Cahuilla

The Cahuilla Native Americans live on or near ten small reservations located in the central part of Southern California. Cahuilla comes from their own word for “master”, kawiya. They are sometimes called Mission Indians, along with the Gabrielino, Luiseno, and other indigenous groups that traditionally lived near San Diego when the Spanish began colonizing California in the eighteenth century. The Cahuilla language belongs to the Cupan subgroup of the Takic family of the Uto-Aztecan stock and is very close to Cupeno. In 1770 there may have been upwards of 6,000 Cahuilla; in 1994 the Bureau of Indian Affairs recorded 260 enrolled members. Eleven bands of Cahuilla live on the reservations that are now in the general area of the tribe’s historic homeland, ranging from the San Bernardino Mountains in the north and the Colorado desert to the east to the desert areas of Riverside County and the Palomar Mountains to the west.

Name: Cahuilla. The word kawiya means “master.”

Location: Central Southern California.

Population: 6,000 in the eighteenth century; 260 in 1994.

Language Family: Uto-Aztecan.

First Contact by Euroamericans: 1774.

Current Tribal Status: The Cahuilla Native American tribe are a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Hemet, California.

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