Cahuilla Tribe
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California Cahuilla Tribe Culture Report
The Cahuilla tribe remains to be one of the largest surviving tribes within Southern California. They occupy the country of San Bernardino and extend to the Cahuilla pass in the North, bordering Aga Caliente to the south (Bean, 1974). The tribe is divided into different villages, roughly twenty-two. Also, the Cahuilla occupy rock, mountainous, and areas deemed unfit for cultivation and farming. The areas they occupy in Southern California are valleys where there is little or no arable land. Besides, the soil within the land they occupy is used by a few of them to cultivate agricultural products even though they devote less time to agriculture. This paper provides a detailed cultural report on the contemporary situation for the Cahuilla tribe in California and its history.
Geography and Economy
The Cahuilla tribe occupies San Bernardino and extends to the Cahuilla pass in the North, bordering Aga Caliente to the south (Kroeber, 1908). The tribe is divided into different villages, roughly twenty-two. The Cahuilla occupy rock, mountainous, and areas deemed unfit for cultivation and farming. The tribe’s main agricultural products are corn, squashes, and melons that are highly limited. Their artistry is epitomized in basketry. They make their baskets from Tules and wild flags that are in one way or the other for different purposes. They dwell in huts designed circularly with one entrance and a few windows. The huts are made from poles and canes, then covered with the wild flags as their roofing materials. Notably, the huts are made and designed to be able to accommodate one or two families. The number of tribesmen and women within the Cahuilla tribe could be up to one thousand men who form part of the field service. Most of them are employed as laborers in neighboring villages(Miller, 1978).
The tribe feeds on deer meat, blackbirds, grasshoppers, hare, rabbits, and quails. They consider grasshoppers to be a delicacy, and therefore they rear them in large numbers or sizes. They also rely on wild trees and plants for fruit supplies. Some of the notable plants they rely on include pinion and pines, which produce wild grapes and berries for their needs(Miller, 1978). Most Cahuilla tribesmen and women consider roots to be edible and therefore plant different Agave Americana species to ensure their continued supplies.
The ruling system and hierarchy
A chief or captain leads the tribe in charge of a Rancheria, whose actions and decisions are informed by the chief of the tribe (Kroeber, 1908). All the rules and regulations are developed and implemented, like in modern society except for a few standing orders where one is killed or hanged for committing a heinous act or crime. Marriage between immediate family members and relatives is prohibited within the tribe. Therefore, any person who is found guilty of such an act is punished through death. Murder is undertaken using poison whose ingredients are only known to medicine-men. The common method of killing any offender within the tribe is by shooting arrows or beating the offender to death.
In the case of a dispute or a case, witnesses and the parties involved in the case are summoned by an Alcalde who reports to the Rancheria chief. The chief has the powers to determine what form of punishment befits the crime committed by an offender at whatever time of asking (Gordon, 2018). After the verdict has been made, the offender is handed back to the Alcalde to execute the punishment to be inflicted. The chief of a specific Rancheria took the case or action and communicated to the chief of the tribe. In case the decisions made within the case are found guilty, then the chief of the Rancheria is reprimanded (Kroeber, 1908).
It is also imperative to note that the chief of the tribe handles disputes among different villages. The offenders are often punished by whipping, for the offender should feel the pain that the victim felt. Other modes of punishment that could be offered include providing material exchange as a sign of remorse for the actions undertaken (Kroeber,1908). Most people offer their wearing apparel to avoid being punished. This is only viable if the victim accepts the goods they are offered. In case they turn the material possessions down, then the punishment is inflicted on the offender.
Clothing
The Cahuilla tribe of Southern California, in their wild state, wear little or nothing in terms of clothing. Most of them rely on deer skins and rabbit skins as clothing (James, 1969). They also rely on matted from swamp millows barks. Also, Moccasins are considered clothing and usually worn and made from small Mascall plants. The Cahuilla Indian tribe has adopted much of its dressing and clothing from the whites, where most of them work as herdsmen and laborers. Like other Indian tribes, the Cahuilla tribe has a taste for fineries but have no form of ornaments manufacturing plant of their own(Miller, 1978). They also use seashells as clothing by tying them together using beads. Feathers from eagles and hawks are worn on their heads as ornaments.
Marriage and family
The tribe believes in polygamy. The Cahuilla tribe allows people to marry more than one wife. When one of the tribesmen wants to marry and have found the right partner to marry, they have to seek advice and approval from their parents or a senior relative conversant with the ways of the tribe (Bean & Lawton,1965). Once he has gotten the parents’ approval, the tribesman must send a present to the girl of his choice through a close friend. The present is considered as a marriage proposal from the man to the girl. Should the girl accept the gift, the final suit is accepted by everyone within the community. After that, on a date of their choice, the woman is dressed up in all the fineries available at her disposal and taken by one of his male relatives to the tribesman. The girl is carried in ululations, songs, and dances as friends and relatives join the ceremony(Miller, 1978). Food is shared amongst people on this day, and seeds are thrown every step of the way until they get to the tribesman hut. The tribesman’s relatives have to meet the relatives of the tribeswoman on their way to the hut. They carry her as they sing and dance. On arrival at the tribesman hut, the bride is asked to sit next to the bridegroom, and seeds are thrown around by select mutual friends (Bean & Lawton,1965). The seeds are used to mean plenty.
