Great Basin/Plateau/Californian Tribes

The Great Basin got it's name because it is an area between two mountain ranges and the rivers there do not flow to the ocean. There were few people living in the area. The names of tribes in this area were Shoshone, Paiute and Mono.

The plateau area north and west of the Great Basin was home to tribes named the Nez Perce, the Ute, and the Umatilla.

Before the Europeans came to California, there were many native people living there in many different small tribes. Californian people spoke at least eighty languages. The Hupa and the Shasta were tribes that lived in northern California. The Cumash and the Salina people lived along the coastline. The Maidu and the Miwok lived in the desertlike eastern area and the Pomo lived in the area just north of what is now San Francisco.

Click on the arrowhead below to learn more about this region.