Guaicura

The Guaicura Native American peoples traditionally were a nomadic hunting and gathering people who lived in the southern part of the Baja Peninsula between La Paz and Loreto. When early Spanish explorers came upon the region of Baja, they were greeted by the indigenous peoples with the word Guaxoro, which means “friend.” The Spanish misunderstood the indigenous peoples and called them Guaicura. The Guaicura Native Americans spoke a distinct dialect known as Guaicurian. Spanish Mission records from 1745 indicate that no fewer than 1,200 Guaicura inhabited the region.

Name: Guaicura, a term meaning “friend.” The Spanish misunderstood it as a term for the people themselves.

Location: The southern portion of the Baja Peninsula, between Loreto and La Paz.

Population: Approximately 1,200 in 1745; no known Guaicura descendants are living today.

Language Family: Guaicurian.

First Contact by Euroamericans: 1683 as documented by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino.

Return to California Native American Indigenous Peoples Tribal List