American Indian Studies

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