) are an Indigenous people of northern California. Their traditional homelands are in Napa Valley, the south shore of Clear Lake, Alexander Valley, and Russian River valley. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Bulletin_(1925)_(20424273785).jpg" caption="Map of Wappo territory by A.L. Kroeber, 1925."] ::

Culture

Prior to European colonization, the Wappo lived by hunting and gathering, and lived in small groups without centralized political authority, in homes built from branches, leaves and mud. Their woven baskets were so well-crafted that they were able to hold water. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/California,_Wappo,_late_19th-early_20th_century-Gift_Bowl-1917.453-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.jpg" caption="Late 19th-early 20th century Wappo basket in the [[Cleveland Museum of Art"] ::

History

When Mexicans arrived to colonize California, Wappo villages existed near the present-day towns of Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga. Those on the south shore of Clear Lake were completely absorbed and dispersed to the Spanish missions in California. The mission accounted for at least 550 Wappo baptisms.

The name Wappo is an Americanization of the Spanish term guapo, which means, among other things, "brave." They were known as brave for their stubborn resistance to Mexican domination, particularly their resistance to all military attempts from General Vallejo and his enlisted allies. In 1836 the warring parties signed a peace treaty.

Population

Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Wappo at 1,000. Sherburne F. Cook (1976:174) raised this estimate to 1,650.

By the early 1850s, the surviving Wappo were reported to number between 188 and 800. However population dropped by 1880 to 50, and the 1910 Census returned only 73.

Language

The Wappo language is an extinct member of the Yukian language family. A Wappo grammar has been written.

References

Sources

• Cook, Sherburne F. The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1976. .
• Kroeber, Alfred L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.

References

1. "2010 Census CPH-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010".
2. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wao "Wappo."] ''Ethnologue.'' Retrieved 16 Dec 2012.
3. link. (2013-09-30 ''SDSU: California Indians and Their Reservations.'' Retrieved 16 Dec 2012.)
4. (1932). "The Western Kuksu Cult". University of California Press.
5. (1925). "Handbook of the Indians of California". Bureau of American Ethnology.
6. Cook, p. 174
7. 1500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning by William Bright. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1998.
8. Gudde, Erwin. (2004). "California Place Names". University of California Press.
9. Kroeber, p. 883
10. Cook, pp.239, 351, 357
11. Cook, pp. 239, 351

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