Cahuilla
The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.[2] Their original territory included an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2). The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California. It was bounded to the north by the San Bernardino Mountains,[2] to the south by Borrego Springs and the Chocolate Mountains, to the east by the Colorado Desert, and to the west by the San Jacinto Plain and the eastern slopes of the Palomar Mountains.[3]
For other uses, see Cahuilla (disambiguation).Language and name[edit]
The Cahuilla language is in the Uto-Aztecan family. A 1990 census revealed 35 speakers in an ethnic population of 800. It is critically endangered, since most speakers are middle-aged or older. In their own language, their autonym is ʔívil̃uqaletem, and the name of their language is ʔívil̃uʔat (Ivilyuat), however they also call themselves táxliswet meaning 'person'.[4] Cahuilla is an exonym applied to the group after mission secularization in the Ranchos of California. The word "Cahuilla" is probably from the Ivilyuat word kawi'a, meaning "master."[2]
The Cahuilla have been historically divided into "Mountain," "Desert," and "(San Gorgonio) Pass / Western" groups by anthropologists. Today there are nine Southern California reservations that are acknowledged homes to bands of Cahuilla. These are located in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties and are the territory of federally recognized tribes.
The Cahuilla bands (sometimes called "villages") are:
"Pass" Cahuilla or "Western" Cahuilla (on San Gorgonio Pass, centering in Palm Springs and Palm Desert in Coachella Valley, wandering north to Desert Hot Springs)
"Mountain" Cahuilla (Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains)
"Desert" Cahuilla (deserts of northern Lake Cahuilla area)