The Kawaiisu lived in the Tehachapi Valley and in the mountains to the north,
toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass. They also traveled eastward on food-gathering
trips to areas in the Mojave Desert to the north and northeast of the Antelope
Valley, as far east as the Panamint Mountains and the western edge of Death
Valley. The Kawaiisu lived in permanent winter villages of 60 to 100 people.
They often divided into smaller groups during the warmer months of the year
and exploited both mountain and desert plants and animals for food and raw
materials.
The Kawaiisu were related by language and culture to the Southern Paiute
of southwestern Nevada and the Chemehuevi of the eastern Mojave Desert
of California. They may have originally lived in the desert before
coming to the Tehachapi Mountains region, perhaps as early as 2000 years
ago or
before.
The Kawaiisu have been known by several other names, including the Caliente,
Paiute, and Tehachapi Indians, but they called themselves Nuwu or "people." They
may have numbered from 500 to 1000 people at the time that the Spanish
occupied California in 1770. The Kawaiisu maintained friendly relations
with the neighboring Kitanemuk and also participated in cooperative antelope
drives (driving herds of antelope into traps so they could be more easily
slaughtered) with the Yokuts, another group living in the San Joaquin Valley. Antelope Valley Native American
Peoples
The Late Prehistoric Period << Previous |