Cultural Sites of the Nisenan People

Nevada City is built on the Nisenan town of 'Ustomah. Deer Creek, which runs through town, is a mere shadow of the major waterway it was during the 10,000 years that the Nisenan lived in the area.

Several Nisenan burning and burial grounds were located in the Willow Valley area. Others were located near Pleasant Valley, Loma Rica, and in Grass Valley near the county fairgrounds. A large ceremonial burning ground was located on the site of the Nevada City Rancheria (currently the Cement Hill Road area of Nevada City). Nearly every large Nisenan town had a burial ground located nearby. In the 1860s, the Nisenan were dealt a devastating blow to their culture when open-air cremations were outlawed by the State of the California.

As a cremating society, the Nisenan burned their dead, including all of the deceased person’s belongings, in a long and very elaborate ritual called a “cry” that began the morning after the death. The spirit was sent off to the afterlife supported by crying mourners. The families of important and wealthy tribal members might even hire people to mourn and wail. Many California Tribes had strict mourning protocols surrounding the death of Tribal members and the Nisenan observed some of the most stringent. Mourners would shear their heads to the scalp with a hot coal and apply a mix of pine pitch and ash to their faces, arms, chest, and head. They would wear this until it wore off, at which time the initial period of mourning was seen to be complete. Cremated remains were buried on top of the deceased person’s ancestors.

The Nisenan believed that crying or thinking about dead loved ones would tie their spirits to the earth, so mourning was confined to the time immediately after death and to specific anniversaries. One year after a person died, another “cry” was held. Every five years, a ceremony of mourning called a “big cry” was held for all who had died during that time period.

In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson gave the Nisenan Tribe federal recognition and created an Indian reservation for local Nisenan whose homeland had been destroyed during the gold rush. The Nisenan reservation, or rancheria, was located on 76 acres just outside of Nevada City on Cement Hill.

In 1958, however, the United States government passed legislation terminating the official government-to-government relationship between the United States and 44 California tribes, including the Nisenan. The Nevada City Rancheria's land was taken and sold at auction.

Today, 41 rancherias have had their federal recognition restored, but the Nisenan remain one of three Tribes that are still waiting. Despite federal termination, the Nisenan Tribe of the Nevada City Rancheria, though small in number, still survives in their homeland.

The Chicago Park area held 18 Nisenan roundhouses. These buildings were the social and ceremonial centers of the community.

The land now occupied by the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley hosted "big trades" with surrounding Tribes every 5 to 7 years. Black oak acorn, deer, eel, elk, antelope, chert, soapstone, and serpentine were just a few of the highly-valued commodities offered for trade by the Nisenan. Nisenan healers were also in great demand and could trade their skills to other Tribes.

Marriages could be either arranged or self-selected in Nisenan society. The marriages of many members of prominent families were arranged, with an eye to solidifying or increasing the status of the respective families, while increasing political alliances. Prospective brides and grooms spent time with elders to learn how to be good wives and husbands.

Wedding ceremonies lasted many days and involved huge feasts. If a marriage did not work out, a specific ritual was followed that involved breaking a ceremonial stick to dissolve the union without either family losing face. Much of Nisenan protocol protected members of the community from embarrassment or shame and encouraged levelheaded expressions of communication. To react in an overly emotional way was discouraged and seen as a sign of weakness of character.

Rough & Ready was originally inhabited by the Nisenan people in a network of towns interlinked by kinship ties. When a town grew too large to be supported by the local ecosystem, new towns would be established and the community would expand.

The Penn Valley and Lake Wildwood area was a large population center for the Nisenan. Nisenan leader Pamlo kept a large ceremonial roundhouse here until it burned in a fire in the early 1900s. The distance from the front door to the centerpole of the round house was 100 feet. Pamlo made this area his home when not traveling to the many towns within his jurisdiction.

The Nisenan gave respite to the land by moving their communities every few years. The land, free from the impacts of everyday human activity, could then recover, regrow, and rejuvenate itself until the town was ready again for its Nisenan tenants. However, the towns were never fully vacated as someone always stayed behind to care for structures and/or burial grounds. The gentle landscape and mild climate created an abundance of natural resources and there was room to spread out. The diverse and bountiful Nisenan diet included plants, grasses, roots, berries, meat, insects, worms, and fish. Black oak acorn was an important food source and was used to trade with other Tribes. 

'Estom Yanim, or the Marysville Buttes, are sacred to the Nisenan people, being the source of all life and the place where your spirit would go after death. The base of the Sacred Mountain held an entrance, with a gate keeper who would either let your spirit in or turn it away to wander. On top of the Sacred Mountain was a large round house. Here, newly deceased spirits would see the relatives who had died before them and have their first spirit food. The spirit would eventually take to the stars and make its path to the Milky Way.

It was said that if living humans visited the Sacred Mountain, the spirits would try to trick them into eating spirit food, which would be fatal. Deeply initiated spirit doctors could commune with the spirit world, leaving their bodies for a time, and return to the land of the living, while others were in danger just going to the mountain.

California's climate and rich soil made Nisenan homelands abound with diverse life. Flora and fauna were plentiful and diverse and the climate was mild. In a relatively small area, one could find a wide variety of plants, such as the grasses that were a major food source for the Nisenan. Many of the grass varieties enjoyed by the Nisenan no longer exist.

This fertile area also provided access to migratory herds of antelope, elk, and deer, and flocks of ducks blackened the skies for hours. While not farmers, the Nisenan would encourage the growth of natural plants that the animals preferred in order to draw the herds closer. The Nisenan traded amongst themselves, obtaining pine nuts, black oak acorns, roots, and tubers from the pine forests of the higher elevations. Rabbit fur blankets were functional as well as symbols of status and were especially desirable. Nisenan goods were also traded to coastal tribes for abalone and other shells, used for ceremonial regalia and jewelry. Seaweed, fried over a fire, was considered a treat and a delicacy.