- ACHOMAWI
- One of the eleven bands of the Pit River Tribe.
- ACHUMAWI
- 1. One of the two languages spoken by the Pit River Indians. Achumawi and
Atsugewi are closely-related members of the Palaihnihan branch of the greater
Hokan linguistic family.
- 2. Also, the Achumawi are the Pit River Indians, or "River People."
- AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA 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 296. 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.
- ALGONQUIAN (or, Algonkian) LANGUAGE FAMILY
- A group of languages spoken throughout large areas of eastern North
America, but also spoken by two California tribes: the Wiyot and
Yurok.
- ALTURAS RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Pit River (Achomawi) Indians in Modoc County,
near Alturas, California. Total area is 20 acres, with a population of around
15.
- AMAH BAND OF ONLONE/COSTANOAN INDIANS
- A group of Ohlone Indians recognized by the state of California but not
yet by the federal government.
- APORIDGE
- One of the eleven bands of the Pit River Tribe.
- ASTARIWAWI
- One of the eleven bands of the Pit River Tribe.
- ATHABASCAN (or, ATHAPASCAN)
- A large language family spoken by peoples of northwestern California
(Cahto, Chilula, Hupa, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, and Whilkut) and the peoples
of interior Alaska and northern Canada, as well as the Navajos and Apaches of
the Southwest.
- ATSUGE
- One of the eleven bands of the Pit River Tribe.
- ATSUGEWI
- One of the two languages spoken by the Pit River Indian Tribe. Atsugewi
and Achumawi are closely-related members of the Palaihnihan branch of the
greater Hokan linguistic family.
- ATWAMSINI
- One of the eleven bands of the Pit River Tribe.
- AUGUSTINE BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Cahuilla Indians of the Augustine Reservation in Riverside
County.
- AUGUSTINE RESERVATION
- A federal reservation for the Cahuilla Indians in Riverside County of
about 500 acres, near the community of Thermal - unoccupied.
- BARBARENO (OR, BARBARINO)
- A regional group of the Chumash Indians.
- BANKALACHI
- Also known as Toloim, this in one of the three original autonomous bands
of the Tubatulabal people.
- BARON LONG
- another name for the Viejas Indian Reservation in San Diego
County.
- BARONA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Kumyaay Indians of the Barona Indian Reservation.
- BARONA INDIAN RESERVATION
- A reservation of Kumeyaay (or, Diegueño) Indians in the mountain foothills
of San Diego County, near Lakeside, California. Total area is 5,903 acres.
Population is around 573.
- BEAR RIVER BAND OF THE ROHNERVILLE RANCHERIA
- The Wiyot and Mattole Indians of the Rohnerville Rancheria.
- BENTON PAIUTE RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Pauite Indians located on the eastern slope of
the Sierra Nevada Range in central California, in Mono County. This is about
10 miles from the Nevada border, near the city of Benton. Total area is 162.5
acres. Population is around 75.
- BERRY CREEK RANCHERIA OF MAIDU INDIANS
- A federal reservation of Maidu Indians in Butte County, near the city of
Oroville. The reservation lies within Berry Creek Canyon and at the base of
the Sierra Nevada Range in north-central California. The Feather River is
within a mile of the reservation. Total area is 65 acres. Tribal enrollment is
around 304.
- BIG BEND RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Pit River (Achomawi) Indians in Shasta County,
near the town of Burney. The rancheria is located along the Pit River in the
north-central part of the state, on the edge of the Shasta-Trinity National
forest. Total area is 40 acres, and population is around 6.
- BIG LAGOON RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Yurok and Tolowa Indians in Humboldt County, near
the city of Trinidad. Total area is 20 acres. Population is about 24.
- BIG PINE RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Owens Valley Paiute Indians in Inyo County.
Located in the high desert valley at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada,
the reservation is 18 miles from the town of Bishop. Total area today is 279
acres, serving a population of about 450 tribal members in the area.
- BIG SANDY RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Western Mono (Monache) Indians in Fresno County,
near the town of Auberry. Total area is 228 acres. Tribal members in the area
number around 108.
- BIG VALLEY RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Pomo and Pit River Indians in Lake County, near
the town of Finley. Population is around 81.
- BISHOP RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Paiute Indians in Inyo County, near the city of
Bishop. The reservation is located in Owens Valley at the easterly base of the
Sierra Nevada mountain range. Total area is 877 acres. Population is around
1,437.
- BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Wiyok, Yurok, Hupa and other Indians in Humboldt
County, in the city of Blue Lake. Total area is 31 acres, with a population
around 53.
