| CALIFORNIA INDIAN TRIBES |
| Pacific Region: Bishop Paiute Tribe Cabazon Band of Mission Indians Ewiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians Hoopa Valley Tribe Lower Lake Rancheria Karuk Tribe Manzanita Band of Mission Indians North Fork Rancheria Pinoleville Pomo Nation Redding Rancheria Smith River Rancheria Yurok Tribe Central California: Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Benton Paiute Reservation Berry Creek Rancheria Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley Big Sandy Rancheria Big Valley Rancheria Bishop Paiute Tribe Bridgeport Indian Colony Buena Vista Rancheria Cahto Tribal Executive Committee California Valley Miwok Tribe Chicken Ranch Rancheria Cloverdale Rancheria Cold Springs Rancheria Colusa Rancheria Cortina Rancheria Coyote Valley Reservation Dry Creek Rancheria Elem Indian Colony Enterprise Rancheria Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Fort Independence Reservation Greenville Rancheria Grindstone Rancheria Guidiville Rancheria Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Hopland Reservation Ione Band of Miwok Indians Jackson Rancheria Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Reservation Lower Lake Rancheria Lytton Rancheria Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria Middletown Rancheria Mooretown Rancheria North Fork Rancheria Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians Pinoleville Reservation Potter Valley Tribe Redwood Valley Reservation Robinson Rancheria Round Valley Reservation Rumsey Yocha Dehe Winton Nation Santa Rosa Rancheria |
| Scotts Valley Rancheria Sherwood Valley Rancheria Shingle Springs Rancheria Stewarts Point Rancheria Table Mountain Rancheria Tejon Indian Tribe Timbi-Sha Shoshone Tribe Tule River Reservation Tuolumne Rancheria United Auburn Indian Community Northern California: Alturas Rancheria Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria Big Lagoon Rancheria Blue Lake Rancheria Cedarville Rancheria Elk Valley Rancheria Fort Bidwell Reservation Northern California Agency Pit River Tribal Council Quartz Valley Reservation Resighini Rancheria Susanville Indian Rancheria Trinidad Rancheria Wiyot Tribe Southern California: Augustine Band of Mission Indians Barona Band of Mission Indians Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians Campo Band of Mission Indians Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians Inaja-Cosmit Reservation Jamul Indian Village La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians La Posta Band of Mission Indians Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla & Cupeno Indians Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians Morongo Band of Mission Indians Pala Band of Mission Indians Pauma/Yuima Band of Mission Indians Pechanga Band of Mission Indians Ramona Band of Mission Indians Rincon Band of Mission Indians San Manuel Band of Mission Indians San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Indians Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians Santa Ysabel Band of Mission Indians Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians Southern California Agency Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians Viejas Band of Mission Indians Palm Springs: Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians |
| FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED CALIFORNIA TRIBES |
| HISTORY and CULTURE OF THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS |
| EARLY HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS The earliest evidence of sedentary village life in what is today California dates back to around 10,000 years ago. Although, many archaeologists believe the earliest migrations of Paleo-Indians into this region occurred as early as 25,000 b. c. The Paleo-Indians migrated across a land bridge that existed during the last Ice Age. In their search for food, they followed the big game animals such as the woolly mammoth into North America. The natural environment and climate in California varied from region to region and included coastal, forests, mountains, valleys and desert regions. It is because of the regions that many of the cultures developed as they did. These environments determined the types of houses, clothing, food sources, and natural resources available to the people. The Indian peoples who settled in the coastal California area were heavily dependent upon the ocean for survival, harvesting many different types of fish, including shellfish. The shells and bones of these fish were also used for ornamentation and tool implements. The river system in North Central California provided access to salmon, an important food source to the area tribes. Every year during the seasonal runs, thousands of pounds of salmon were caught and dried to eat throughout the year. The salmon was stored in woven baskets stuffed with Laurel leaves. The aromatic, pungent scent of Laurel acted as a preservative, keeping out flies and other insects. The largest and most productive rivers lay near the tribes of the Hupa, Karok, Shasta, Wiyot and Yurok. In Central California, acorns were gathered and ground into acorn meal. Among central tribes such as the Pomo, Maidu, Miwok, Wintun and Yokut, acorns would soon become the staple food in their daily lives. The method of processing the acorns into edible meal, however, took a great deal of time. The acorns would be placed in a mortar-pestle and then pounded into a mush or “chemuck.” The acorn mush would then be leached with water repeatedly to remove the tannic acid. Roots and berries in addition to deer, rabbit, and squirrel, were also part of their main food sources. In Southern California acorns were consumed as well as pine nuts seeds, and even cactus. In some areas, maize, beans and squash were cultivated. Other areas were more desert-like with the southern tribes having to adapt to a hotter and drier climate. Among the southern tribes were the Chumash, Diegueno, Gabrielino, Luiseno, Cahuilla, Mojave and Chemehuevi. Family dwellings varied in shape and size. In the northern regions, houses were constructed with wooden planks, usually made of cedar or redwood. In central regions some wooden houses were constructed, but the