Native American Heritage Month: California Indians

A group of Cahuilla Indians occupying a reservation in and around the city of Palm Springs, in Riverside County. Also known as the Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. Total area is 31,610 acres. Tribal Enrollment is around 365. Total Population on the reservation is around 21,358 (Census 2000). Approximately 6,700 acres of the reservation lie within the city limits of Palm Springs, making the Agua Caliente band the city's largest landowner. In 1992 the tribe bought the Spa Hotel and Mineral Springs, an internationally renowned resort. The tribe also owns a network of canyons just southwest of Palm Springs called Indian Canyons, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and which is a popular tourist destination.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has two casinos: the Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs, and the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage. Other forms of entertainment, education, and shopping offered for visitors include hiking, picnicking, and horseback riding in the Indian Canyons, hiking tours, the visitors' center with film and displays in Tahquitz Canyon, and the mineral springs spa and health facilities at the Spa Resort Hotel. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in downtown Palm Springs offers films, exhibitions, traditional cultural activities and classes, and lecture programs. The tribe maintains a visitors' information center at the north end of Palm Springs. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum has a library and research center with materials on the Agua Caliente, other Cahuilla bands, and other Native American indigenous peoples. It is open by appointment to the public. Museum staff can assist with research. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is located at 219 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 in the Village Green Heritage Center; telephone number is (760) 323-0151. Museum Administration Offices are at 471 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Telephone number is (760) 788-1079.
The Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians is active in land planning and environmental and cultural resource protection and preservation. The Tribal Administration offices are located at 600 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. The phone number is (760) 325-3400 or (800) 790-3398.

The Augustine Reservation of Cahuilla Indians is a one-square mile tract of land, about 500 acres, in the lower Coachella valley, in Riverside County, southern California, near the community of Thermal. Nearby is the neighboring Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians. The Reservation land had been unoccupied for more than 50 years, and the reservation had become an illegal dumping ground for household garbage, trash, appliances, animal carcasses, commercial waste, car batteries, and thousands of tires. In 1994, the U.S. Environmental Service, the California Conservation Corps, the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and the Riverside County Sheriff's office began assisting the Augustine Band in developing a cleanup plan. In 1996, Maryann Martin, the Chairperson of the Band, became the first member to establish residency on the reservation since the mid-1950's. The cleanup will be expensive and gradual, it seems. It is estimated that the cost of removing all waste, grading soil, and revegetating the site will be around $500,000. For further information on the cleanup effort, contact Karen Kupcha at (760) 365-1373.

Ancestors of Augustine Tribal members were Desert Cahuilla Indians who occupied the upper Colorado and Mojave Desert areas, including the Coachella Valley and Santa Rosa Mountains. The Augustine Band of Mission Indians was established by Executive Order on December 29,1981. The original Augustine Membership Roll of 11 persons was prepared and approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on April 13, 1956. The last surviving member, Roberta Ann Augustine, died on May 9, 1987, leaving three children and two grandchildren. Maryann Martin, one of her descendants, is the current Tribal Chairperson. Historically, the Cahuilla were divided into two moieties or groups of clans: the Wildcat and Coyote. They were further divided into approximately a dozen patrilineal clans, each having its own name, territory and common ancestry. In addition to the Augustine Band, other Cahuilla tribes in Southern California are the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs, the Cabazon Band, the Ramona Band of Mission Indians near Anza, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

An Athabascan group who inhabited the hills and oak savannahs of the coast range in the northwestern corner of California. Cahto is Northern Pomo for "lake," referring to an important Cahto village site, which in their language is Djilbi. The Cahto are sometimes referred to as Kaipomo Indians. Their language relates them distantly to the Athabascan peoples of the interior of Alaska and northern Canada, as well as to the Navajos and Apaches of the Southwest. In the early 18th century, around 1,100 Cahtos lived in their region in approximately 50 village sites. Their land today is the Laytonville Rancheria, with about 129 Cahto-Pomo people living there in 1990. A few Cahto also live on the Round Valley Reservation. However, most Cahtos today live in Mendocino County.

These people were traditionally located in the inland areas of southern California, generally south of the San Bernardino Mountains. The Cahuilla refer to themselves as Iviatim. The word Cahuilla is thought to have come from the tribal word Kawiya, meaning "master." They were divided into small groups or tribelets in the foothills, mountain regions, and partly in the desert lands east of the Sierra divide, into two broad groups called the Coyote and the Wildcat. They lived in about 50 villages aboriginally. The Cahuilla population may have numbered as many as 10,000 in the 17th century, with about 5,000 remaining by the late 18th century. Their language is from the Cupan subgroup of the Takic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family, which extends into the Southwest and central Mexico. Today Cahuilla people live on the reservations of Agua Caliente, Augustine, Cabazon, Cahuilla, Los Coyotes, Morongo, Ramona, Santa Rosa, Soboba, and Torres-Martinez. These are all bands of Mission Indians. In 1990, the total Indian population of all reservations on which Cahuilla lived was 1,276.

These Indian people originally occupied lands in southern California in the area of present-day Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. The Coastal Chumash were living in their traditional territory by approximately 1000 A.D. Traditionally, they lived in villages along the Pacific coast from San Luis Obispo to Malibu Canyon and inland as far as the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. The Chumash are sometimes referred to as the Santa Barbara Indians. However, each Chumash regional group has its own name. They are composed of the Barbareno, Ynezeno, Ventureno, Obispeno, Purisimeno, and the Interior Chumash. At the time of first Spanish contact in 1542, the Chumash were one of the largest and most highly developed California tribes. Their traditional language is no longer spoken (the last native speaker of a Chumash language died in 1965), but was one of five closely related Hokan languages. Those along the coast obtained their food mainly from the sea, for which they developed sea-going canoes. They were the only California tribe to depend largely on ocean fishing for subsistence. The Chumash are known for their technological skill in constructing ocean-going canoes. They hunted on and around the Channel Islands as well as along the coast. The Chumash Tribe is also known for its aesthetic contributions in the form of baskets and shell and steatite objects. Five Spanish missions were established in Chumash territory, and soon the Chumash population was decimated, largely due to the introduction of European diseases. Population estimates of the Chumash before the Spanish arrived was as high as 22,000. In the late 18th century, Chumash population was between roughly 10,000 and 18,000. By 1831, the number of mission-registered Chumash numbered only 2,788. Today, about 213 Chumash people live on the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation, the only Chumash reservation, and others live in cities along the southern California coast.

Also known as Kuupangaxwichem. Cupeño is Spanish for "a person who comes from Kupa." These people traditionally occupied land where the present-day Warner's Ranch is located - 50 miles inland and 50 miles north of the current Mexican border, in the foothills of the Coast Range, in the mountainous area at the headwaters of the San Luis Rey River and the San Jose de Valle Valley. Their language belongs to the Cupan subgroup of the Takic family of the Uto-Aztecan languages, and is closely related to the Cahuilla language. A few people still speak the language today. Fewer than 750 Cupeños lived in their region in the mid-18th century. Today, most Cupeño people live on the Pala Reservation while some also live on the Morongo Reservation. By 1973 fewer than 150 people claimed Cupeño descent. Cupeño customs were derived from neighboring Cahuilla, Luiseño, and Ipai over the past 800 years or so. Around the turn of the 20th century, the Cupeños (250 or so) were forced by the government of California to move from their homes at Warner's Hot Springs to the Pala Reservation (which was Luiseño), awarding title to the Cupeño homeland at Warner's Springs to a man who was once governor of California. In 1903 a 3,438-acre ranch was purchased for the Cupeño at Pala Valley, now known as New Pala.

