Yokuts

Yokuts, North American Indians speaking a Penutian language and who historically inhabited the San Joaquin Valley and the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada south of the Fresno River in what is now California, U.S. The Yokuts were traditionally divided into tribelets, perhaps as many as 50, each having a dialect, territory, and name of its own.

Before colonization, Yokuts culture shared many features with those of other California Indians. They gathered plant foods such as seeds and roots and used elaborate systems to snare deer and hunt antelope and elk. The most characteristic Yokuts dwelling was the mat-covered communal house inhabited by 10 families or more. In addition, they erected flat roofs on poles for shade. Clothing was simple: men wore loincloths or went naked, and women wore fringed aprons front and back.

Chiefs headed tribes and villages and were generally wealthy as well as knowledgeable in religious matters. The chiefly office was hereditary and could be held by women as well as men. Two other important offices were those of jester, or clown, and of undertaker. The latter was usually a male-to-female two-spirit person; two-spirit people adopted the gender identity opposite their biological attributes and lived as that gender for the rest of their lives. Polygamy was socially acceptable among the Yokuts, but it was rarely practiced.

Yokuts ceremonies included puberty rites, which for boys involved use of the hallucinogen toloache, made from the jimsonweed (Datura stramonium). Shamanism was also important in Yokuts religion. Ceremonies, including one to prevent rattlesnake bites, were performed by shamans—medicine men who also participated in intertribal contests of sacred and healing powers.

Population estimates indicated some 4,500 individuals of Yokuts descent in the early 21st century.