- BRIDGEPORT INDIAN COLONY
- A federal reservation of Paiute Indians in Mono County, close to the
Nevada border, adjacent to the community of Bridgeport. Total area is 40
acres, with around 100 tribal members in the area.
- BUENA VISTA RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Miwok (Mewuk) Indians in Ione, California, Amador
County.
CABAZON BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Cahuilla Indians of the Cabazon Reservation.
- CABAZON RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Cahuilla Indians in Riverside, County, seven
miles from the community of Indio and 18 miles from the city of Palm Springs.
The total area is 1,706 acres, with around 38 tribal members in the area. The
Cabazon Band of Mission Indians was the first of the tribes to establish
high-stakes bingo in California. Its bingo hall and casino are located along
Interstate 10.
- CACHIL DEHE
- The Band of Wintun Indians living on the Colusa Rancheria in central
California near the Sacramento River.
- CAHTO 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.
- CAHUILLA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Cahuilla Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation in Riverside County, near
the town of Anza.
- CAHUILLA INDIANS
- 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.
- CAHUILLA RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Cahuilla Indians in Riverside County, near the
city of Anza. Total area is 18,884 acres, with only 2,000 acres belonging to
the tribe in common, the rest being assigned to individual members of the
Cahuilla Band. The population on the reservation is around 175.
- CAMPO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians of the Campo Reservation.
- CAMPO RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians in southeastern San
Diego County, near the community of Campo. Total area is 16,512 acres, with a
population around 270.
- CAPITAN GRANDE BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- Although there are no present members of this band, these were the
Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians of the Capitan Grande Reservation who were moved
to other Kumeyaay reservations in San Diego County.
- CAPITAN GRANDE RESERVATION
- A federal reservation established for the Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians in
eastern San Diego County, near the city of Alpine. Total area is 15,753 acres,
with no inhabitants today. The County of San Diego built a reservoir on this
land in 1931, and displaced the Kumeyaay to various reservation lands nearby.
Today, the Capitan Grande Reservation is owned by Viejas, Barona, and other
non-reservation groups.
- CEDARVILLE RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Northern Paiute Indians in Modoc County, near the
town of Cedarville. Total area is 20 acres, with a population of about
22.
- CHEMEHUEVI INDIANS
- the southernmost group of the Southern Pauites, closely related to those
of southern Nevada. Their traditional language is from the Numic branch of the
Uto-Aztecan language family. They made their living either by desert hunting
and gathering or by desert farming along the Colorado River in the Chemehuevi
Valley. Today they live primarily on the Chemehuevi Reservation, with some
also living on the Agua Caliente, Cabazon, Colorado River Indian Tribes, and
Morongo reservations.
- CHEMEHUEVI RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Chemehuevi Indians in San Bernardino County, on
the shores of Lake Havasu. The reservation is in southeastern California on
the Arizona border and the Colorado River, with 25 miles of the reservation
boundary along the shores of the lake. The total area is 30,653 acres. The
population is around 325, with a tribal enrollment of over 500.
- CHICKEN RANCH RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation in Tuolumne County, near the city of
Jamestown.
- CHICO RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Mechoopda Maidu Indians in Butte County, near the
city of Chico. Population is about 70.
- CHILULA INDIANS
- A group of Athabascan peoples in the northwestern corner of the state,
usually called Hupa Indians. The Chilula people today live mainly on the Hoopa
Reservation.
- CHOINUMNI
- One of the contemporary Yokuts tribes.
- CHUKCHANSI
- One of the contemporary Yokuts tribes.
- CHUMASH INDIANS
- 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.
- CHUNUT
- A band of the Yokuts Tribe who live on the Santa Rosa Rancheria.
- CLOVERDALE RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation in Sonoma County, near the city of Petaluma.
- COLD SPRINGS RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Western Mono Indians in Fresno County, in the
foothills of the Sierras, near the town of Tollhouse. The rancheria is in the
remote Sycamore Valley about 45 miles east of Fresno. Total area is 155 acres.
Population is around 235, with a tribal enrollment of around 265.
- COLONY
- The term "colony" is used for reservations with small land bases located
near Euro-American towns. Colonies are such as the Bridgeport Paiute Indian
Colony, the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians, and the Woodfords Indian
Colony.
- COLORADO RIVER RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo Indians along
the southern Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. Total area is 286,691 acres,
with 226,000 acres in Arizona, and 42,700 acres in California. Population is
around 3,100.