A federal reservation of Hupa Indians in northeast Humboldt County, about 64 miles east of Eureka. This forested country is located along the Trinity River, and over three-quarters of the reservation is designated as commercial timberland. The total area is 85,446 acres, or about 144 square miles. It has a population of 2,633. The reservation's seven districts (Campbell, Hostler-Matilton, Agency, Soctish-Chenone, Mesket, Norton, and Bald Hill) correspond with traditional Hupa villages. At the heart of the Hoopa Valley is the ancient village of Takimildin, which is "the center of the world" for the Hupa people. The Brush Dance, the White Deerskin Dance, and the Jump Dance are performed yearly. See also: Hupa Indians

A tribe who traditionally occupied lands in the far northwestern corner of California, along the lower Trinity River and in the Hoopa Valley. Their self-designation was Natinook-wa, "People of the Place Where the Trails Return." Hupa is from the Yurok language for the Hoopa Valley. The Hupa were culturally and linguistically related to three neighboring tribes: the Chilula and Whilkut who lived mainly to their east; and the South Fork Hupa (Tsnungwe) who lived to the south. They are also culturally related to the Yurok and the Karuk to the north. Their language belongs to the Athabascan language family. In the early 19th century, there were around 1,000 Hupa in and near the Hoopa Valley. Their diet and way of life centered around the semiannual king salmon runs that occur on the Trinity River. This river flows through the Hoopa Valley Reservation, created in 1864, which is in the heart of their traditional territory. Being fairly isolated, the Hupa had little contact with non-natives until the mid-19th century. Over 2,600 Indians live on this reservation. Today, the tribe's economy centers around the timber industry. See: Hoopa Valley Reservation

A tribe from the far northwestern portion of California, inland along the middle section of the Klamath River. Karuk means "upstream," as opposed to the word for their neighbors, Yurok, which means "downstream." Culturally, the Karuk were very similar to the neighboring Yurok and Hupa. Their language is one of the Hokan language family. They traditionally relied on the salmon runs that occur twice each year, as well as on gathering foods. Karuk population in the 18th century is estimated to have been around 1,500. Today, the Karuk are one of the largest tribes in California, with approximately 4,800 members, although the tribe has a small land base. Today, Karuk Indians live in the Orleans district in Humboldt County, the Happy Camp district, the Yreka district, along the Forks of the Salmon region in Siskiyou County, and in southern Oregon.

About 200-300 Kawaiisu descendents live in their traditional areas in Kern County, including five fluent speakers of their language between the ages of 60 and 95 years of age. Classes in their language of Tehachapi are being taught today. This language is of the Southern Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Their homelands are in the foothills between the Mohave Desert and the San Joaquin Valley where they have lived for more than 2,000 years. This area is in the Tehachapi and Piute mountain areas of northern California. The Kawaiisu were great basket makers, but the last one passed away in the 1980s. For more information, see: The Kawaiisu Tribe. Some people of Kawaiisu descent also live on the Tule River Reservation.

These people traditionally lived in southern California in present-day Kern County, around the Bakersfield area. They lived in semi-permanent villages in the classic California foothills fashion. During the 19th century, they Kitanemuk lived in the Tejon Ranch Indian community, which never became a reservation. Today, many people of Kitanemuk descent live near Tejon Ranch, but only one family still lives on the ranch. Some people of Kitanemuk descent live on the Tule River Reservation, as well as on private land near their homeland. Traditionally, their food consisted of acorns and other vegetables, and was supplemented with small-game hunting. Their language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family.

Also called the Diegueño, or Tipai-Ipai, these Indians' traditional lands are what are now San Diego County and northern Baja California. The Kumeyaay land extended from 50 to 75 miles both north and south of the present Mexican border, as well as from the California coast almost to the Colorado River. Theirs is a Hokan language of the Yuman branch. They are divided also by two dialects: Ipai (the northern dialectical form) and Tipai (the southern dialectical form). They depended on a variety of foods, from marine resources along the coast to vegetable foods such as acorns, to dry farming. In the 18th century, there were around 50 bands of Kumeyaay. The Mission San Diego was the first Spanish mission in California, established in San Diego in 1769 to convert the Kumeyaay, among other goals. The Spanish called them Diegueños because they lived near the San Diego river. In the late 18th century there were between 3,000 and 9,000 Tipai-Ipai, or Kumeyaay/Diegueño/Kamia. Before 1870, the southern and interior Kumeyaay largely avoided repression by the Mission San Diego, while the northern and coastal Kumeyaay had early contact with the missions, and fell under Spanish domination. After 1870, American immigrants moved into the area, taking the Kumeyaay land. Until 1910, the Kumeyaay largely starved on inadequate reservations or found menial labor on area ranches or in local homes. Today, there are around 1,200 Kumeyaay living on their reservations of Barona, Campo, Inaja-Cosmit, La Posta, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan, Viejas (Baron Long), and the Jamul Indian Village. Their reservations of Capitan Grande and Cuyapaipe are unoccupied. Another 2,000 more live off-reservation. Various spellings of Kumeyaay may be found in older documents, such as Kumei, or Cumeyaay.

By the end of the 19th century, most Indian peoples in California had suffered devastating losses to their numbers through diseases, military battles, poverty, and cultural disruption. They had been forcibly removed from their traditional lands, and their populations were depleted. Many Indian groups were left without a permanent land base. A Congressional act called for an investigation, led by C. E. Kelsey, on the status of California's "landless" Indians at the beginning of the 20th century. This led to the establishment of many reservations and rancherias for California's "landless" Indians.

These people traditionally occupied land extending approximately 50 miles along the southern California coastline, including the northern part of San Diego County, and lands south of Los Angeles. Historically, the Luiseño occupied the territory south of Mt. San Jacinto extending to the Pacific coast. Their lands extended inland for about 30 miles, north of the Kumeyaay lands. The Spanish named them after the Mission San Luis Rey, and the San Luis Rey River. The Luiseño were associated with the Mission San Juan Capistrano, also, and were often referred to as Juaneño Indians. Both the Luiseño and Juaneño are included among the groups of so-called Mission Indians. The Luiseño and Juaneño languages belong to the Takic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Many people still speak Luiseño. Their foods were marine resources along the coast and vegetables gathered in the foothills of the Coast Range to the east. They lived in semi-permanent villages, with some seasonal movement. The Luiseño were organized into roughly 50 patrilineal clan tribelets, each with an autonomous, semi-permanent village led by a hereditary chief. Each village group also had its own food resource area. In the late 18th century, there were approximated 10,000 Luiseños. The 1990 population of Luiseños on their reservations stood at 1,795. Today, Luiseño people live on the La Jolla, Pala, Pechanga, Pauma, Rincon, Soboba, and Twentynine Palms reservations. They are also called the Luiseño Band of Mission Indians.

