Tsupu
Coast Miwok elder (c. 1815–1890),
About Tsupu
Lived 1820 – 1890 (aged 69–70).
Tsupu (–1890), also known as Wild Cucumber, Maria Chekka, and Maria Chica, was a Coast Miwok elder. She was the last native of the ancient village of Petaluma, which was east of the Petaluma River and about three and a half miles northeast of the present city of Petaluma, California. Many died, as smallpox spread through the area. She spent the rest of her life around Sonoma County. While living in Bodega Bay, she became the maid and mistress of a sea captain, Steven Smith, who built the first steam-generated saw mill on the West Coast. She gave her children with Comtechal Smith's last name to protect them from slave traders, and had two more children with Smith. Shortly after Smith's death, she rejoined Comtechal.
Tsupu had six children. One of her descendants, Greg Sarris, is a novelist and the Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
The village of Péta Lúuma was abandoned once and for all after the 1838 smallpox epidemic.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Tsupu's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Tsupu?
Coast Miwok elder (c. 1815–1890),
When was Tsupu born?
Tsupu was born in 1820 in Petaluma.
When did Tsupu die?
Tsupu died in 1890.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Tsupu. https://biography.guide/tsupu/
MLA: "Tsupu." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/tsupu/.
Chicago: "Tsupu." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/tsupu/.
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