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Salinan Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

There were probably as many as 21 Salinan villages in the extending just south of Mission La Soledad to the north of San Luis Obispo.

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts, Resources

Acjachemen (Juaneño) Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Filed Under: California Indians, Native American Tribe Facts Tagged With: Acjachemem, Juaneño

Ohlone Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Other names: Costanoan Home region: Greater San Francisco Bay region, including Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and northern Monterey Counties Mission affiliations: San Carlos Borromeo, San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), Santa Clara de Asís, Santa Cruz, San José Historical background: Ohlone is a name used to describe a large number of diverse groups that […]

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts

Luiseño Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Other name: Payómkawichum or Payómkowishum; Quechnajuichom  Home region: San Diego County, north toward San Onofre, south toward Escondido Mission affiliations: San Luis Rey de Francia Historical background: Quechnajuichom is the Spanish spelling of the name that Pablo Tac, a nineteenth-century Luiseño ethnographer, used to describe the people who lived in the area around today’s San Luis […]

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts

Maidu Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Home region: Lower reaches of the Yuba River, the American River and the Feather River, to the east bank of the Sacramento and the Sierra crest. Mission affiliations: San Francisco de Asís Historical background: The Maidu people occupied the areas of the northern Sierra, and down into the Sacramento Valley. Maidu contact with the Spanish most […]

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts

Kumeyaay Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Other names Tipai, Ipai, Diegueño, Luiseño Home region San Diego County, northern Baja California Mission affiliations San Diego de Alcalá, San Luis Rey de Francia Historical Background Kumeyaay (Spanish pronunciation: Kamia) is a name given to two closely-related groups, the Tipai and the Ipai, whose ancestral territory encompasses much of the far southwest of California. […]

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts

Coast Miwok Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Home region: Marin and southern Sonoma Counties Mission affiliations: San Francisco de Asís, San Rafael, San Francisco Solano Historical background: Speakers of the Miwok language in northwestern Alta California were divided into Lake Miwok and Coast Miwok. Both Francis Drake in 1579 and Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño in 1595 spoke of encountering the Coast Miwok. In addition […]

Filed Under: Native American Tribe Facts

Chumash Tribe Facts

By Damian Bacich

Other names: Obispeño, Ventureño, Barbareño, Purisimeño, Yneseño, Canalino Home region: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, as well as the Channel Islands, east to Castaic and Mt. Pinos. Mission affiliations: San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, San Buenaventura, Santa Bárbara, La Purísima Concepción, Santa Inés Historical background: Chumash is the name given to a number of […]

Filed Under: California Indians, Native American Tribe Facts, Resources

I’m Dr. Damian Bacich, and I started the California Frontier Project. Learn more about me and the project here.

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