After the celebration, the couple is left to themselves for two days with no interruptions or any form of interaction with other people, after which presents are brought to them by relatives. The marriage is sealed and published by a crier. The marriage is then celebrated through dances and songs all night long. Once the newly married woman is pregnant, her clipped locks are locked until the mother or child is proven to be alive after birth. On the day of the child’s birth, the mother and the child are purified through a specific process. The purification process involves the following things: First, a hole is dug within the hit, and large stones are placed inside the hole. A fire is then kindled, and the stones are allowed to heat enough and strongly(Chavez, 2017).
Once that is achieved, ashes and embers are removed from the burning stones, and wild tansy is thrown into the hole. The entire hole is then covered with a small aperture left at the Centre. The mother and the child are then asked to sit on the aperture wrapped in skins. The same process is repeated for three days before friends and relatives are invited to celebrate the feasting ceremony(Hull, K. L., & Douglass,2018). Once the child starts walking, a grand ceremony is set up with people dancing and singing to name the child, ultimately done by the father.
Death
If the Cahuilla tribe losses one of its own, then relatives and close friends of the dead gather together to mourn and lament their loss. Many express their agony in the forms of wailing and screaming (Miller, 1978). A ceremony is also held where a requiem is conducted accompanied by low tone voices that signify a somber mood and setting. The body is later taken to the internment, where it is laid to rest. The dead body is covered in matted wrappings and lowered into a grave together with food and clothing. The Cahuilla believe in life after death; therefore, most of them provide clothing and food to the dead during burial, for they believe that the dead will live (Miller,1978).
They also believe that all their races after death will go to their deity. Also, they believe that the dead have a similar amount of time in the new world of the dead, after which their bodies and souls die for good. They also believe that in the new world, punishment and crime are also prevalent. They think they can converse with their creator but can never approach him.
Religious beliefs
The Cahuilla tribe believes that before creation, the entire earth was in chaos and total darkness. They believed that only two beings were suspended in the air during the creation process. During the creation process, the tribe believes in a huge dispute between the two beings that is Mukata and Temeyota (Miller, 1978). On one end, Mukata believed that man should indeed live forever. On the other end, Temeyota believed that there was a limit to how long man should live on earth. Temeyota indeed prevailed, given he was more powerful than Mukata. Mukata is evil and lives on earth, whereas Temeyota rules over the stars and the moon. Once the argument was settled, the Cahuilla tribe believes that heaven and earth separated and the dark mass that covered the earth disappeared instantly.
The gods they worshipped are believed to have then breathed life into the earth. The gods bore themselves a son and a daughter, referred to as the founders of earth’s inhabitants(Gordon,2018). They then created the birds and the living creatures we see today out of the mud. The tribe also believes that Temeyota is beneath the earth’s surface, and therefore when he is tired of one position, he switches, causing a shift on earth, resulting in earthquakes (Gordon, 2018). Another important factor to note about this tribe is that their dances are largely religious-based and dedicated to their deity. The dances are held around fires.
Language
The tribe’s language is Uto-Aztecan that differs in dialect from Southern California languages (Miller, 1978). Many people do not speak the language within the areas, but it borrows its dialects from neighboring communities. Nowadays, the Cahuilla Indians have adopted new dialects even though few remember the language (Chavez, 2017). They have become civilized and gained an English accent, especially for those working as laborers.
Conclusion
The Cahuilla tribe remains to be one of the largest surviving tribes within Southern California. They occupy the country of San Bernardino and extend to the Cahuilla pass in the North, bordering Aga Caliente to the south. The tribe believes in polygamy. The Cahuilla tribe allows people to marry more than one wife. When one of the tribesmen wants to marry and have found the right partner to marry, they have to seek advice and approval from their parents or a senior relative conversant with the ways of the tribe. The tribe also feeds on deer meat, blackbirds, grasshoppers, hare, rabbit, and quails. They consider grasshoppers to be a delicacy, and therefore they rear them in large numbers or sizes. They also rely on wild trees and plants for fruit supplies.
References
Bean, L. J. (1974). Mukat’s People: The Cahuilla Indians of Southern California. Univ of California Press.
Bean, L. J., & Lawton, H. W. (1965). The Cahuilla Indians of Southern California (No. 1). Malki Museum Press.
Chavez, Y. (2017). Indigenous Artists, Ingenuity, and Resistance at the California Missions After 1769 (Doctoral dissertation, UCLA).
Gordon, T. P. (2018). Cahuilla Nation Activism and the Tribal Casino Movement. University of Nevada Press.
Hull, K. L., & Douglass, J. G. (Eds.). (2018). Forging Communities in Colonial Alta California. University of Arizona Press.
James, H. C. (1969). The Cahuilla Indians. Malki Museum Press.
Kroeber, A. L. (1908). Ethnography of the Cahuilla Indians (Vol. 8, No. 2). The University Press.
Mager, E. A. (2017). Ethnic Consciousness in Cultural Survival: The Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 41(1), 47-72.
Miller, W. R. (1978). Seiler: Cahuilla Grammar. The Journal of California Anthropology, 5(2).
Smith, J. A. (2006). Made beings: Cahuilla and Chemehuevi material culture as seen through the Cary Collection. University of California, Riverside.