Mattole

The Mattole lived along the Mattole and Bear Rivers near Cape Mendocino on California's northern coast. They spoke an Athabaskan language and built some substantial houses with straight walls and pitched roofs. Salmon and steelhead were especially important foods, caught as they swam upriver to spawn; acorns and other plants also contributed to the diet. Mattole men traditionally wore tattoos on their foreheads, a practice that distinguished them from many neighboring peoples, among whom facial tattooing was generally restricted to women.