Patwin


The Patwin are a band of Wintun people native to the area of Northern California. The Patwin comprise the southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500 AD.
The Patwin were bordered by the Yuki in the northwest; the Nomlaki in the north; the Konkow in northeast; the Nisenan and Plains Miwok in the east; the Bay Miwok to the south; the Coast Miwok in the southwest; and the Wappo, Lake Miwok, and Pomo in the west.
The "Southern Patwins" lived between what is now Suisun, Vacaville, and Putah Creek. By 1800 they had been forced by Spanish and other European invaders into small tribal units: Ululatos, Labaytos, Malacas, Tolenas, and Suisunes.
Patwin Indian remains were discovered at the Mondavi Center construction site beginning in 1999, and consequently the University of California, Davis built a Native American Contemplative Garden within the Arboretum, a project honoring the Patwin.

Language

The Patwin spoke a Southern Wintuan language called Patwin.

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Wintun, including the Patwin, Nomlaki, and Wintu proper, at 12,000. Sherburne F. Cook estimated the combined population of the Patwin and Nomlaki at 11,300, of which 3,300 represented the southern Patwin. He subsequently raised his figure for the southern Patwin to 5,000.
Kroeber estimated the population of the combined Wintun groups in 1910 as 1,000. By the 1920s, no Patwin remained along Putah Creek and few were left in the area. Today, Wintun descendants of the three groups total about 2,500 people. Only three federally recognized Patwin rancherías remain.

Villages