Description
The Kawaiisu are a Native Californian ethnic group in the United States who live in the Tehachapi Valley and to the north across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass. Historically, the Kawaiisu also traveled eastward on food-gathering trips to areas in the northern Mojave Desert, to the north and northeast of the Antelope Valley, Searles Valley, as far east as the Panamint Valley, the Panamint Mountains, and the western edge of Death Valley. Today, some Kawaiisu people are enrolled in the Tule River Indian Tribe. They were divided in two regional groups: the "Desert Kawaiisu" and the "Mountain Kawaiisu". The Kawaiisu are related by language and culture to the Southern Paiute of southwestern Nevada and the Chemehuevi of the eastern Mojave Desert of California.
Language
The Kawaiisu language base is of the Southern Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Although the Kawaiisu homeland was surrounded by speakers of Uto-Aztecan languages, they were non-Numic speakers.
Culture
Before European contact, 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 harvested California native plants in the mountains and deserts, and animals, for food and raw materials. 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 are noted for their very finely woven baskets of intricate and colorful design. Girls would learn the complex task of gathering and preparing materials for the beautiful baskets they would make. Boys learned the art of making cordage and creating rabbit skin blankets. Young girls learned to gather and prepare food early in life, and the young boys started hunting for the family at about 9 years of age.