Cahuilla

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Personʔívil̃uqalet
Peopleʔívil̃uqaletem
Languageʔívil̃uʔat
Countryʔívil̃uqaletem Meytémak

The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a

Palomar Mountains.[3]

Language and name

The

exonym applied to the group after mission secularization in the Ranchos of California. The word "Cahuilla" is probably from the Ivilyuat word kawi'a, meaning "master."[2]

Prehistory

Historic distribution of Cahuilla

Oral legends suggest that when the Cahuilla first moved into the Coachella Valley, a large body of water which geographers call Lake Cahuilla was in existence. Fed by the Colorado River, it dried up sometime before 1700, following one of the repeated shifts in the river's course. In 1905 a break in a levee created the much smaller Salton Sea in the same location.

The Cahuilla lived from the land by using

basketry of many shapes, sizes and purposes; sandals, and roofing thatch for dwellings.[5]
The Cahuilla lived in smaller groups than some other tribes.

History

The first encounter with Europeans was in 1774, when

missions and their culture from Indians living close to missions in San Gabriel and San Diego. The Cahuilla provided security against the raids of the tribes from the desert and mountains on its herds for the vaqueros that worked for the owners of the Rancho San Bernardino
.

The Cahuilla did not encounter Anglo-Americans until the 1840s. Chief

Ute
warriors.

19th century Cahuilla hut

During the

Temecula Massacre
of 1847. (Academic historians disagree on the exact number of deaths, the estimate is 33–40; Luiseno oral tradition holds that more than 100 warriors were killed.) In the treaty ending the war with Mexico, the US promised to honor Mexican land grants and policies. These included recognition of Native American rights to inhabit certain lands, but European-American encroachment on Indian lands became an increasing problem after the US annexed California.

During the 1850s, the Cahuilla came under increasing pressure from waves of European-American migrants because of the

Saahatpa
.

In addition to the influx of Anglo-American miners, ranchers and outlaws, and groups of Mormon colonists, the Cahuilla came into conflict with the neighboring Cupeño tribe to the west. In November 1851, the Garra Revolt occurred, wherein the Cupeno leader Antonio Garra attempted to bring Juan Antonio into his revolt. Juan Antonio, friendly to the Americans, was instrumental in capturing Antonio Garra, ending that revolt.

When the California Senate refused to ratify an 1852 treaty granting the Cahuilla control of their lands, some tribal leaders resorted to attacks on approaching settlers and soldiers. Juan Antonio did not participate in this as long as he lived.

To encourage the

railroad, the U.S. government subdivided the lands into one-mile-square sections, giving the Indians every other section. In 1877 the government established reservation
boundaries, which left the Cahuilla with only a small portion of their traditional territories.

Cahuilla woman and children (1903)

The Cahuilla have intermarried with non-Cahuilla for the past century. A high percentage of today's Cahuilla tribal members have some degree of mixed ancestry, especially

African American
. Individuals who have grown up in the tribe's ways and identify culturally with the Cahuilla may qualify for official tribal membership by the tribe's internal rules. Each federally recognized tribe sets its own rules for membership.

Current status

Today Palm Springs and the surrounding areas are experiencing rapid development. The Agua Caliente Band of the Cahuilla is an important player in the local economy, operating an array of business enterprises, including land leasing, hotel and casino operations, and banking.

The

2000 census
, although few of these are registered tribal members.

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, also considered part of the Cahuilla nation, operates the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, as well as the Hadley Fruit Orchards in Cabazon. The Morongo Casino is one of the largest Indian casinos in the United States. The Morongo Indian Reservation is located in northern Riverside County. The city of Banning and community of Cabazon both extend partially onto reservation land. The reservation has a land area of 127.083 km2 (49.067 sq mi), with a resident population of 954, the majority of Native American heritage.

Office of the Augustine Band

Smaller bands of Cahuilla are located in Southern California: the

Torres-Martinez Band in La Quinta (was Rancho Santa Carmelita in Spanish-Mexican-1850s California times), Coachella, Thermal, Mecca and Oasis; and the Mission Creek Reservation in Desert Hot Springs
.

The Torres-Martinez tribe has offices throughout Southern California, offering TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) benefits for members. They are in Imperial Valley (El Centro), Blythe, Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville, Palmdale, San Diego, Orange County (Santa Ana), Pomona and Los Angeles. This is a result of Cahuilla migration to farming and factory jobs in the late half of the 20th century.

Extinct Cahuilla tribes (known as the Las Palmas band of Cahuilla-part of "Western Cahuilla") in the early 20th century resided in the Palm Desert area (between Thousand Palms, Cathedral City and La Quinta). This was before land developers and US Armed Forces purchased what was tribal land from the Montoya family-part of the "Desert Cahuilla" in present-day Indian Wells and from the San Cayetano band-part of "Desert Cahuilla" in Rancho San Cayetano during the Spanish-Mexican-1850s California period (now the city of Rancho Mirage). The number of these tribes' descendants is unknown. The Montoya family, who claim partial Cahuilla descent, are influential in local economics and city politics. [citation needed]

The ethnic composition of the Cahuilla descendants is like that of many other Americans: mixed with European (especially Anglo/Irish-American and Spanish), African American,

Filipino farm laborers), and other tribal groups, mainly Apache migrant workers from Arizona
. Some Cahuilla families continue to intermarry with local populations; others try to marry within Native American tribes.

