With the Achomawi, the Atsugewi constituted the Palaihnihan or eastern group of the Shastan stock, more recently placed by Dixon and Kroeber (1919) in the Hokan family.
Atsugewi Indians. Their own name or that which the Achomawi applied to them; significance unknown.
- Adwanuqdji, Ilmawi name.Hat Creek Indians, popular English name.
- Tcunoíyana, Yana name.
Location. On Burney, Hat, and Dixie Valley or Horse Creeks. Subdivisions. Kroeber (1925) gives: Apwarukei (Dixie Valley people), Hat Creek people (native name unknown), and Wamari’i (Burney Valley people). C. G. Merriam (1926) calls the Hat Creek people collectively At-soo-kā’-e (Atsugewi) and treats most of the Burney Valley Indians as part of the Atsugewi proper.
Population. Kroeber estimates that in 1770 there were 3,000 of the Atsugewi and the Achomawi together. The Shastan Indians numbered 844 in 1930.