A federal reservation of Hupa Indians in northeast Humboldt County, about 64 miles east of Eureka. This forested country is located along the Trinity River, and over three-quarters of the reservation is designated as commercial timberland. The total area is 85,446 acres, or about 144 square miles. It has a population of 2,633. The reservation's seven districts (Campbell, Hostler-Matilton, Agency, Soctish-Chenone, Mesket, Norton, and Bald Hill) correspond with traditional Hupa villages. At the heart of the Hoopa Valley is the ancient village of Takimildin, which is "the center of the world" for the Hupa people. The Brush Dance, the White Deerskin Dance, and the Jump Dance are performed yearly. See also: Hupa Indians

A tribe who traditionally occupied lands in the far northwestern corner of California, along the lower Trinity River and in the Hoopa Valley. Their self-designation was Natinook-wa, "People of the Place Where the Trails Return." Hupa is from the Yurok language for the Hoopa Valley. The Hupa were culturally and linguistically related to three neighboring tribes: the Chilula and Whilkut who lived mainly to their east; and the South Fork Hupa (Tsnungwe) who lived to the south. They are also culturally related to the Yurok and the Karuk to the north. Their language belongs to the Athabascan language family. In the early 19th century, there were around 1,000 Hupa in and near the Hoopa Valley. Their diet and way of life centered around the semiannual king salmon runs that occur on the Trinity River. This river flows through the Hoopa Valley Reservation, created in 1864, which is in the heart of their traditional territory. Being fairly isolated, the Hupa had little contact with non-natives until the mid-19th century. Over 2,600 Indians live on this reservation. Today, the tribe's economy centers around the timber industry. See: Hoopa Valley Reservation

A tribe from the far northwestern portion of California, inland along the middle section of the Klamath River. Karuk means "upstream," as opposed to the word for their neighbors, Yurok, which means "downstream." Culturally, the Karuk were very similar to the neighboring Yurok and Hupa. Their language is one of the Hokan language family. They traditionally relied on the salmon runs that occur twice each year, as well as on gathering foods. Karuk population in the 18th century is estimated to have been around 1,500. Today, the Karuk are one of the largest tribes in California, with approximately 4,800 members, although the tribe has a small land base. Today, Karuk Indians live in the Orleans district in Humboldt County, the Happy Camp district, the Yreka district, along the Forks of the Salmon region in Siskiyou County, and in southern Oregon.

About 200-300 Kawaiisu descendents live in their traditional areas in Kern County, including five fluent speakers of their language between the ages of 60 and 95 years of age. Classes in their language of Tehachapi are being taught today. This language is of the Southern Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Their homelands are in the foothills between the Mohave Desert and the San Joaquin Valley where they have lived for more than 2,000 years. This area is in the Tehachapi and Piute mountain areas of northern California. The Kawaiisu were great basket makers, but the last one passed away in the 1980s. For more information, see: The Kawaiisu Tribe. Some people of Kawaiisu descent also live on the Tule River Reservation.

These people traditionally lived in southern California in present-day Kern County, around the Bakersfield area. They lived in semi-permanent villages in the classic California foothills fashion. During the 19th century, they Kitanemuk lived in the Tejon Ranch Indian community, which never became a reservation. Today, many people of Kitanemuk descent live near Tejon Ranch, but only one family still lives on the ranch. Some people of Kitanemuk descent live on the Tule River Reservation, as well as on private land near their homeland. Traditionally, their food consisted of acorns and other vegetables, and was supplemented with small-game hunting. Their language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family.

Also called the Diegueño, or Tipai-Ipai, these Indians' traditional lands are what are now San Diego County and northern Baja California. The Kumeyaay land extended from 50 to 75 miles both north and south of the present Mexican border, as well as from the California coast almost to the Colorado River. Theirs is a Hokan language of the Yuman branch. They are divided also by two dialects: Ipai (the northern dialectical form) and Tipai (the southern dialectical form). They depended on a variety of foods, from marine resources along the coast to vegetable foods such as acorns, to dry farming. In the 18th century, there were around 50 bands of Kumeyaay. The Mission San Diego was the first Spanish mission in California, established in San Diego in 1769 to convert the Kumeyaay, among other goals. The Spanish called them Diegueños because they lived near the San Diego river. In the late 18th century there were between 3,000 and 9,000 Tipai-Ipai, or Kumeyaay/Diegueño/Kamia. Before 1870, the southern and interior Kumeyaay largely avoided repression by the Mission San Diego, while the northern and coastal Kumeyaay had early contact with the missions, and fell under Spanish domination. After 1870, American immigrants moved into the area, taking the Kumeyaay land. Until 1910, the Kumeyaay largely starved on inadequate reservations or found menial labor on area ranches or in local homes. Today, there are around 1,200 Kumeyaay living on their reservations of Barona, Campo, Inaja-Cosmit, La Posta, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan, Viejas (Baron Long), and the Jamul Indian Village. Their reservations of Capitan Grande and Cuyapaipe are unoccupied. Another 2,000 more live off-reservation. Various spellings of Kumeyaay may be found in older documents, such as Kumei, or Cumeyaay.

By the end of the 19th century, most Indian peoples in California had suffered devastating losses to their numbers through diseases, military battles, poverty, and cultural disruption. They had been forcibly removed from their traditional lands, and their populations were depleted. Many Indian groups were left without a permanent land base. A Congressional act called for an investigation, led by C. E. Kelsey, on the status of California's "landless" Indians at the beginning of the 20th century. This led to the establishment of many reservations and rancherias for California's "landless" Indians.

These people traditionally occupied land extending approximately 50 miles along the southern California coastline, including the northern part of San Diego County, and lands south of Los Angeles. Historically, the Luiseño occupied the territory south of Mt. San Jacinto extending to the Pacific coast. Their lands extended inland for about 30 miles, north of the Kumeyaay lands. The Spanish named them after the Mission San Luis Rey, and the San Luis Rey River. The Luiseño were associated with the Mission San Juan Capistrano, also, and were often referred to as Juaneño Indians. Both the Luiseño and Juaneño are included among the groups of so-called Mission Indians. The Luiseño and Juaneño languages belong to the Takic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Many people still speak Luiseño. Their foods were marine resources along the coast and vegetables gathered in the foothills of the Coast Range to the east. They lived in semi-permanent villages, with some seasonal movement. The Luiseño were organized into roughly 50 patrilineal clan tribelets, each with an autonomous, semi-permanent village led by a hereditary chief. Each village group also had its own food resource area. In the late 18th century, there were approximated 10,000 Luiseños. The 1990 population of Luiseños on their reservations stood at 1,795. Today, Luiseño people live on the La Jolla, Pala, Pechanga, Pauma, Rincon, Soboba, and Twentynine Palms reservations. They are also called the Luiseño Band of Mission Indians.

The Maiduan peoples lived traditionally in the north-central part of California, along the eastern tributaries of the Sacramento River, south of Lassen Peak. In the early 19th century, there were around 9,000 Maidus. There are three groups of closely-related peoples usually called the Maidu: the Maidu of Plumas and Lassen counties, the Konkow of Butte and Yuba counties, and the Nisenan of Yuba, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties. Their languages (Maidu, Konkow, and Nisenan) are of the Penutian family, and were probably mutually unintelligible. Their traditional way of life extended from the valley ecological type, dependent on marine resources and vegetables, to the foothills ecological type, the classic California way of eating acorns and small game. Gold was discovered in California at Coloma, in the heart of Nisenan territory, and gold miners overwhelmed this traditional Maidu territory in the 1850s. Today, there are approximately 2,500 Maiduan people who live primarily on the rancherias of Auburn, Berry Creek, Chico, Enterprise, Greenville, Mooretown, Shingle Springs, and Susanville, as well as on the Round Valley Reservation. The Konkow Reservation was established as Nome Lackee in 1854, but its residents were forced nine years later to abandon it and march to the Round Valley Reservation. See also: United Auburn Indian Community.

