s. Without extensive field work, which might in fact now be
impossible, many of the discrepancies cannot be resolved. On the whole,
the later students appear to have come closer to the truth and are
probably more reliable.

CLEAR LAKE POMO

Gifford said (1937, p. 122) that there were 11 communities on Clear
Lake. Kniffen reorganized them to make 12, after which Stewart returned
to a count of 11. This last number, therefore, may be accepted as
final. Each of them consisted of a single principal village of
considerable size. A classical example is Cigom. Other inhabited spots
within the community area have usually been recognized but whether they
were permanent or shifting villages or camp sites usually is not clear.
For this reason the population has been discussed by ethnographers
since Barrett simply on the basis of the group, without much reference
to the number of sites known to have existed. The single exception I
would make to this procedure is to take account of the number (not
necessarily the names and location) of the villages known to have
possessed assembly houses, since the presence of these implies some
degree of permanence. A community with one capital village and several
such accessory sites would, other things being equal, create the
presumption of a larger aggregate population than a community with a
capital village and one or no subsidiaries.

There is a more definite population estimate for the Clear Lake region
than we have for many other native groups. L. L. Palmer in his History
of Napa and Lake Counties (1881), cites figures for the aboriginal
population of the Clear Lake communities which he obtained from an
informant who could well remember the days before the advent of the
white man. These figures have been subject to some disparaging
criticism by more modern students. The chief objection advanced is that
the book is one of the many county histories which appeared as
commercial ventures in the 1880's and which, on the whole, were very
carelessly written. Palmer, however, as his text shows, was much
interested in the fate of the natives and took considerable pains to
secure informants who could give him data. There is no ground for
impugning either his honesty or his competence. Moreover, it is
difficult to see why informants seventy years ago should be any less
reliable than they are now. Hence I can see no reason for not accepting
his figures as they stand, subject to the limitations of hi