Redwood Creek seen with a herd of Roosevelt Elk on its banksMad River
The Whilkut (variants: Whiylqit, Hwil'-kut, Hoilkut, Hoilkut-hoi) also known as "(Upper) Redwood Creek Indians" or "Mad River Indians" were a Pacific Coast Athabaskan tribe speaking a dialect similar to the Hupa to the northeast and Chilula to the north, who inhabited the area on or near the Upper Redwood Creek and along the Mad River except near its mouth (with the North Fork Mad River), up to Iaqua Butte, and some settlement in Grouse Creek in the Trinity River drainage in Northwestern California, before contact with Europeans.
The Whilkut may then be divided into four subgroups (tribelets):
the Chilula Whilkut (Lower Redwood Indians) (by Goddard and Kroeber the ″Chilula Whilkut″ would occupy essentially the territory assigned to the Chilula and are considered a separate tribe called Chilula)
the Kloki Whilkut / Prairie Whilkut' (Tł'o:q'-xwe / Xontehł-xwe - "Prairie People" or Tł'o:q' Xwiy¬q’it - "Prairie Whilkut", also: "(Upper) Redwood Creek Indians"; about 12 villages along Upper Redwood Creek)
the Mad River Whilkut (Me:w-yinaq / Me:w-yinuq, Mawenok - "underneath - upstream", also: "Mad River Indians"; about 16 villages along Mad River, Maple Creek and Boulder Creek), and
the North Fork (Mad River) Whilkut (also: "Blue Lake Whilkut", about six villages along North Fork Mad River and in Blue Lake area (Yitse'ni-xohch'indił-ding).[1]
Known Whilkut villages: ch'iłq'un-ding, mił-tehsch'e:-me'.
The common tribal name as "Whilkut" is an adaption from the Hupa name for the Redwood Creek respectively the Redwood Ridge / Bald Hills as Xwiy¬q'it / Xwe:ył-q'it / Xoył-q'it.
The Whilkut (together with Chilula) were called by the neighboring Hupa-speaking peoples Xwiy¬q'it-xwe / Xwe:yłq'it-xwe ("Redwood Ridge / Bald Hills People"), therefore they were also known as (Upper) Redwood Creek Indians. Because of their close Hupa kin they are also called Upper Redwood Creek Hupa or Upstream Redwood Creek Hupa.
Most authors consider class the Chilula as a separate people, sometimes they are also considered another fourth tribelet (subgroup) of the Whilkut and are called the Chilula Whilkut.
Little is known of the Whilkut culture beyond its similarity to that of the Hupa and criticized by the Hupa and Chilula as guarded, traditional , less settled hill people. Following the gold rush in Northwestern California, routes of pack trains between Humboldt Bay and Weaverville, California, lay through their territory, and their population, never large, was drastically reduced in the 1858-1864 Bald Hills War. Estimated to have 250-350 warriors at the start of the war,[2] the survivors were taken to the Hupa reservation soon after its establishment. After 1870 they drifted back to their traditional homes where they continued to live. Only 50 remained in the 1910 census.[3] In 1972 only a remnant was left, perhaps only 20 to 25 individuals.[4]
Whilkut descendants have since been incorporated into the Hupa:
Hoopa Valley Tribe[5] (Hoopa, Humboldt County, Population 2013: 3.139) (Hupa, Tsnungwe, Chimalakwe, Chilula, Whilkut)
Blue Lake Rancheria[6] (Blue Lake, Humboldt County, Population 2010: 58) (Wiyot, Yurok, Hupa, Whilkut)
^California Athabascan Groups
^Letter from General Kibbe to Governor Weller, State Archives, 1858
^Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, p. 141
^Robert Heizer, William C. Sturtevant, Handbook of North American Indians: California, Volume 3; Government Printing Office, Washington, 1978; Whilkut, pp. 178-179
^"Hoopa Valley Tribe". Archived from the original on 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
^"Blue Lake Rancheria". Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
The Whilkut (variants: Whiylqit, Hwil'-kut, Hoilkut, Hoilkut-hoi) also known as "(Upper) Redwood Creek Indians" or "Mad River Indians" were a Pacific...
Tsnungwe (South Fork Hupa), the Chilula (Lower Redwood Creek Hupa) and Whilkut (Redwood Creek Hupa). Hupa people had limited contact with non-native peoples...
Athabaskan tribe speaking a dialect similar to the Hupa to the east and Whilkut to the south, who inhabited the area on or near Lower Redwood Creek, in...
Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Whilkut and Wiyot Native American peoples. The war was fought within the boundaries...
River. Wappo, north-central California Washoe, northeastern California Whilkut, northwestern California Wintu, northwestern California Wiyot, northwestern...
Athapaskans included the Hupa-Whilkut-Chilula to the north, the Mattole on the coast to the west, and the Kato to the south. The Whilkut, Nongatl and Lassik were...
California) Languages English, formerly Catho Related ethnic groups Southern Athabaskan people (including Chilula, Hupa, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, and Whilkut)...
California Athabaskan subgroup Hupa (also known as Hupa-Chilula, Chilula, Whilkut) Mattole–Bear River Eel River (also known as Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl,...
Fork Hupa (Tse:ningxwe) and, before European contact, by the Chilula and Whilkut peoples, to the west. The 2000 US Census estimated the language to be spoken...
Palagewan, south-central California Wappo, north-central California: ix Whilkut, northwestern California: ix Wintu, northwestern California: ix Wiyot...
Nlaka'pamux Bald Hills War (1858–64) United States California "Wintoons" Whilkut "Redwoods" Chilula Hupa "Mountain tribes" Chimariko Lassik Mattole Nongatl...
Fork and New River areas); (na:tinixwe 'Hoopa Valley Hupa'); (Chilula/Whilkut/Me:w-yinaq/Whiyłqit 'Redwood Creek Hupa'). misqine:q'it/nisking-q'it, nants'ing-tah...
the Trinity Rangers fought the Klamath & Humboldt Expedition against the Whilkut or Redwood Indians. In 1859, the Kibbe Rangers under William Byrnes and...
Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, and Whilkut. From 12 December 1861, this theater was incorporated into the District...
Yokiah), Wappo, Pomo, Salan Pomo, Southern Pomo(Kianamaras or Gallinomero), Whilkut (Redwood) and others lived on this reservation. In the summer of 1857,...
Tubatulabal, south-central California Wappo, north-central California Whilkut, northwestern California Wintu, northwestern California Wiyot, northwestern...
commonly referred to as the Sinkyone, Mattole, Nongatl, Tolowa, Chilula, Whilkut, Tsnungwe, and Hupa. Much of the material consists of vocabularies and...
Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Whilkut and Wiyot Native American peoples. Wintoon War 1858-1859 Federal Peacekeeping...
137-154. Wiyot. Albert B. Elsasser. Pages 155-163. Hupa, Chilula, and Whilkut. William J. Wallace. Pages 164-179. Karok. William Bright. Pages 180-189...