How did village arrangements differ among Indigenous California tribelets?

Indigenous California tribelets organized their settlements in three primary ways, often dictated by their social and political structures:1

• Single-Village Systems: All members of the tribelet resided in one principal village, with individuals occasionally leaving for short periods to hunt, gather food, or visit other groups.1
• Centralized Systems: A principal village served as a hub for people living in smaller, outlying settlements, who would travel to the main site for political, social, economic, or ritual purposes.1
• Multi-Village Systems: This arrangement featured two or more large villages supported by various satellite settlements. In these systems, one village was designated as the capital, serving as the residence for the principal chief and the primary location for major negotiations and ceremonies.1

These patterns were distinct from the seminomadic bands found in regions with sparse economic resources, where groups of 20 to 30 people gathered only temporarily for specific harvests or drives. Generally, riverine and coastal peoples maintained more permanent, settled lives than those in desert or foothill environments.2