Page 14 - August 2002 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
The Cahuilla Band of Indians: A Cultural History
The name “Cahuilla” (pronounced Kah-we-ah) means “masters” or “powerful one.” Much of the power and mastery of the Cahuilla Indians comes from their ability to adapt—to life in the harsh California desert climate, and
to changes in the fortunes of their tribe. The Cahuilla have always understood
that the nature of the world is change, and this philosophy has enabled them to adapt. They adapted to the harsh changes in temperature, which could reach 125°F during the summer, and stay below freezing for weeks at a time during winter. They adapted and moved their villages when water sources dried up
or moved, as they frequently did. And they adapted when the European set- tlers and American government encroached on their tribal lands, reducing their territory from over 24,000 square miles that extended from the San Bernardino Mountains as far east as the Colorado Desert, and as far south as Borrego Springs, to a few hundred thousand acres of land in the Coachella Valley.
The Cahuilla learned to dig wells to tap into the scarce water in the desert areas, and lived off the plants and animals on the land. The Cahuilla ate acorns, mesquite, screw beans, pinyon nuts, and some types of cacti and agave owers. They would hunt badgers, chipmunks, rabbits, mice, deer raccoons, sheep, squirrels, quails, ducks, rattlesnakes, ants, grasshoppers, and the occasional sh from a mountain stream for food. Because of their ritual importance, the Cahuilla did not hunt
ravens or eagles for food. And because Mukat, the creator in their creation stories commanded the dog to guard the home, the Cahuilla kept dogs as pets and guardians.
Wildcats and Coyotes:
The Cahuilla Social Structure
The Cahuilla were a patrilineal
an individual’s father determined his or her tribal lineage. Society was divided into a number of
different kin groups. The largest of these groups are the moieties: the Wildcats and the Coyotes. This was the most important distinction, because it was forbidden to marry within ones own moiety. A Wildcat could only marry a Coyote—and even then, the two could not have any common lineage for at least ve generations. Moieties had no geographical boundaries, they were simply a way of de ning one’s relationship to the tribe.
Each moiety was divided into subgroups, called sibs, and these tended to be more territorial designations. Each sib shared hunting and gathering duties, and coor- dinated the ceremonies and rituals for the group. Each sib in turn was made up of anywhere from three to ten lineages—the smallest family (and economic) unit recog- nized by the Cahuilla.
The Decline of the Cahuilla
Because the Cahuilla lived in such an inhospitable area, which was located inland, away form the coast, the Cahuilla didn’t encounter the Europeans until 1774, when Juan Bautista de Anza was looking for a trade route between Sonora Mexico and Monterey, CA. The Cahuilla knew of the missionaries, soldiers and priests, however, through communication with other, less
fortunate tribes living in the San Gabriel and San Diego areas. When the rst Spanish arrived, the Cahuilla were scared of them—they were so white (and the Cahuilla had never seen a white man before) they thought they must have been dead, or at least diseased. Unfortunately, the Cahuilla were correct about the disease part. Prior to 1862, there may have been as many as 10,000 Cahuilla. After the 1862 small pox epidemic, only about 2,500 Cahuilla remained.
Because the desert lands still occupied by the Cahuilla were considered so undesirable, they were spared some of the horrors that befell the tribes with more desirable real estate. However, in the 1850’s, the Southern Paci c Railroad claimed the water rights, forcing the Cahuilla to move several times, and the U.S. government divided the land into one mile square sections claiming every other section for the U.S., and further scattering the Cahuilla. Finally, in
1877, President U.S. Grant established the Cahuilla reservation boundaries which left the Cahuilla with less than two-thirds of the land that was once theirs alone.
The Art (and Business) of Cahuilla Baskets
Basketry is one of the oldest art forms and has always been essential to the survival of the Cahuilla people. In ancient times, baskets were used to gather, store, and prepare food, and after the advent of the settlers and the evolution of the Palm Springs area as a playground for the rich, selling Cahuilla baskets to tourists helped to support the tribe. In the early 1900’s, the art of basket making was one of the economic pillars that sustained the Cahuilla people.
Basket making was the province of the women only—Cahuilla men did not learn how to weave bas- kets. And not all women possessed the skill and ded- ication required to weave a Cahuilla basket. Even
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Page 14 AUGUST 2002
Native American Hosts: The Cahuilla Band of Indians