FOUR DIRECTIONS INSTITUTE

Ethnies	Koso, Modoc, Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, Washoe, Western Shoshoni in California. The Great Basin and these ethnies stretched into eastern Oregon, Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Idaho.
*Transitional Ethnies*	Achomawi, Atsugewi, Tubatulabl
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*Shared Elements*
*Economy*	Communal
*Government*	Hereditary chiefs
*Housing*	Rough wickiups, lean-tos
*Marriage*	Informal
*Ceremonies*	Bear dance
*Creation Story Motif*	Coyote father
*Basketry*	Excellent twining and open-stitch coiling
*Primary Foods*	Foraging
*Disposition*	Mostly timid except for Northern Paiute and Modoc

The ethnies of the California Great Basin culture were semi-sedentary in only a few cases and for the most part nomadic. Individual bands often claimed rough territories, but most were not really owners. Most were poor foragers derogatorily termed as "diggers." Some Southern Paiutes in their southernmost territories of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada farmed.

The Great Basin is arid territory which required its inhabitants to have a keen knowledge of its ecology if they were to survive, and these ethnies did. They spent their travels in small family groups coming together only for the annual Bear Dance. Their small group numbers meant they had to avoid early explorers and pioneers. As a result, little contact was made with them until late in history. They suffered greatly from livestock destroying their food sources.