Description
The Serrano are a Native American tribe of Southern California. They refer to themselves as the Yuhaviatam, which means "people of the pines." The Serrano historically populated the San Bernadino Mountains and extended down to the Mojave River region down to the Tejon Creek. When Europeans arrived they brought great change to this people. The Spanish missionaries forced Christianity, the English language, and a different lifestyle, as well as diseases. The California Gold Rush brought more settlers who displaced the Serrano and threatened their livelihood. Those who survived left the mountains and settled in the valley, establishing their own reservation.
Language
Serran branch of the Uto-Aztecan family
Culture
They were hunting and gathering cultures that knew how to subsist in a difficult environment; small game, acorns, piñon nuts, and berries were their dietary staples. Within villages the people were organized into patrilineal clans, with each clan having a hereditary chief and assistant chief. Dwellings were wickiups (wigwams), circular domed structures of willow branches covered with tule (rush) thatching. Most villages also had a ceremonial house where the chief lived, as well as a heated sweat lodge for bathing and ritual purification.