Kato (tribe)

Cahto people

Cahto woman, photographed by Edward S. Curtis
Total population
259 enrolled members on reservation (2010)
Regions with significant populations
United States ( California)
Languages
English, Cahto language
Related ethnic groups
Southern Athabaskan people (including Chilula, Hupa, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, and Whilkut)

The Cahto (also spelled Kato, especially in anthropological and linguistic contexts) are an indigenous Californian group of Native Americans. Today most descendants are enrolled as the federally recognized tribe, the Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, and a small group of Cahto are enrolled in the Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation.

Cahto is a Northern Pomo word, meaning "lake", which referred to an important Cahto village site, called Djilbi. The Cahto are sometimes referred to as the Kaipomo or Kato people.

The tribe controls the Laytonville Rancheria (39°40′09″N 123°30′02″W / 39.66917°N 123.50056°W / 39.66917; -123.50056), also known as the Cahto Rancheria, a federal Indian reservation of Cahto and Pomo people. The rancheria is 264 acres (1.07 km²) large and located three miles (4.8 km) west of Laytonville in Mendocino County. It was founded in 1906. The reservation's population is about 188.

The Cahto flag, representing their sovereign nation, features a stylized bear claw outlined in white and centered on a black pictograph representing the Cahto ancestral lake home. The pictograph is centered on a red field surrounded with a white and red border. The Words "CAHTO TRIBE" is written in white block letters above the lake pictograph. The bear claw is placed to indicate the importance of the bear as one of their most important tribal totems. The lake symbol denotes their ancestral lands, the color red indicates the blood of their people, white is for the purity of their spirit, and the black is for the rich lake bottomland that sustained their ancestors. This flag is of modern creation and not traditional. It was adopted in 2013.