To recognize Cahuilla history and cultural heritage, the

land acknowledgment mentioning the Cahuilla and other local Indigenous peoples.[6]

Federally recognized tribes

The Cahuilla have been historically divided into "Mountain," "Desert," and "(San Gorgonio) Pass / Western" groups by anthropologists. Today there are nine Southern California reservations that are acknowledged homes to bands of Cahuilla. These are located in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties and are the territory of federally recognized tribes.

major league baseball

The Cahuilla bands (sometimes called "villages") are:

"Pass" Cahuilla or "Western" Cahuilla (on San Gorgonio Pass, centering in Palm Springs and Palm Desert in Coachella Valley, wandering north to Desert Hot Springs)

"Mountain" Cahuilla (Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains)

"Desert" Cahuilla (deserts of northern Lake Cahuilla area)

  • Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians (Nanxaiyem clan (originally a "Pass" Cahuilla clan), headquarters at Coachella, California)
  • Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (Kawisiktum, Kaunukalkiktum (″Living at kaunukvela People), Iviatim (″Cahuilla language speaking People″), Telakiktum, Mumkwitcem (″Always sick People″), Palpunivikiktum (″People living at water, circling territory″), Tamolanitcem/Tamulanitcum (″Knees bent Together People″), Tevivakiktum (″Round Basket People″), Tuikikiktum (″People at Tuikiktumhemki village″, subordinate the Kauwicpameauitcem) clans,[12] late 19th century although Wantcinakik Tamianawitcem territory, through Chief Cabazon the Kauwicpameauitcem (″Caught By the Rock People″) clan dominated this area, headquarters at Indio, California, called Pàl téwet)[13]
  • Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians (own name: ″Mau-Wal-Mah Su-Kutt Menyil″, or ″Deer Moon Among the Palms″, Panakauissiktum (″water fox People″), Palpunivikiktum, Tamolanitcem/Tamulanitcum and later Sawalakiktum, Wakaikiktum (″Night Heron People″, which in turn became Panakauissiktum), and Sewahilem (″Mesquite that is not sweet People″) clans (Torres (Toro) area; Maulma/Mauulmii - ″among the palms″) and Mumletcem (″Mixed Up People″), Masuwitcem (″Long Hairs in the Nose People″), Wiitem (″Grasshoppers People″), Wantcauem (″Touched By the River People″), Autaatem (″High Up People″), Awilem (″Dogs People″), Watcinakiktum/Wantcinakiktum clans (later known as Isilsiveyyaiutcem, subordinate Awilem clan), and late 1870s Sauicpakiktum/Sawish-pakiktem (Martinez & Martinez Canyon area; Soqut Menyily/So-kut Men-yil - "Lady moon [figure in creation myth]") clans, and Chemehuevi Indians, headquarters at Thermal, California, Telmuva - "dark resin or sap from mesquite tree"[14])[15][16]

Notable Cahuilla

  • Juan Antonio (Cahuilla Band, 1783-1863), major chief of the Mountain Cahuilla
  • Ramona Lubo (1865-1922), basketmaker and icon of Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona
  • Marigold Linton (Morongo Band, b. 1936), cognitive psychologist
  • John Tortes "Chief" Meyers
    (Cahuilla Band, 1880–1971), Major League baseball catcher
  • Katherine Siva Saubel (Los Coyotes, 1920–2011), language preservationist and former tribal chairperson
  • Gerald Clarke (Cahuilla Band), Artist and educator

See also

References

  1. ^ "Census 2010" (PDF). census.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-09.
  2. ^ a b c "California Indians and Their Reservations. SDSU Library and Information Access. Archived February 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Bean, 1978
  4. ^ Sieler, Hansjakob; Hioki, Kojiro (1979). Cahuilla Dictionary. Morango Indian Reservation, Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press.
  5. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009
  6. ^ "Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion".
  7. ^ Malki Museum
  8. ^ [1]Lowell John Bean, Sylvia Brakke Vane, and Jackson Young: The Cahuilla and the Santa Rosa Mountain region: places and their Native American associations :a review of published and unpublished sources
  9. ^ Whitewater, California named after the nearby Whitewater River is known to the local Cahuilla people as Kíš čáwal
  10. ^ Mission Creek Band, Village of Indians, Mission Creek Reservation
  11. Lugo family invited these Mountain Cahuilla to settle in Politana, California
    to replace the New Mexicans as guardians of their herds against enemy Mojave Indians (1846)
  12. ^ William Duncan Strong: Aboriginal Society in Southern California
  13. ^ Desert Cahuilla Chief Cabazon (a Spanish nickname which means "stubborn" or "big-headed") also joined in alliance with the Californios
  14. ^ Richard Lando & : Ruby E. Modesto: Temal Wakhish: A Desert Cahuilla Village
  15. ^ Edward Winslow Gifford: Clans and Moities in Southern California
  16. ^ Larea Lewis: The Desert Cahuilla: A Study of Cultural Landscapes and Historic Settlements
  17. ^ CARRICO, RICHARD L. (Summer 1980). "San Diego Indians and the Federal Government Years of Neglect, 1850-1865". The Journal of San Diego History. San Diego Historical Society. Retrieved 22 June 2010.

Sources

Further reading

External links