The San Joaquin Valley was home to was home to a remarkably dense and diverse population of Native Californians. Perhaps as many as one-third of the more than 330,000 Native Californians lived here; four of the six linguistic stocks found in California are represented here; cultural and social patterns were highly variable, as were the adaptive strategies: coastal tidelands collectors; riverine fishers; lakeshore fishers-hunters-gatherers; valley and plains gatherers; foothill gatherers-hunters. There also was great variety in material culture, from house forms to boats, from clothing to basketry.
Written by Frank F. Latta and originally published in 1949, the Handbook of the Yokuts Indians is considered by many historians and cultural anthropologists to be the single most important work on the lives and culture of the more than 60 tribes that made.
First printed in 1936, California Indian Folklore was Frank Latta’s first work that specifically focused on the Native Americans of the San Joaquin Valley, describing the culture of the many tribes of the Yokuts.