The traditional territory of the Hupa people centers on the Hoopa Valley of northwestern California and includes all of the lower course of the Trinity River.

Social rank among the Hupa was calculated almost exclusively upon the basis of wealth. Wealthy families retained their privileged positions by passing on their fortunes from one generation to the next.

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All Images (DETAIL)- "Hu'pâ mush-paddle, pillow, & money purses, spoons and wedge of elkhorn," in Contributions to North American Ethnology, Volume III. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. California Historical Society, North Baker Research Library collection, FN-32148.

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The most important items in Hupa diet were salmon and acorns. The salmon were caught in the spring and fall as they returned to the Trinity River to spawn.

Hupa religious practice included world-renewal rituals known as the White Deerskin and Jumping Dances. These ceremonies were performed each year, during the late summer or early fall, to renew the world, and to ward off disease, famine, or other disasters in the coming year. These annual events included elaborate dance regalia, the display of wealth objects, and the recitation of long narratives.

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