The Miwok were one of the most populous groups in California, occupying areas from the Pacific Coast to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. They included several major linguistic and cultural groups, each of which was further divided into distinct subgroups and numerous individual tribelets.

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"Coast Miwok Indian Mortars and Pestles Found around Olompali in Marin County." California Historical Society, Photography collection, FN-27148.

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Variations in Miwok architecture reflected the great diversity of local conditions and materials within Miwok territory. Among the Miwok who lived in the Sacramento Valley, the more substantial families lived in semisubterranean earth-covered homes. In the upper foothills of the Sierra Nevada, houses were made of three or four layers of bark slabs. The homes of the Coast Miwok were built of interlocking poles of willow or driftwood to which were lashed horizontal poles. Bunches of grass or reeds were tied in rows of thatch on the pole frame.

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"Acorn Granaries," in Contributions to North American Ethnology, Volume III. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. California Historical Society, North Baker Research Library collection, FN-32151.

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