FOUR DIRECTIONS INSTITUTE

Kawaiisu

 

Ethnie: KAWAIISU
Language: Southern Numic
Family: Numic
Stock: Uto-Aztecan
Phylum: Aztec-Tanoan
Macro-Culture: Transition - Central California and Great Basin
Speakers 10 or less      1962 Chafe
     The Kawaiisu were a semi-nomadic hunter/gatherer tribe that ranged throughout the Tehachapi Mountains. They were closely related to the Chemehuevi, and, therefore, the Southern Paiute. They were devastated by the gold rush miners and settlers, as well as U. S. military aggression.
Aboriginal Locations
Primary territories in the Tehachapi Pass but ranged great distances
Present Locations
Some descendants at TULE RIVER RESERVATION, Porterville while others absorbed into the local culture and to the west in Tejon Pass
Year History
1776 Visited by Garcés
1844 John C. Fremont passed through area
1850 John C. Fremont passed through area
1863 Massacre of 35 unarmed Kawaiisu by soldiers under Capt. Moses McLaughlin
Year Population Source
1700 500 NAHDB calculation
1770 500 Kroeber estimate
1800 400 NAHDB calculation
1900 150 NAHDB calculation
1910 150 Kroeber estimate
1984 35 Zigmond
2000 50 NAHDB calculation
Other speakers of the same language:
Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute AZ NV, Ute CO NM UT
Kawaiisu Sites
Indian Baskerweavers Gather Willow  http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewPost/21857
Indian Wells Valley  http://www.cirhm.org/indian_wells/index.asp
Kawaiisu - SFSU Narrative  http://bss.sfsu.edu/calstudies/NativeWebPages/ute.html
Kawaiisu Culture  http://www.bakersfield.org/tkpark/kawaiisu.htm
Kawaiisu Culture  http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=24579
Kawaiisu Language  http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=KAW
Kawaiisu Language  http://www.native-languages.org/kawaiisu.htm
Kawaiisu Language Map  http://www.bakersfield.org/tkpark/langmap.htm
Kawaiisu Linguistic Lineage  http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=KAW
Kawaiisu Native American Artist David Laughing Horse Robinson ...  http://www.angelfire.com/art2/talk_about/
Kawaiisu Petroglyphs at Steam Well  http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kawaiisu/
Kawaiisu Tribe  http://home.att.net/~write2kate/artbyhorseindex.html
Kawaiisu Tribe  http://www.csub.edu/~crobinson/
Kawaiisu Tribe of the Tejon Reservation  http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kawaiisu/
Native Languages Slowly Dying http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues00/Co12162000/CO_12162000_Dyinglanguage.htm
Red Rock Canyon State Park  http://www.desertusa.com/rrsp/rrsp.html
Relationship of Native American Cultures to the Death Valley Area  http://www.nps.gov/moja/devaplan/affntv.htm
Supernatural World of the Kawaiisu  http://vredenburgh.org/tehachapi/data/kawaiisu-supernatural.htm
Tomo-Kahni Project  http://www.caohwy.com/t/tmokhnpj.htm
Tomo-Kahni SHP  http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=610
Ute-Chemehuevi Group  http://bss.sfsu.edu/calstudies/NativeWebPages/ute.html

Last update 07/19/07  Copyright © 2007 by Four Directions Press