Throughout North America there are two basic kinds of sacred American Indian sites: (1) those which are sacred because of human acts of consecration, dedication, and ritual practice, and (2) those which are intrinsically holy, places which are endowed with great spiritual power. Religious traditions which are based on animism—the view that all things are alive and have souls—tend to have sacred places that are natural rather than being made by human beings. Instead of building churches, animists tend to use special places in the natural landscape as portals to the spiritual world.
The Indian nations of California had many different areas which they considered to be sacred. Some of these were places in which creation had occurred; some are places where healing powers can be obtained; and some are places where it is easier to make contact with the spirit world. A few of these are described below.
Mountains
Mount Diablo, located east of San Francisco Bay, is a sacred place to many of the tribes of Central California. For the Miwok, for example, this is the place where creation took place and where human beings acquired fire.
Mount Shasta is a key figure in the stories and ceremonies of several Indian cultures, including the Karuk, Yurok, Shasta, Hupa, Yana, Pit River, Wiyot, and Wintu. It is one of the main sacred mountains to the Wintu. The souls of the dead go first to Mount Shasta and then to the Milky Way.
In 1988, the Forest Service issued permits for a ski resort on Mount Shasta. Prior to issuing the permits the Forest Service talked with groups who consider Mount Shasta to be sacred -- Wintu, Pit River, Shasta, and Karuk. Florence Jones, who is considered the “top doctor” by the Wintu, told them:
“The mountain is where I get my information to treat people. If you ruin my spiritual place, how will I take care of my people as a doctor?”
However, the Forest Service archaeologists found no cultural resources on Mount Shasta which would interfere with the development of a ski resort.
Mount Offield is considered the most sacred mountain in Karuk territory. The Karuk call this place Ikxaréeyav Túuyship which means “mountain of the immortals.” During the World Renewal Ceremony, the Karuk would burn the brush on the slope of the mountain (a practice which was stopped by the Americans).
Gregory Mountain, known as Taquish Paki, is sacred to several Mission Indian bands. According to Steven Karr, the curator at the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, in an article in American Indian Culture and Research Journal:
“It is believed that the mountain is home to the spirit or deity Taquish, a powerful and malevolent figure in the people’s cosmology.”
Adjacent to the mountain is Gregory Canyon, a ceremonial site for the Luiseño and Cupeño.
In southeastern Imperial County, the area bounded by Picacho Peak, Pilots Knob, and Muggins Peak is sacred to the Quechan people. This is an area where there are many petroglyphs and the area is often mentioned in Quechan songs. The area is currently controlled by the Bureau of Land Management which is considering an open pit mine for the area. According to Quechan tribal member Lorey Cachora:
“Just because our people did not build a giant cathedral like Europeans doesn’t mean the land isn’t just as important to our religion... These sites are our religion, we cannot simply go somewhere else.”
Mount Tecate is sacred to the Kumeyaay. It is called Kuuchamaa which is translated as “Exalted High Place,” or as “The Ones that Cure.”
Mount Tamalpais is an important spiritual place for the Miwok.
Chokla Mountain is sacred to the Pala as this is where Taakwic lives.
Lakes and Springs
Medicine Lake in the Modoc National Forest in northeastern California was formed 100,000 years ago with a volcanic eruption which left a caldera or basin in which the lake formed. This is an area which is of spiritual importance to the Pit River, Modoc, Klamath, Shasta, Karuk, and Wintu. According to the Pit River Tribal Council:
“The area of the Medicine Lake Highlands is important to the culture, religious practices of the Ajumawai and Atwamsini Bands of the Pit River Nation, and to the Pit River Tribe as a whole.”
The Medicine Lake area is still used for vision quests, for gathering healing herbs, and for other ceremonies.
In 1998, the federal government granted leases which allow for the development of geothermal energy sources around the volcanic Medicine Lake Highlands. The following year, the Medicine Lake caldera was found eligible to be added to the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural District because of its long use by Northern California tribes.