The Mattole people traditionally occupied a stretch of coastline in the northwestern corner of California, close to the Oregon border, along with some inland river valleys. Their language is Athabascan, relating them to their Athabascan neighbors, as well as to the Navajos and Apaches of the Southwest, and also to the peoples of the interior of Alaska and northern Canada. They traditionally fished and gathered along the coast, and depended on king salmon and other resources along the major rivers of their territories. Presently, their descendants are found on the Rohnerville Rancheria

This is a designation for the Indians of Southern California forced by the Spanish into the mission system in the coastal areas of the southern two-thirds of the state. The Indian groups known as Mission Indians are the following:

* Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* Augustine Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* Barona Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* Campo Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Costanoan Band of Carmel Mission Indians (Ohlone)
* Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Inaja & Cosmit Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Jamul Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* La Jolla Band of Mission Indians (Luiseño)
* La Posta Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla and Cupeño)
* Manzanita Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Morongo Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla, Serrano and Cupeño)
* Pala Band of Mission Indians (Cupeño and Luiseño)
* Pauma Band of Mission Indians (Luiseño)
* Pechanga Band of Mission Indians (Luiseño)
* Ramona Band or Village of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (Serrano)
* San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla)
* Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians (Chumash)
* Santa Ysabel Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Soboba Band of Mission Indians (Luiseño)
* Sycuan Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay/Diegueño)
* Torres-Martinez Band of Mission Indians (Cahuilla),
* Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians (Luiseño)

The Miwok people were originally composed of three main groups - the Coast Miwok, the Lake Miwok, and the Sierra Mewuk, all from north-central California. Originally, the Miwok lived in over 100 villages along the San Joanquin and Sacramento Rivers, from the area north of San Francisco Bay east into the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. The Coast Miwok territory traditionally covered the Pacific Coast from present-day Sausalito to Duncan's Point, including Bodega Bay, Tomales Bay, and San Pablo Bay, inland to the area near Sonoma. The Lake Miwok lands were located to the east and south of Clear Lake, north of San Francisco Bay. The Sierra Mewuk traditional territory was in the Sierra Nevada foothills of the central part of California. These Indians spoke Hokan languages, related to other California languages from the north along the coast and extending into Mexico and the Great Basin. Their food supplies included the tideland gathering of fish and shellfish, for the Coast Miwok, fish and waterfowl for the Lake Miwok, and king salmon for the Sierra Mewuk. They all also utilized acorns and game. In the 18th century, there were around 22,000 Miwok. Today many Coast Miwok live in the same areas they traditionally lived, but they have no recognized tribal lands. On December 28, 2002, the Coast Miwok were admitted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and ratified (but not officially recognized) as a tribe. Having official status entitles them to recieve funding for health care, education, and housing. The Coast Miwok are now called the Federated Indians of Graton Ranchiera. Many of the Lake Miwok people live today on the Middletown Rancheria. Many of the Sierra Mewuk still live today around their traditional territory. Some live on the federal trust lands of the Jackson, Shingle Springs, and Tuolumne rancherias, and some live on the Sheep Ranch, Buena Vista, and Chicken Ranch rancherias, which have little or no trust lands. Others live in the surrounding areas of these rancherias. There are about 3,500 Miwok people today. See also: United Auburn Indian Community.

This group of Indians traditionally occupied about 200 miles of land along the Colorado River from present-day Hoover Dam down to the city of Blythe, as well as a large inland region to the west of the river. Their language belongs to the Yuman branch of the Hokan family. The Mojave made their living as desert farmers, using the floodwaters of the Colorado River. They depended on fishing, hunting, and trapping, and on the mesquite bean for food. Today there are around 1,000 Mojave people living on or near the Fort Mojave Reservation, which is located along the Colorado River in the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. Several thousand more live on the Colorado River Reservation.

A group of Northern Paiute Indians inhabiting the Mono Lake region who are called the Kutzadika'a People, or the Mono Lake Kutzadika. The Kutzadika'a Indian Community is currently working to obtain federal recognition of their tribe. For more information on the tribe and the origins of their name, see the following web site: Kutzadika'a People or contact: Mono Lake Indian Community, P.O. Box 29, Lee Vining, CA 93541 (760) 647-6377;info@monolake.org.

The Nomlaki Indians are a division of the Penutian-speaking Wintun Indians of the Sacramento Valley region. They traditionally occupied parts of what are now Tehama and Glenn counties. Just before the turn of the 20th century, diseases brought by white immigrants devastated the Nomlaki population by at least 75%. Other factors greatly disrupted tribal unity. In 1854, a 25,000-acre Nome Lackee Reservation was established by Executive Order. However, this reservation was dissolved in 1863 and the land taken over by white immigrants. After being forcibly removed to the Round Valley Reservation, and to the Nome Lackee Reservation, the Grindstone Indian Rancheria finally offered a sanctuary for some of the Nomlaki people. See also: Wintun

The Ohlone, or Costanoans, are recognized by the state of California. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was federally recognized as the Verona Band of Alameda County. The Amah-Mutsun Band was federally recognized as the San Juan Bautista Band of San Benito County. The Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation was federally recognized as the Monterey Band of Monterey County. The Ohlone Indians lived around San Francisco Bay before the Europeans arrived. Originally, the name "Ohlone" was the name of a small Indian tribe that lived on the coast near Pescadero. Some use the name Ohlone for all the Indians who live around San Francisco Bay. See also: Costanoan

There are three main groups of Paiute people. The Northern Paiute and Owens Valley Paiute lived in what is now California, occupying the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, from the northern border with Oregon south to Owens Valley. The third group of Paiute people are the Southern Paiute. Their languages are Uto-Aztecan. They made their living by hunting and gathering, along with some irrigation of lands supporting plants with edible seeds and roots. Today there are around 2,200 Owens Valley Paiutes living on the Benton, Bishop, Big Pine, Lone Pine, and Fort Independence reservations, and about 150 Northern Paiutes living in the Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony, on the Cedarville Rancheria, and on the Fort Bidwell Reservation.

A federal reservation of Luiseño Indians in the northeastern corner of San Diego County, against the foothills of Mount Palomar. It is also known as the Pauma and Yuima Reservation. Total area is 5,877 acres, with 225 acres serving as the community center. Two 12.5 acre tracts located on the slopes of Mount Palomar are referred to as Yuima tracts 1 and 2. These tracts are about five miles from the main reservation and are unpopulated. The population on the reservation is around 186.

A federal reservation of Chuckchansi Indians located near the community of Coarsegold in central California. They are among a group of about 15 "Foothill Yokuts" tribes who occupied the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada from the Fresno River southward to the Kern River, or from the San Joaquin River to the south, to Yosemite National park to the north. The total area is 160 acres, located adjacent Highway 41 in Coarsegold. The population is about 1200 tribal members. Contact: 46575 Road 417, Coarsegold, CA 93614 (559) 683-6633; fax (559) 683-0599

There are eleven bands of the Pit River Indian tribe, who have traditionally occupied lands along the Pit River in the far northeastern part of California. This region, from Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak to the Warner Range, has a tremendous ecological diversity yielding a huge variety of foods, medicines, and raw materials. These bands are the Achomawi, Aporidge, Astariwawi, Atsuge, Atwamsini, Hanhawi, Hewisedawi, Ilmawi, Itsatawi, Kosalextawi, and Madesi. Their languages, Achumawi and Atsugewi, are two closely related members of the Palaihnihan branch of the greater Hokan linguistic family. They depended on fish and other river resources to survive, as well as on acorns and other vegetables growing in the river valleys. In the mid-19th century, around 3,000 Achumawi lived in California. There were about nine tribelets. Today there are around 1,800 tribal members living on the Alturas, Big Bend, Big Valley, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek, Redding, Roaring Creek, and Susanville rancherias, as well as on the Pit River, Round Valley and X-L Ranch reservations. Pit River Tribal Office: 37014 Main Street, Burney, CA 96013; (530) 335-5421.

