Gabrielino

The Gabrielino Native American people were a culturally and materially rich society whose influence permeated the southern California region. Their traditional homeland encompassed today’s Los Angeles and Orange counties, and the islands of San Clemente, Santa Catalina, and San Nicolas. The Spanish called them the Gabrielino, after the mission at San Gabriel; the Gabrielino also include the Fernandeno, whom the Spanish named after the San Fernando mission. In the mid-eighteenth century the Gabrielino population most likely exceeded 5,000. According to the 1990 US Census, 581 people claim Gabrielino descent.

Name: Gabrielino. The Gabrielino includes the Fernandeno. More recently the Gabrielino have used the name Tongva.

Location: Lost Angeles and Orange counties in southern California.

Population: Approximately 5,000 before Euroamerican contact, 581 in 1990.

Language Family: Uto-Aztecan, Takic branch, Cupan language.

First Contact by Euroamericans: 1542 when Spanish explorers first make contact.

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