Penutian

The Penutian group rests on a hypothesis, first proposed in the early twentieth century, that linked the languages of the Miwok, Ohlone, Yokuts and Maidu of California, the Chinook of the lower Columbia and the Nimiipuu, or Nez Perce, of the interior. The wider unity is unproven.

They lived by fishing, gathering and hunting, from acorns in California to Columbia salmon. The Chinook traded between coast and interior, and Chinook Jargon grew from their speech. The Nimiipuu bred Appaloosa horses and met Lewis and Clark in 1805. Spanish missions from 1769 uprooted the Californian peoples, and mission rule ended in 1834.