The Pomo people are from northwestern California, where they still occupy their ancestral lands. They are derived from seven culturally similar but politically independent villages or tribelets. Pomo-speaking people have traditionally occupied land about 50 miles north of San Francisco Bay, on the coast and inland, especially around Clear Lake and the Russian River, in what is now Mendocino , Sonoma, and Lake counties. They had seven related but mutually unintelligible languages belonging to the Hokan language family. Along the Pacific coast they fished and gathered shellfish, relying secondarily on acorns and game. Along the rivers they caught king salmon and also ate acorns and game. In the early 19th century, there were roughly 15,000 Pomo. Today there are approximately 5,000 Pomo people and their descendants live on or near the rancherias of Big Valley, Cloverdale, Dry Creek, Grindstone, Guidiville, Hopland, Lytton, Manchester-Point Arena, Middletown, Pinoleville, Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Robinson, Scotts Valley, Sherwood Valley, Stewarts Point, and Upper Lake, and on the Coyote Valley and Round Valley reservations. About 140 Pomo also live on the Sulphur Bank Rancheria/Elem Indian Colony.

There were an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 California Indians around the middle of the 18th century when the Europeans arrived in the new world. Due to contact with the Spanish and other Europeans in the region, and the introduction of diseases and warfare, the population in the region of Native Americans fell by more than 90%, from upward of 200,000 in the mid-19th century to roughly 15,000, within the span of a generation or two. By 1915, their population had been reduced to just 16,000. The following are population estimates are drawn from Tiller (1998) and Klein (1995).

Indian Population in California (Estimates):
Year Population Note
1769 300,000 (when first Spanish Mission was established)
1821 200,000
1834 100,000 (when Mexico took over and secularized the missions)
1900 16,500


Reservation Populations and Tribal Enrollments (Estimates):
Reservation County Population Note
Agua Caliente Reservation Riverside 365
Alturas Rancheria Modoc 15
Augustine Reservation Riverside 1
Barona Indian Reservation San Diego 490
Benton Paiute Reservation Mono 50
Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians Butte 136 tribal enrollment, 304
Big Bend Rancheria Shasta 10
Big Lagoon Rancheria Humboldt 24
Big Pine Reservation Inyo 462 tribal members, 450
Big Sandy Rancheria Fresno 96 tribal members, 108
Big Valley Rancheria Lake 225
Bishop Reservation Inyo 1,441
Blue Lake Rancheria Humboldt 78
Bridgeport Indian Colony Mono 43 tribal members in area, 100
Buena Vista Rancheria Amador n/a
Cabazon Reservation Riverside 38
Cahuilla Reservation Riverside 154
Campo Reservation San Diego 351
Capitan Grande Reservation San Diego no inhabitants
Cedarville Rancheria Modoc 26
Chemehuevi Indian Reservation San Bernardino 345 tribal enrollment, 509
Chicken Ranch Rancheria Tuolumne 11
Chico Rancheria Butte 70
Cloverdale Rancheria Council Sonoma n/a
Cold Springs Rancheria Fresno 193 tribal enrollment, 265
Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation La Paz County, AZ
& Colorado River, CA 1,735
Colusa Rancheria Colusa 77 tribal enrollment, 55
Cortina Indian Rancheria Colusa 19 tribal enrollment, 117
Coyote Valley Reservation Mendocino 104 tribal members in area, 225
Cuyapaipe Reservation San Diego no inhabitants
Death Valley Indian Community
(See: Timbi-Sha)
Dry Creek Rancheria Sonoma 53
Elk Valley Rancheria Del Norte 77
Fort Bidwell Reservation Modoc 108
Fort Independence Reservation Inyo 86
Fort Mohave Reservation San Bernardino 251
Fort Yuma Reservation Imperial 2,340
Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians Plumas and Tehama 22 tribal enrollment, 144
Grindstone Indian Rancheria Glenn 98 tribal enrollment, 162
Hoopa Valley Reservation Humboldt 2,633
Hopland Reservation Mendocino 45 tribal enrollment, 350
Jackson Rancheria Amador 27
Jamul Indian Village San Diego 1 tribal members in area, 60
Karuk Reservation Humboldt and Siskiyou 333
La Jolla Reservation San Diego 390 tribal enrollment, 620
La Posta Reservation San Diego 18 tribal enrollment, 18
Laytonville Rancheria Mendocino 188
Likely Rancheria Modoc used as a cemetery for Pit River Tribe
Lone Pine Reservation Inyo 212 tribal enrollment, 1,400
Lookout Rancheria Modoc 10
Los Coyotes Reservation San Diego 70 tribal members in area, 212
Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria Mendocino 212
Manzanita Reservation San Diego 69 tribal enrollment, 67
Mesa Grande Reservation San Diego 180 tribal enrollment, 630
Middletown Rancheria Lake 73
Montgomery Creek Rancheria Shasta 15
Morongo Reservation Riverside 954 tribal members in area, 996
North Fork Rancheria Madera 9 tribal enrollment, 285
Pala Reservation San Diego 1,573 tribal members in area, 585
Paskenpa Band of Nomelecki Indians Tehema 332 tribal members in area
Pauma and Yuima Reservation San Diego 186
Pechanga Reservation Riverside 467
Picayune Rancheria Madere 1,200
Pinoleville Rancheria Mendocino 70 tribal enrollment, 136
Potter Valley Rancheria Mendocino 138 tribal enrollment, 199
Quartz Valley Indian Community Siskiyou 126 tribal enrollment, 150
Ramona Reservation Riverside n/a
Redding Rancheria Shasta 45
Redwood Valley Rancheria Mendocino 263 tribal enrollment, 149
Resighini Rancheria Del Norte 36
Rincon Reservation San Diego 1,495 tribal enrollment, 651
Roaring Creek Rancheria Shasta 14
Robinson Rancheria Lake 153 tribal enrollment, 211
Rohnerville Rancheria Humboldt 96
Round Valley Reservation Mendocino 300 tribal enrollment, 2,615
Rumsey Rancheria Yolo 36
San Manuel Reservation San Bernardino 74 tribal members in area, 85
San Pasqual Reservation San Diego 752 tribal members in area, 435
Santa Rosa Rancheria Kings 517 tribal members in area, 408
Santa Rosa Reservation Riverside 65
Santa Ynez Reservation Santa Barbara 122
Santa Ysabel Reservation San Diego 250
Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Sugar Bowl Rancheria Lakeport n/a tribal enrollment, 96
Sheep Ranch Rancheria Calaveras 5
Sherwood Valley Rancheria Mendocino 179 tribal enrollment, 350
Shingle Springs Rancheria El Dorado 57 tribal members in area, 185
Smith River Rancheria Del Norte 240 tribal members in area, 660
Soboba Reservation Riverside 522
Stewarts Point Rancheria Sonoma 57
Sulphur Bank Rancheria/Elem Indian Colony Lake 69 tribal enrollment, 165
Susanville Rancheria Lassen 298 tribal members in area, 373
Sycuan Rancheria San Diego 33 tribal members in area, 120
Table Bluff Rancheria Humboldt 97 tribal members in area, 34
Table Mountain Reservation Fresno 11
Timbi-Sha Band of Shoshone Indians Inyo 285
Torres Martinez Reservation Imperial and Riverside 4,146
Trinidad Rancheria Humboldt 73 tribal members in area, 154
Tule River Reservation Tulare 566 tribal members in area, 850
Tuolumne Rancheria Tuolumne 168 tribal members in area, 285
Twenty-nine Palms Reservation San Bernardino 0 unoccupied
United Auburn Community Placer n/a
Upper Lake Rancheria Lake 82
Viejas (Baron Long) Reservation San Diego 394
Winnemucca Indian Colony Lassen 110
Woodfords Community Council Alpine 219 component band of the Washoe Tribe
X-L Ranch Reservation Modoc 40
Yurok Reservation Humboldt and Del Norte 1,103