Coso Hot Springsjust north of the Mojave Desert are a sacred place for the Paiute and Shoshone. The waters and muds are used for both physical and spiritual healing. The area was acquired by the Navy for the China Lake Naval Weapons Center after World War II and access was restricted. After the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978 restrictions on tribal religious use of Coso Hot Springs have been reduced.
Kuruvungna Springs is sacred to the Gabrieliño. This is a California State Historical Landmark (No. 522) and an archaeological site (CA-LAN-381).
Geological Features
Chimney Rockis an area sacred to many tribes, including the Yurok, Karok, and Tolowa. Women healers acquire much of their power in this area. In the 1970s, the Forest Service proposed putting a service road from Gasquet to Orleans which would cut through the area. The tribes filed an objection. In 1987, the Supreme Court ruled that Indian religious rights are outweighed by society's broader interest in destroying sacred sites for economic reasons, even when such reasons are speculative. Subsequent legislative action has protected the area.
Patrick’s Point is celebrated in Yurok stories and songs as the last abode of the immortals. These immortal beings left the other parts of Yurok territory when the Yurok people were created. According to educator Janice Gardner-Loster in an article in News From Native California:
“Although these beings left the other parts of Yurok territory when the Indians came into existence, they still linger on here. I think the most important of them are the Porpoises, who are still considered as people, not animals.”
In 1992, the Yurok people working with the California Department of Parks and Recreation constructed the Yurok village of Sumeg at this site. The village includes three living houses, two sweat houses, and a Brush Dance pit. A ceremonial Brush Dance is held at the site.
Point Conception is sacred to the Chumash. Three days after a person has been buried, the soul comes out of the grave and goes first to Point Conception.
Moon’s Homeis a monolith on the Pala Reservation. Steven Karr reports:
“While little is understood regarding its traditional meaning or function, it is generally understood that the rock and its location were ceremonial in nature. It is further believed that for purposes unknown, a large spherical quartz crystal was placed in the rock’s upper opening, and when struck by moonlight at a certain time, this crystal would shed a peculiar prismatic glow on the ground below.”
Womb Rock is a fertility shrine in the Providence Mountains of the Mojave Desert which is sacred to the Chemehuevi. The rock resembles a large, natural birth canal that opens to the east. In his book The Serpent and the Sacred Fire: Fertility Images in Southwest Rock Art, Dennis Slifer reports:
“The tunnel through the boulder is large enough to crawl through, and its smoothly polished floor indicated that many people have done this—probably in conjunction with some ritual.”
The rock is decorated with many petroglyphs, some of which resemble male and female genitalia.
Caves
Cave of Hands is located in Pico Blanco in Monterey County. The Cave of Hands, sacred to the Costanoan, contains more than 250 hands images made by tracing and filling in. Archaeologists estimate that these painting were done more than 3,190 years ago.
Cave of Creation,a rock shelter located in the Tehachapi Mountains in the Mojave Desert is sacred to the Kawaiisu. This is where the First People were created, and the ancestors’ spirits still reside in the boulders. Dennis Slifer writes:
“The Cave of Creation resembles a huge vulva with a forty-foot cleft in the rock down which a seasonal waterfall flows.”
Cave Rock at Lake Tahoe is where the Washo tribal elders met with powerful spirits.
Indians 101/201/301
Twice each week this series presents different American Indian topics. Indians 201/301 are expansions of earlier essays. More about American Indian spirituality.
Indians 201: Sacred Places in the Great Basin
Indians 201: Sacred places in New England
Indians 101: Ceremonies of the Great Basin Indian Nations
Indians 101: Spirituality and Jimsonweed among California Indians
Indians 201: The Pawnee Morning Star Ceremony
Indians 101: Some Cayuga Ceremonies
Indians 201: Eschiti, Comanche medicineman
Indians 101: Kennekuk, Kickapoo Leader and Prophet
Note: This essay is from my book Sacred Things: American Indian Religions