The Yuki are a Native American tribe from the zone of Round Valley, in what today is part of the territory of Mendocino County, Northern California. In their language, the Yuki called themselves Ukomno'm ("Valley People"). The name Yuki is, in fact, an adaptation of the Wintu term "yuki" (meaning "enemy") used to designate them by their neighbors, the Nomlaki, and from which the white explorers learned of their existence c. 1850. Unlike most Californian tribes, the Yuki engaged in hostilities with other native tribes that surrounded them on several occasions. As the white settlers began to flock to Northern California in the early 1850's, the Yuki were driven out of their lands, repeatedly decimated in raids conducted by the local ranchers and the authorities and taken into slavery. In 1856, the Round Valley area was turned into the Indian reservation of Nome Cult Farm (later to become Round Valley Indian Reservation), where thousands of Yuki and members of other local tribes were forced to inhabit, usually in extremely precarious conditions. These events later led to the Mendocino War (1859), where hundreds of Yuki were either massacred or taken by force to Nome Cult Farm. It has been estimated that some 20,000 Yuki lived in the Round Valley area by 1854. Today, only 100 remain, and the native Yuki language is spoken by no more than a dozen individuals.

Native American tribes

See also

Yuki language

Yuki