Population Estimates - By Cultural Groups
(those of Indian descent in California today, on and off reservations):
Group Population
Cahto 137 on the Laytonville Rancheria
Cahuilla 2,000
Chemehuevi 2,000
Chilula some on the Hoopa Valley Reservation
Chumash 2,000
Cupeño 1,000
Hupa 3,000 on the Hoopa Valley Reservation
Karuk 5,000; official tribal enrollment was 1,900 in 1992
Kawaiisu 35
Kitanemuk not known since name was not used in government documents
Kumeyaay (Diegueño) 3,000
Luiseño-Juaneño 2,500
Maidu peoples 2,500
Mattole some on the Rohnerville Rancheria
Miwok 3,500
Mojave (Mohave) 1,000 on or near the Fort Mojave Reservation, located along the Colorado River in the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. (A few more thousand live on the Colorado River Reservation in Arizona)
Mono Western (Monache) some on the Big Sandy, Cold Springs, and North Fork rancherias, and in the town of Dunlap
Pauite 2,350
Pit River (Achumawi, Atsugewi) 1,350
Pomo 5,000
Serrano over 1,000; with 85 on the San Manuel Reservation, and many of the 1,000 or so residents on or near the Morongo Reservation of Serrano descent, and others on or near the Soboba Reservation
Shasta 100
Shoshone 2,000
Tolowa 1,000
Tubatulabal 900
Wailaki 1,000
Wappo a small number
Washoe over 300
Whilkut some on the Hoopa Valley Reservation
Wintun 2,500
Wiyot 450
Yana some on the Redding Rancheria
Yokuts 2,600
Yuki 85
Yurok over 3,500 officially enrolled tribal members

The Timbi-sha are Western Shoshone who have a 40-acre federal reservation in Death Valley (Inyo County), in south-central California, near the Nevada border. This site is commonly known as Indian Village. Prior to European contact, the Western Shoshone called themselves the Newe (people). The group that traditionally lived in the Death Valley region called themselves Timbi-sha, named after what is now known as Furnace Creek. The Death Valley Timbi-sha Band was federally recognized in 1982, and has approximately 285 enrolled members. In 2000, the U.S. Congress approved expanding their reservation over 10,000 acres more to include land in and outside of Death Valley. For a summary of the tribe's acquiring more of their traditional ancestral homelands and the plans in the upcoming years for the use of the land, see the online or printed version of the Senate Report entitled Providing to the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe a Permanent Land Base within its Aboriginal Homeland, and for Other Purposes (June 30, 2000). This report led up to the passage of the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act.

The Tolowa Indian people traditionally lived in the coastal redwood forests in the northwestern most corner of present-day California and southern Oregon. They lived in about eight permanent villages from Wilson Creek north to the Oregon border. They spoke several dialects of Tolowa, an Athabascan language. Their language is related to some other languages spoken in northwestern California, but also of the same language family of peoples in interior Alaska and Canada, and the Apache and Navajo in the Southwest. They made their living by catching salmon and using other marine and land resources. In the early 19th century, there were around 2,400 Tolowa. Today there are approximately 1,200 Tolowa people who are members of Tolowa Nation, Smith River and Elk Valley Rancherias, and they live in traditional Tolowa Territory.

The Spanish made no treaties with any Indian peoples, but believed that by their right of discovery the land was theirs to use as they saw fit. After the Americans established a new government over California in 1848, a federal treaty commission was sent to California in 1851-1852 to deal with the "Indian problem." This commission entered into 18 treaties with 400 or so chiefs and headmen, representing between one-third and one-half of California Indians. These treaties set aside reservations totaling around 8.5 million acres. However, due to protests of the non-Indian population who wanted much of these prime farming and mining lands, the treaties were never ratified, and were kept secret until 1905. Instead, smaller reservations were eventually set up for the "subsistence and protection" of California Indians. These reservations were all less than 25,000 acres. The governmental policy was to remove the Indians from all valuable land. In the 1850s, the United States established several reservations which were abandoned in the following decade due to lack of federal aid, massacres, kidnappings, and land theft. By 1867 there were four major reservations established. In 1875 the United States began granting reservations to so-called Mission Indians. Most California Indians were never restricted to reservations but were left to fend for themselves, with their land taken and most of their people destroyed.

Groupings of several villages, whose members spoke the same language. Alfred L. Kroeber coined the word to indicate the basic, autonomous, self-governing, and independent sociopolitical group found all over the state of California. The tribelet represented a cluster of satellite villages located around one or more permanent villages. Tribelets shared a language, culture, and history. The tribelet consisted of the aggregation of people (from 50 to 500 people) living in two or more (often up to a dozen) separate villages, acknowledging the leadership of a chief who usually resided in the largest and most important of the several settlements. The chief, or headman, controlled economic resources and activity, and was generally wealthy and greatly respected. A study by Omer C. Stewart, for example, found the Pomo were divided into 34 tribelets living on 3,370 square miles of land and numbering altogether about 8,000 persons. Perhaps 500 tribelets existed in aboriginal California.

A federal reservation of Yurok, Weott (Wiyot), and Tolowa Indians in Humboldt County in northern California, about 25 miles north of the city of Eureka, near Trinidad. The full name of this reservation is the Cher-ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria. Descendants of three tribes of California's displaced Indians occupy the rancheria. The Weott and Yurok languages are related to the Algonquian languages, while the Tolowa language is Athabascan. All three tribes traditionally lived in the coastal region of what is now northern California, and share a similar cultural heritage. Total area of the reservation is 47.2 acres. Population is around 73, with about 154 tribal members living in the area.

Neighbors to the Hupa people, who spoke a dialect of Hupa and traded with the Hupa. Tsnungwe territory is just south of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, around the South Fork of the Trinity River. Many Tsnungwe people were placed on the Hoopa Valley Reservation in 1864, while others returned to their traditional homelands in the 1880s outside of the reservation. They number around 150, without federal recognition.

This group of Indian people traditionally lived in the Kern River Valley in the southern Sierra Nevada, extending from the sources of the North and South forks of the Kern River, near Mt. Whitney, to about 40 miles below the junction of the two river forks. They originally lived in three autonomous bands: the Pahkanapil, Palagewan, and Bankalachi, or Toloim. Although their language is a subgroup of the Uto-Aztecan language family, which is widespread throughout the state, the Tubatulabal language is very different from neighboring languages of this type. Their staple foods were acorns and pine nuts, along with the gathering of vegetables and the taking of game. In the early 19th century, there were around 1,000 Tubatulabal living in their traditional region. Today there are about 400 Tubatulabal people living in the Kern River Valley, with estimates of about 500 more living outside the area, including some on the Tule River Reservation.

