The Atsugewi are Native Americans residing in what is now northern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Their traditional lands are near Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

, specifically the Pit River

Pit River

The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S...

 drainage on Burney

Burney, California

Burney is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Shasta County, California, United States. The population was 3,154 at the 2010 census, down from 3,217 at the 2000 census...

, Hat, and Dixie Valley or Horse Creeks. They are closely related to the Achomawi

Achomawi

The Achomawi are one of eleven bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA....

 and consisted of two groups (the Atsugé and the Apwaruge). The Atsugé ("pine-tree people") traditionally are from the Hat Creek

Hat Creek, California

Hat Creek is a census-designated place in Shasta County, California. Hat Creek sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Hat Creek's population was 309....

 area, and the Apwaruge ("juniper-tree people") are from the Dixie Valley. They lived to the south of the Achomawi

Achomawi

The Achomawi are one of eleven bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA....

.

Culture

The Atsugewi lived by hunting and gathering and lived in small groups without centralized political authority. They speak a Palaihnihan

Palaihnihan languages

-Family division:Palaihnihan is said to comprise:# Atsugewi # Achumawi -Genetic relations:The basis of this Palaihnihan grouping is weakened by poor quality of data...

 language.

Today

Today many Atsugewi are enrolled in the Pit River Tribe

Pit River Tribe

The Pit River Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of eleven bands of indigenous peoples of California. They primarily live along the Pit River in the northeast corner of California...

, while some Atsugewi people are members of the Susanville Indian Rancheria

Susanville Indian Rancheria

The Susanville Indian Rancheria is a federally recognized ranchería of Native Americans from a mixed community of Washoe, Achomawi, Mountain Maidu, Northern Paiute, and Atsugewi tribes.-Reservation:...

.

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. (See Population of Native California

Population of Native California

Estimates of the Native Californian population have varied substantially, both with respect to California's pre-contact count and for changes during subsequent periods. Pre-contact estimates range from 133,000 to 705,000 with some recent scholars concluding that these estimates are low...

.) Alfred L. Kroeber

Alfred L. Kroeber

Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...

 estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achumawi

Achomawi

The Achomawi are one of eleven bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA....

and Atsugewi as 3,000. A more detailed analysis by Fred B. Kniffen arrived at the same figure. T. R. Garth (1978:237) estimated the Atsugewi population at a maximum of 850.

Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achumawi and Astugewi in 1910 as 1,100. The population was given as about 500 in 1936.