For many current Native American tribes, their religion and their tradition teach them that their tribe were the first and only inhabitants on their land since the beginning of time, and they view the questions of when they arrived, or if others lived on the land before them, as irrelevant and against their teachings.
For many scientists, however, the question of who were the first inhabitants at different locations in North America is a fascinating puzzle, with new pieces being discovered every year.
In the late 1800's, scientists of that era realized that many Native American tribes were being killed or moved off their land, and that important information about these tribes was being lost. These scientists determined to interview living Native Americans, trying to learn and preserve as much as they could of their language, culture and history.
When those scientists interviewed tribal members around Mt.Shasta, in many cases there were only a few survivors left of the tribes who had been living there when the first European-Americans arrived in Northern California.
In particular, the interviewers found members of a group of tribes, related by language and culture around Mt. Shasta, that they called the Shasta tribes. Included among the Shasta tribes was a tribe known as the Okwanuchu.
The Okwanuchu lived in the area south and southwest of Mt. Shasta, including the present-day cities of Mount Shasta, California and Dunsmuir, California, the upper Sacramento River and the McCloud River, south to north Salt Creek and east to Squaw Valley Creek.