S is for Suisuni Native Americas

by Mariel

image from "The Way it Was", see Works Cited below

The Suisun Indians (Suisuni) The Suisun Indians lived in our area less than 200 years ago.

The Suisun Indians lived in Green Valley, Suisun Valley, and near the Suisun Marsh. The Suisun Indians were in a tribe called "Patwin." These are the small tribes and where they lived: the Ulatos lived in Vacaville, the Libaytos lived along Putah Creek, The Malacas was located in Lagoon Valley, and the Tolenas lived in the upper Suisun.

In the Winter they lived in the valleys such as Green Valley, Rockville Park, and Suisun Valley. In the Summer they lived down in the Suisun Marsh. The winter huts were made out of mud, reeds, willow sap, and grass. The huts for the Summer were made out of tule rushes, branches, and tall grass. The word "Suisun" means, "where the west wind blows."

The Suisun Indians ate buckeye ball, pine nuts, juniper and manzanita berries, black berries, wild grapes, acorns, wild onions, bulbs, mushrooms, and wild flowers. The different groups of animals that the Suisun Indians hunt for are deer, antelope, bear, and rabbits.

Now the clothing for the men was loincloth. Loincloth was a piece of animal skin or cloth that is worn to cover the front of the body between the hips and/or thighs. Deer and bearskin would be worn too. Woman wore aprons that were sewed or woven from tule rushes in front and deerskin in back. Sometimes the aprons would also be made out of rabbit skin too. The baby diapers were made out cattails. Sometimes they also used two fluffy deerskins.

Works Cited::

Image of the Suisun Native America village used from the book: "The Way It Was: A Program For Historic Preservation", A book prepared by the Department of Environmental Affairs, City of Fairfield, California, March 1975

"The Historic ABC's Of Solano County", written by Jackie Albright and Jackie Lillis Illustrated by Tina Akuda. Published by the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, 1997

"Tule Elk" by the Oakland Zoo web site: www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/aztlelk.htm We used this page on April 16, 2002 Gregory K. Snider,

"Elk" by Worldbook Online Americas Edition, http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/178600, we searched using the word "elk". We used this page on April 22, 2002