Chimariko people
The Chimariko are an Indigenous people of California, who originally lived in a narrow, 20-mile section of canyon on the Trinity River in Trinity County in northwestern California.
History
Originally hunter-gatherers, the Chimariko are possibly the earliest residents of their region. They had good relations with the Wintu people and were enemies of the Hupa, a Southern Athabaskan people.Non-native fur trappers first entered the Chimariko's territory in 1820, followed by miners and settlers in the 1850s. The Chimariko were profoundly affected by the destructive environmental practices of gold seekers during the California Gold Rush, starting in 1848. One of the major issues involved the disruption of the salmon population that was the main food source of the Chimariko. In the 1860s, conflict between the Chimariko and white miners led to the near extinction of their population. The surviving Chimariko fled to live with the Hoopa Valley Hupa, and nearby Tsnungwe (South Fork or New River Hupa) and Tlohomtah’hoi (New River or Salmon River Shasta).
Language
Chimariko people spoke the Chimariko language, a language isolate. The language is currently extinct.The language probably became extinct sometime in the 1930s. It is extensively documented in unpublished fieldnotes which John Peabody Harrington obtained from the last speaker, Sally Noble, in the 1920s.