American Indian Early Childhood Education

The Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation’s traditional homeland lies in the headwaters of the South Fork of the Trinity River, in Trinity County, California.  Approximately half of the tribe’s 1,000 members still live near their ancestral lands in Trinity and Shasta Counties. 

The Wintu were a hunter/gatherer language family. There were three distinct dialects. The northern group were known as Wintu proper in the north, the Nomlaki in their central territories, and the southern were known as Patwin. They occupied the west side of the Sacramento Valley. The west border extended roughly along the crest of the Coast Range to about Cottonwood Creek in the north and the Sacramento on the south. The exceptions to this were Wappo, Miwok and Pomo territories that extended into the Sacramento watershed; and in the northwest portion of Wintu territory where it extended west of crest of the Coast Range. On the east side of the valley, their territory extended to an average of five miles east of the Sacramento from the Pit River south to just above present Knights Landing. The river was the eastern border south of that point. The Wintu suffered huge population losses from the genocide of the Mexicans and the gold rush settlers and miners as well as from disease.

The Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation's Tribal Office is located on Main St in Weaverville, CA.

The Tsnungwe are located in western Trinity County and eastern Humboldt County in northwest California.  They are located on the Trinity River, South Fork of the Trinity River, and New River.  This land is their native tribal territory, where they resided prior to first contact with non-Indians.  They continue to reside in their aboriginal territory to this day, although now their lands fall within the Six Rivers National Forest as well as the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.  On the Trinity River, they resided between the Willow Creek area and the Cedar Flat area.  On the South Fork of the Trinity, they resided from the mouth up to Grouse Creek.  Additionally the tribe resided also within the entire New River drainage.