- COLUSA RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Wintun Indians in Colusa County in central
California. Total area is 573 acres, with 300 acres owned by the tribe and 273
acres held in trust by the U. S. government for the rancheria. The land
is divided into two parcels about four miles apart for the reservation and the
rancheria, serving the Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian
Community. Population is around 55.
- CORTINA INDIAN RANCHERIA
- A federal reservation of Wintun Indians in Colusa County, 70 miles
northwest of Sacramento. Total area is 640 acres. Population is around 90,
with a tribal enrollment of 117.
- COSTANOAN
- 1. Costanoan is Spanish for "coast people." This term denotes a language
family as well as a tribe. The Costanoan people are known as the Ohlone in
their language. There are eight Ohlone groups, all culturally similar, but
with eight different languages of the Penutian language family. There were
around 10,000 Costanoans in the mid-18th century living in their traditional
territory around the south of San Francisco and Monterey Bays and east to the
central valleys. There were about 50 tribelets of Costanoans, aboriginally,
with an average of about 200 people in each tribelet, although some had up to
500 people. Each tribelet was headed by a chief and a council of elders. The
Costanoans were aggressive and engaged in warfare, using the bow and arrow.
They took few captives, except women. By 1830, there were only about 2,500
Costanoans left, mainly due to infectious diseases, such as influenza,
smallpox, and measles brought in by Europeans.
- 2. Costanoan - A group of eight languages belonging to the Penutian
language family. All Costanoan languages are virtually extinct.
- COSTANOAN BAND OF CARMEL MISSION INDIANS
- Not federally recognized, but recognized by the state of California as an
Ohlone Indian group.
- COVELO INDIAN COMMUNITY
- Comprised of the Indians of the Round Valley Reservation, which include
members of the Nomlaki, Yuki, Wailaki, Konkow, Pit River, Achumawi, Pomo, and
Wintun tribes.
- COYOTE VALLEY RESERVATION
- A federal reservation of Pomo Indians in Mendocino County in northwestern
California, 10 miles north of the town of Ukiah. Total area is 58 acres, with
around 225 members in the area. The residents of the reservation are
descendants of the Shodaki Pomo, who were living in the Coyote Valley in the
early 1800s at the time of initial contact with whites.
- CULTURES
- At one time, there were 86 independent cultures among Caliofornia Indian
peoples, which developed sometime in the last 20,000 years. Nowadays, there
are over 60 California tribes with various culture forms and practices.
California Indian cultures were treated on a tribal basis by Alfred L. Kroeber
in his monumental Handbook of the Indians of California (1925). There has been
a lot of new knowledge gained since then, and researchers should consult the
Smithsonian Institution's Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 8,
California (1978), edited by Robert F. Heizer. There is a "California culture
area," which is explained in detail in the Introduction to this major work.
Researchers and writers often have trouble with the "California culture area"
since this does not cover all the tribes within the state boundary. The
northwestern California Indians have cultural ties with the Northwest coast
area and the southern California Indians are culturally linked with the
Southwest. Central California tribes were described as more "typical" by Clark
Wissler, who recognized that in the north, east, and southeast areas of the
state there were influences from other culture areas. The arrival of Europeans
in California had an immediate and profound impact on the aboriginal cultures
of the California tribes.
- CUPA CULTURAL CENTER
- Dedicated in 1974, this is the cultural museum and learning center on the
Pala Indian Reservation for the Cupeño people.
- CUPAN
- A group of the Takic language, a subfamily of the greater Uto-Aztecan
linguistic family. The Luiseño language is of the Cupan group.
- CUPEÑO INDIANS
- 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. Some 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.
- CUYAPAIPE BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
- The Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians belonging to the Cuyapaipe
Reservation.
- CUYAPAIPE RESERVATION
- A Federal reservation of Kumeyaay (Diegueño) Indians in the mountains in
the eastern part of San Diego County. Total area is 4,103 acres, with no
inhabitants. However, the Cuyapaipe General Council administers the
land.
Major Sources Used:
- Veronica E. Velarde Tiller, "California," In American Indian
Reservations and Trust Areas (Albuquerque: Tiller Research, 1996), 227.
- A. L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California (Washington,
DC: Bulletin 78 of the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian
Institution, 1925; reprt. N.Y.: Dover, 1976), back cover.
- Barry M. Pritzker, "California," In Native Americans: An Encyclopedia
of History, Culture, and Peoples (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998),
150.
- Pritzker, 150.
- Pritzker, 151.
- Edward D. Castillo, "California," In The Gale Encyclopedia of Native
American Tribes, Vol. IV. (Detroit: Gale, 1998), 1.
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