majority were in the form of earth lodges. In southern regions, homes and villages were constructed from willow branches and tule or bulrush layers which made them waterproof. On top, the dwellings were equipped with smokeholes to allow smoke to escape from the hearth. The day to day lives of the Indians remained essentially unchanged until October of 1542 when a Portuguese man by the name of Juan Cabrillo first sailed into the San Diego Bay and then north to the Santa Barbara Channel. It was here that he first encountered people of the great Chumash nation. With these early discoveries, Spain would lay claim to what would later become California. Additional Links http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OIS/TribalGovernmentServices/TribalDirectory/ http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/timel.htm http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/intro.htm http://www.santaynezchumash.org/government.html |
| OCEAN LIFE The dependency upon the ocean was an essential part in the development of the cultures of coastal California. The ocean provided many varieties of food sources including clams, fish, shellfish, mammals, and sea kelp. The kelp beds near the coast provided a nutrient-rich environment which supported mammals such as seals and sea lions. Near the shore were waterfowl and edible seeds from grasses. In almost every region of coastal California, canoes were built for fishing and travel. In the northern areas, hollowed out redwood logs served as lightweight canoes. Along the Central Coast the Chumash built long plank canoes called “tomols.” Other tribes such as the Yokut and Pomo built canoes out of “tule balsa”, a native grass to navigate river systems. Shells were one of the most important material provided by the ocean. The Chumash Indians developed a monetary system using shells or shell beads as money. The name Chumash is actually derived from the word, “michumash,” which means “those who make shell money.” Shells such as clamshell, abalone, olivella (marine snail) and callus shells were harvested from the ocean. Some shells were used for necklaces and ornamentation, however, the olivella and callus shells were prized for the value as bead money. The value of bead money was determined by the length of strands and the type of shell. Bead money was used as trade or payment for food, clothing, and other goods. |
| Chumash Abalone/Clam Shell Necklace circa 1500 |
| SPANISH ENTRADA Juan Bautista de Anza (1736-1788) was the third generation of his family to serve on the frontier of New Spain. He spent his entire career in military service, mostly in Sonora, a desert peopled by Tohono Òodham (Papago) and Pima Indians, among others. In 1773 Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa (1717-1779) gave Captain Anza permission to leave Tubac in present-day southern Arizona to lead a small group from Arizona to San Diego and Monterey, California. In January 1774. traveling to California and back to Monterrey, Mexico, he covered 2,000 miles in five months. Most of this territory was unknown and Anza meticulously gathered new information concerning the land and its people. In October 1775 Anza guided a group of 240 people from his staging area in Tubac to California. The primary motive for the expedition was to populate the new areas with settlers. Anza recruited actively among young married couples, many from the lower classes, and the group included many women and children. Anza founded San Francisco and San José, California, in 1776-77. The journey's success was due in part to Anza's ability to forge alliances with a few of the Native American communities encountered along the route. Some were very generous in their assistance. The Tohono O'odham and Chumash provided much-needed food. Viceroy Bucareli appointed Anza governor of New Mexico, a post that he held until 1787. |
| THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS By the 1750s Spain realized that California and particularly the Monterey Bay area urgently needed stronger defenses. Spaniards had established presidios and missions to prevent incursions by the English and the Russians into area previously explored by Sebastián Vizcaíno (1550?-1615) and others. Viceroy José de Gálvez (1720-1787) sought to extend the Spanish frontier to the upper northwest, a policy followed by his successor Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli (January 24, 1717-April 9, 1779). During the 1760s and 1770s, the Spanish concentrated on finding overland routes from Arizona to California and founding missions and settlements there. Gaspar de Portolá (1723-1784), a Spanish military officer, and Father Junípero Serra (1713-1784), a Franciscan friar, founded the first of nine Franciscan missions in present-day San Diego in 1769. Portolá also established a fort at Monterey in 1770. Father Serra founded Misión San Gabriel on the Pacific coast in 1771. Juan Bautista de Anza and his group rested there briefly on their way back to the presidio in Tubac, Arizona on their return from Monterey in 1774. Under Serra’s direction, the Franciscans provided religious instruction and taught European agricultural techniques to the local Native Americans. Indigenous tribes often celebrated religious worship and special occasions through dance, with or without masks. European clergy frequently misunderstood such rituals as demonic and banned them from mission life. This presented difficulties for Indians who came to the missions looking for a steady source of food, but who found the loss of their culture too hard to bear. At the time of his death in 1784, Serra’s nine missions claimed some 6,000 converts among the Indians. The Franciscan Fermín de Lasuén (1736-1803) founded California’s tenth mission at Santa Barbara. Ultimately, 21 Franciscan missions were founded in California between 1769 and 1823. The distance between each mission was approximately a day's horseback ride. This connection became known as the Camino Real. The missions were the basis for a lasting agricultural economy on the Pacific Coast. |
La Purisima Mission Today
| La Purisima Mission destroyed by earthquake 1812, photo 1883 |
| Chumash Ax Head |
| Chumash Points & Acorn Pounder |