Description
The Tubatulabal are an indigenous people of Kern River Valley in the Sierra Nevada range of California. They may have been the first people to make this area their permanent home. Today many of them are enrolled in the Tule River Indian Tribe. They are descendants of the people, separating from Shoshone people about 3000 years ago. The name Tubatulabal is a Shoshonean word meaning pine-nut eater. This name was used for them by the Yokuts to the west and the Kawaiisu to the south, as well as by the Tubatulabal themselves.
Language
Uto-Aztecan
Culture
Tubatulabal traditional culture was similar to that of the Yokuts, who occupied most of the southern half of the California's Central Valley. Acorns, piñon nuts, and game animals were key elements in Tubatulabal subsistence. Villages were small, with two to six families. The women wore the double apron-type skirt like many other early California groups. In warm weather, men did not wear any clothing. Women decorated their bodies with tattoos, and wore earrings, noseplugs, and necklaces made of clamshells or olivella shells. Men wore decorations only for special dances or ceremonies.