What is "achomawi"

n. The native language spoken by the Pit River people of present-day California.

Achomawi (also Achumawi, Ajumawi and Ahjumawi) is a name used in the anthropological literature for the northerly nine (out of eleven) bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in what is now northeastern California in the United States. These nine autonomous bands (also called "tribelets") of the Pit River Indians spoke various dialects of one common language, and the other two bands spoke dialects of a related language, called by anthropologists Atsugewi. "Achomawi", meaning river dwelling (from ajumma, "river") is actually just the name of the band whose territory was historically along the Fall River Valley and the Pit River from the south end of Big Valley Mountains, westerly to Pit River Falls.

The other eight bands that shared the Achomawi language had a historic homeland located along other parts of the Pit River. Their territory extended from Big Bend to Goose Lake. This land was also home to the Atsugewi language group, which consisted two distinct bands of what is now unified as the Pit River Tribe, and who lived south of the Achomawi language bands in the Hat Creek valley and Dixie Valley.