A federal reservation of Yokuts Indians in Tulare County in south-central California, about 20 miles east of the town of Porterville. The descendants of various tribes of Yokuts people live on the Tule River Reservation. Prior to European contact, there were approximately 60 Yokuts tribes living in the area. However, by the late 19th century, about three-fourths of the original population had died by disease and warfare. Many Yokuts were moved together on the Tule River Reservation when it was established by Executive Order in 1873. The total area of the reservation is 55,356 acres. The population is around 566, with about 850 tribal members in the area

A federal reservation of Me-Wuk (Miwok) and Yokut Indians in Tuolumne County in east-central California, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada near Yosemite National Park. The Tuolumne Band of Miwok is part of the Sierra Mewuk people, one of three divisions of the Mewuk. The traditional territory of the Sierra Mewuk was the setting for the California gold rush when gold was discovered there in 1848. Total area of the rancheria is just over 335 acres. The reservation population is around 168 people, with about 285 served in the area.

A federally recognized group of Indians in Auburn, California, called the United Auburn Community of Indians. The reestablishment of the United Auburn Indian Tribe began when the Department of Interior documented the existence of a separate, cohesive band of Maidu and Miwok Indians, occupying a village on the outskirts of the city of Auburn in Placer County. In 1917, the United States acquired land in trust for the Auburn Band near the city of Auburn and formally established a reservation known as the Auburn Rancheria. Tribal members continued to live on the reservation as a community despite great adversity. In 1953, the United States Congress enacted the Rancheria Act, authorizing the termination of federal trust responsibilities to a number of California Indian tribes including the Auburn Band. With the exception of a 2.8 acre parcel containing a tribal church and a park, the government sold the land comprising the Auburn Rancheria. The United States terminated federal recognition of the Auburn Band in 1967. Finally in 1970, President Nixon declared the policy of termination a failure. Eight years later, both the United States Senate and House of Representatives expressly repudiated this policy in favor of a new federal policy entitled Indian Self-Determination. In 1991, surviving members of the Auburn Band reorganized their tribal government as the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) and requested the United States to formally restore their federal recognition. An Act of Congress passed the Auburn Indian Restoration Act, which restored the tribe's federal recognition in 1994. The Act provides that the Tribe may acquire land in Placer County to establish a new reservation. For more information on the United Auburn Indian Tribe contact Doug Elmets or Nicole Poimiroo at (916) 329-9180.

A federal reservation of Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians in eastern San Diego County, near the town of Alpine. Also known as the Baron Long Reservation. The original reservation for the Kumeyaay people was established by Executive Order in 1875, granting the Kumeyaay the 15,753-acre Capitan Grande Reservation. However, the County of San Diego displaced the Kumeyaay and built a reservoir on their reservation. Another Executive Order established the Viejas Reservation to the south of Capitan Grande in 1934. The Capitan Grande Reservation is now owned by Viejas, Barona, and other non-reservation groups. The Kumeyaay occupy eight of the 17 reservations in San Diego County. Total area of the reservation is 1,609 acres. Population is around 289.

The Wailaki people traditionally occupied lands in the northwestern corner of the state, primarily in the foothills of the Coast Range, about 50 miles or so inland from the Pacific Coast. They lived along the Eel River and the North Fork Eel River. Traditionally, the Wailaki consisted of at least 19 tribelets and 95 villages. Their language belongs to the Athabascan language family. They are culturally related to four other small tribes - the Mattole, Lassik, Sinkyone, and Nongatle, who lived just to the north and west. They utilized acorns as their principal staple food, and also ate other vegetable foods and game, and salmon along the main rivers. In the mid-19th century, there were around 2,700 Wailaki in their region. Today, there are approximately 1,000 Wailaki people, many living on the Round Valley Reservation, and in and around Mendocino County.

The Wappo are an Indian people who traditionally occupied a mountainous area of northern California, including the Russian River valleys and part of the Napa Valley. Their language, together with Yuki, forms a branch of the Penutian family, related to a large group of central and northern California languages. There are no surviving speakers of Wappo. Their traditional way of life was based on the resources of Clear Lake, and on the gathering of acorns and other vegetable foods, and on game. Today a small number of Wappo people still live in their traditional lands, although they have no reservation lands.

The Washoe Indian people had traditional lands covering more than 4,000 square miles, centering on Lake Tahoe, on the present California-Nevada border. Their language is of the Hokan language family. Their way of life centered on desert hunting and gathering, with frequent movement of bands based on family units. Today Washoe people live in California on the Woodfords Indian Colony in Alpine County, and on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe in Nevada on and near the Washoe colonies of Alpine, Carson, Dresslerville, and Sparks. All these colonies are governed by a single tribal council: Washoe Tribal Headquarters - 919 Highway 395 South, Gardnerville, Nevada 89410; 775-265-4191

The Wintun Indian people have three divisions: the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern). Their traditional territories are located in the greater Sacramento Valley, with the Sacramento River a major feature of all the regions. Their lands vary from the Wintu mountain rivers in the north, through the Nomlaki plains, to the marshes, valleys, and hills of the Patwin. Their languages are of the Penutian family. Their diet came from the semiannual runs of king salmon up major rivers, to acorns and other vegetable foods, to game. In the early 1800s, there were approximately 12,000-15,000 members of the Wintun Tribe. Spanish settlers arrived in Wintun territory by 1808, and the Hudson Bay Company trappers arrived sometime before 1832. Tribal unity was destroyed by the taking of land and the destruction of traditional food and material-gathering areas. Along with the introduction of cattle, hogs, and sheep, the construction of dams, and the Copper processing plants in the 1880s and early 1900s, the Wintun suffered a heavy toll on their health and survival. Today there are over 2,500 people of Wintun descent. Many live on the Round Valley Reservation, and on the Colusa, Cortina, Grindstone Creek, Redding, and Rumsey rancherias. See also: Nomlaki

The Wiyot Indian people (or, Weott) traditionally were located on the far northwest coast of California, along the shores of Humboldt Bay and the mouths of the Mad and Eel rivers. They are one of three culturally and linguistically related groups on the Eel River Delta, and were culturally similar to the Yurok. Their language is not one of the usual California languages, but is of the Algonquian language family, related to languages spoken throughout large areas of eastern North America. (Only the Yurok share this language family in California). Their way of life centered around the coastal-tideland gathering of shellfish and other marine resources. There were as many as 3,500 Wiyot living in their region in the early 19th century. Today there are about 450 people of Wiyot descent. Most of them live in non-Indian communities in northern California, while about 50 of them live on the Blue Lake, Rohnerville, Table Bluff, and Trinidad rancherias.

A federal reservation of Pit River Indians in Modoc County, in northeastern California, near the town of Burney. Residents of the X-L Ranch Reservation belong to the Pit River Tribe, which is composed of eleven distinct bands, and who speak the Achumawi and Atsugewi language, which are two closely-related members of the Palaihnihan branch of the greater Hokan linguistic family. The total area of the reservation is a little over 9,254 acres, representing the largest of acquired lands for "landless Indians" by Congress at the beginning of the 20th century. The population is around 40 people.

