Hupa

alt=|thumb|A Hupa white deerskin dance by A.W. Ericson The Hupa (Yurok: / 'Hupa people') are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is ' for Hupa-language speakers in general, and for residents of Hoopa Valley, also spelled , meaning "People of the Place Where the Trails Return". The Karuk name for them is ("Hupa (Trinity River) People", from = "Hupa River, i.e. Trinity River"). The majority of the tribe is enrolled in the federally recognized Hoopa Valley Tribe'.

==History== thumb|Wood plank and rock Hupa sweat house Hupa people migrated from the north into northern California around 1000 CE and settled in Hoopa Valley, California (Hupa: ). Their heritage language is Hupa, which is a member of the Athabaskan language family. Their land stretched from the South Fork of the Trinity River to Hoopa Valley, to the Klamath River in California. Their red cedar-planked houses, dugout canoes, basket hats and many elements of their oral literature identify them with their northern origin; however, some of their customs, such as the use of a sweat house for ceremonies and the manufacture of acorn bread, were adopted from surrounding Indigenous peoples of California. Close associated peoples - both by language and custom - were/are the Tsnungwe (South Fork Hupa), the Chilula (Lower Redwood Creek Hupa) and Whilkut (Redwood Creek Hupa).