| The Hokan speakers are
among, if not the, earliest inhabitants of California. It has been
hypothesized that the phylum includes southeastern Texas ethnies:
Coahuiltecans and Tonkawans (Sapir 1929, Voegelin and
Voegelin 1966, and Greenberg 1987). That hypothesis is accepted in
this analysis with the California Hokan classified as Western
Hokan. There are Hokan branches in Meso-America as well. |
| There is
considerable dispute as to whether Chumashan is in the Hokan family of
languages (Analysis).
Chumashan is considered a separate phylum in this analysis.
Indeed, some linguists doubt if a Hokan phylum exists at
all though a Pomo-Yuman relationship has been
established. The
Yukian language has been classified at Hokan by some but is classified
as Macro-Penutian in this analysis. |
|
 |
|
| The
cultures represented herein as the Hokan language phylum are:
|
|
Colorado River hunter/farmers |
River Yumans |
|
Coastal hunter/gatherers |
Diegueno, Esselen, Pomo,
Salinan, Seri (MX) |
|
Semi-sedentary hunter/gatherers |
Diegueno, Kamia, Salinan,
Yanans |
|
Sedentary hunter-fisher/gatherers |
Chimariko, Shastans |
|
Sedentary hunter/horticulturists |
Pai Yumans (AZ) |
|
Great Basin foragers |
Washoe |
|
|
Some of the Western
Hokan languages have survived, but there is only limited recordings of
Chimariko, Esselen, and Salinan.
|