The Yokuts people traditionally occupied the San Joaquin Valley and foothills in the central part of California. The three divisions were the Northern Valley Yokuts, the Southern Valley Yokuts, and the Foothill Yokuts. Contemporary Yokuts tribes include the Choinumni, the Chukchansi, the Tachi (or Tache) and the Wukchumni. The Yokutsan languages are of the Penutian family. Their diets consisted of king salmon along the major rivers, with a mixed resource base of fish, vegetable foods, and game in valleys with lesser tributaries. In the foothills, acorns were the principal food source, with other vegetable foods and game playing a secondary role. In the early 18th century, there were between 18,000 and 50,000 Yokuts, one of the highest regional population densities in aboriginal North America. Today there are some 2,000 Yokuts living on the Picayune, Santa Rosa, and Table Mountain rancherias, and on the Tule River Reservation. There are about 600 more Yokuts in two tribes which are not federally recognized, and others scattered around California. See also: Picayune Rancheria of Chuckchansi Indians.

The Yana Indian people traditionally occupied lands in the northern part of the state, next to and extending to the southwest of Mt. Lassen, in the upper Sacramento River Valley and the adjacent eastern foothills. Their language belongs to the Hokan language family, with four divisions (Northern, Central, Southern, and Yahi), although there are no speakers of Yana today. Their traditional lifestyle depended on acorns as the main staple food, with other gathered vegetables and game adding to their subsistence. The aboriginal population of Yana was probably fewer than 2,000. Today, some people of Yana descent live on the Redding Rancheria.

Ethnologically, the natives of Yosemite Valley belonged to the Mariposa dialect group of the southern Sierra Miwok Indians. The Yosemite area was occupied by Indians between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. Ancestors of the historic Sierra Miwoks probably began entering the foothills and higher elevations of the Sierra from the Central Valley about 2,000 years ago. Within late prehistoric and early historic times, the Central and Southern Sierra Miwoks constituted the primary inhabitants of the Yosemite National Park area (Greene, Linda Wedel. Yosemite: The Park and Its Resources. Vol. 1. Historic Resource Study. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of the Interior, 1987). However, other tribes also occupied and regularly visited the Central Sierra, including the Yosemite region, primarily the Washo and the Mono Paiutes (who lived immediately east of Yosemite in the western Great Basin in an area that includes Mono Lake). The Paiutes claim they occasionally hunted in Little Yosemite Valley and spent the winter in Yosemite Valley, and also inhabited Hetch Hetchy Valley. At the time of the discovery of Yosemite Valley by whites, the estimated population of the Indians in Yosemite was between 200-500. There were three kinds of villages in the Yosemite Valley - permanent villages (occupied the year round); summer villages (May-October); and seasonal camps (for hunting and fishing). Some 37 camps have been counted in the Valley proper and at least six camps were occupied as late as 1898. The people living there belonged to the Ahwahneechee, or Ahwahnee Mew'wah, or Sierra Mewuk, (or, Miwok Indians). However, Chief Teneiya (or, Tenaya), the Chief of these Indians when the white men arrived in the 1850s, was recognized by the Mono tribe (found on the eastern side of the Sierras), as one of their numbers as he was born and lived among them until he founded the Paiute colony in Ahwahnee, or Yosemite Valley. The original Indian name of Yosemite Valley was Ah-wah'-nee (deep grassy valley, or perhaps, place of a gaping mouth), and the Indians living there were called Ah-wah-neé-chees according to statements by Chief Teneiya to Dr. Lafayette H. Bunnell who published Discovery of the Yosemite, and the Indian War of 1851, Which Led to That Event (Chicago: F. H. Revell, 1880). Chief Teneiya said the Ah-wah-neé-chees had been a large and powerful tribe, but by reason of wars and a fatal black sickness, nearly all had been destroyed, and the survivors of the band fled from the Valley and joined other tribes. This left Yosemite Valley empty for many years until Chief Teneiya returned from living with the Monos, where he had fled back home. Many years before this time, Teneiya's father had left Yosemite Valley and gone to live among the Monos, marrying a maiden of that tribe. Their son, Teneiya then brought some of his father's old tribe of Mono Paiutes and other Indians with him to Yosemite Valley, claiming it as the birthright of his people, and taking the name for his band as Yosemite Indians (from the word for large grizzly bear). Other bands of Indians were in the vicinity of Yosemite National Park at this time (Po-ho-neé-chees, Po-to-en'-cies, Wil-tuc-um'-nees, Noot'-choos, Chow-chil'-las, Ho-na'-ches, Me'-woos, Chook-chan'-ces) and these Indians, including the Yosemites, were all somewhat affiliated by common ancestry or by intermarriage according to Galen Clark in Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity (Yosemite Valley, CA: Galen Clark, 1907). When the Mariposa Battalion was organized under the command of Maj. James D. Savage to pursue these California tribes in the Mariposa Indian War of the early 1850s, the Yosemite Indians and one or two other bands of Indians retreated into the mountains of the Sierras. It was during this war campaign of the whites against the Indians that Maj. Savage and his 200 men discovered the Yosemite Valley on March 25, 1851 (two miners glimpsed Yosemite Valley in October 1849 while hunting a bear). Teneiya and his people were taken to the Fresno Reservation in June 1851. Chief Teneiya, his family and some of his followers were allowed to return to Yosemite Valley after being on the reservation for only a few months. In May 1852, the Yosemite Indians killed a party of prospectors coming into Yosemite Valley, setting off another expedition of troops into Yosemite in pursuit of the Indians. After many of the Yosemite Indians were killed, Chief Teneiya and the surviving Yosemites escaped over the mountains into Mono country. Teneiya and his little band stayed with the Monos until the autumn of 1853, when they returned to Yosemite Valley. But, after some of Teneiya's men raided the Monos for horses, the Monos set upon Teneiya and his people and the old chief and many of his warriors were killed. Yosemite became a national park in 1890, and incorporated Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove in 1906, comprising almost 1,200 square miles of mountains and meadows on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in central California.

The Yuki Indian people were traditionally located in northwestern California, just south of the area historically occupied by the Athabascan speakers. Their language, together with Wappo, forms one branch of the Penutian language family, although there are no speakers of Yuki today. Along the coast, the Yuki depended on fish and shellfish, with land resources of secondary importance. Along the major rivers, they ate king salmon, with acorns and game of lesser importance. In the foothills of the Coast Range, acorns were the major staple food resource, followed by other vegetable foods and game. Today there are about 85 people of Yuki descent, with around 50 living on the Round Valley Reservation.

The Yurok Indian people traditionally lived in the far northwestern corner of California, along the lower Klamath River and on the Pacific Coast near its mouth. Their language belongs to the Algonquian language family, as does the Wiyot Indian language. These are the only two tribes in California who speak Algonquian. The Algonquian language family contains many languages spoken over large areas of eastern North America. The Yurok made their living in a variety of ways, from coastal-tideland gathering of fish and shellfish, to salmon fishing along the major rivers in the area, to the gathering of vegetables and killing of game. The aboriginal Yurok population was roughly 3,000 in the early 19th century. After the gold rush of 1849, warfare, diseases, malnutrition, and poverty, the Yurok population reached its ebb around 1910, when only 688 were counted. This was a 73% decline from the 1848 population. Today there are over 3,500 enrolled tribal members, living mainly on the Yurok Reservation, and on the Big Lagoon, Blue Lake, Elk Valley, Resighini, Smith River, and Tsurai (Trinidad) rancherias, as well as in nearby non-reservation areas near and in Humboldt County