Serranos of the Mojave, San Bernardino, and San Gabriel

[Odessa Red]

The Serrano Indians had a very large territory which included east towards the Twentynine Palms area, then west into the San Bernardino valley, which included the entire San Bernardino mountains just north of the city of SB, and further west to the San Gabriel Mountains...the Cajon pass is actually the divider between the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains. Here are two bands of Serranos that have reservations, Morongo and San Manuel, and their histories in the area:

San Manuel

http://www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov/culture.php

The homelands of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians has shaped their culture, traditions and present lives. The people at the San Manuel reservation are the indigenous people of the San Bernardino highlands, passes, valleys, and mountains who the Spaniards collectively called the Serrano, a term meaning highlander. The Serrano looked to nature and the land to provide the necessities of life including shelter, clothing, food and plants used for medicine.

The Serrano people embraced the pine forests and flowing water of the high country. Their creation story tells of the first people who tended to their creator Kruktat as he laid ill and dying high in the mountains. When the creator died, the people began to mourn and in their grief turned into pine trees. The nuts and acorns these trees scattered became food for the Serrano clans who would follow these first people. Those Serrano who lived at Yuhaviat, an area of pine trees near present day Big Bear Lake where the creator died, were called the Yuhaviatam or the People of the Pines. Members of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians are the Yuhaviatam clan and like their ancestors they maintain a special connection to the land.

Today many of the plants and trees traditionally used for food continue to grow in the area surrounding the reservation. The region is home to pine trees that provide an abundance of edible pinõn nuts; the black oak tree from which the people made their traditional food called Wiic; and the yucca plant whose blooms and stocks are harvested annually.

The village played an important role in the Serrano clans. The Serrano clans constructed their homes with the resources they gathered from the immediate environment. They used willow, branches, and yucca fiber (or willow thongs) to build their dome-shaped homes, called a Kiich, that measured approximately 12 feet to 14 feet across and were located in small villages near lakes, streams, springs and other water sources.

The people of the San Manuel reservation are renowned basket weavers and take great pride in the imaginative and creative patterns of their basket weaving. These baskets continue to be made in the traditional way using juncus plant, deergrass, and yucca fiber. Baskets can be woven so tight they can carry water and are durable enough to hold hot stones to cook Wiic, a staple made from the acorns of the black oak. Acorns are still gathered by tribal members to prepare Wiic. Families from the reservation make seasonal trips to the mountains to gather acorns as well as pinõn nuts in annual celebrations of renewal.

Singing has always played an integral role in the lives of the Serrano people. Unlike other American Indian musicians, traditional Serrano musicians do not use drums for rhythm but instead they fashion gourd rattles with palm tree seeds inside to make percussive sounds. In the past, songs of the Serrano people were used to prepare for hunting the bighorn sheep roaming their ancestral land. These songs reminded hunters that if the natural systems were in order, the sheep would be there and they would not come home empty-handed. The San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians has been successful in preserving many of these songs. To this day, songs are sung to describe social customs, creation stories and history of the region's indigenous people.

In recent times, elders from the neighboring Cahuilla tribe have taught bird songs to tribal members at the San Manuel reservation. Bird songs are sung throughout the Southern California area as well as the Mohave Desert and along the Colorado River. Bird songs are not directly about birds; rather the songs derive their name from the migration of birds that parallel the movement of people through their territory, telling the story of the creation, animals seen along the way, and sacred places.

Today, the San Manuel Cultural Awareness and Tribal Unity Program, with a mission to "recapture our past to preserve it for the future," endeavors to pass on Serrano heritage to future generations. Each year, the program holds classes on the Serrano language, basketry and pottery, games, gourd making, and bird singing. Activities such as the Yaamava' spring celebration, yucca harvest, and California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference, regularly bring together the families of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, members from local tribes, and noted American Indian scholars to educate people on and off the reservation about factual California Indian culture.

Children, parents, and elders share in their culture through education and demonstration of the Serrano way of life. Above all else, the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians believes that the Serrano language plays a central role in maintaining their culture. By introducing the language early, tribal children develop a deeper understanding of their living heritage. Today, the Serrano language is being preserved in part by the Serrano Language Revitalization Program who work with native speakers to pronounce the words in Serrano creating lesson plans developed to teach carefully chosen words including the names for plants, animals, and numbers.

In an effort to educate the greater community on factual California Indian culture, the annual California Indian Cultural Awareness Program, draws together tribal elders, leaders, and academics to share their expertise and life experience with area school children and teachers. Since 1999, the tribe has partnered with the San Bernardino City Unified School District, California State University, San Bernardino, and the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools to conduct this highly successful conference at California State University, San Bernardino. During the weeklong event, students and teachers from area schools learn about the histories, cultures, and governments of the California Indian nations.

The San Manuel Band of Missions Indians believes the past is the foundation for their future. With a community rich in culture and tradition, the tribe continues to share its heritage with a firm belief in the importance of utilizing natural resources. Each component of nature: such as water, trees, and the protection of animals and their habitat as well as the importance of the Serrano language, song, and bird songs, all play a defining role in their unique culture

Morongo:
http://www.morongonation.org/asp/site/Public/OurHeritage/TribalHist...

I really couldn't find good Morongo band of historical information on their official website above.


http://missionindians.tripod.com/main.htm

Set at the foot of the beautiful San Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mountains, the Morongo Indian Reservation spans more than 32,000 acres and overlooks the desert vistas of the Banning Pass. Wild buckwheat, mesquite and chaparral still thrive here, and the ever-present breeze ensures that the air is always fresh and clear.

One of the native names of the Morongo Reservation was Malki, and it was located in what was once called the Wanikik territory. In the mid-19th century, the Serrano people to the north began migrating to the Malki settlement. They brought with them the Morongo mane derived from the Serrano name for their people – Maringayam. Since the late 19th century, the Morongo Reservation has been inhabited by a mix of Cahuilla, Serrano, Luiseno and Cupeno people.



SERRANO ETHNOGRAPHY & ETHNOHISTORY

http://mojavedesert.net/serrano-indians/present-day.html

Present Day Serrano

Morongo Indian Reservation probably has more Serranos than any other reservation, but since many of its members are mixed Cahuilla and Serrano, it is difficult to establish whether the majority are Serrano or Cahuilla. San Manuel Indian Reservation appears to be exclusively Serrano, but it is a very small reservation, and home to a relatively small number of Serranos. The recent success of casinos at both reservations has made them prosperous reservations, whose people are increasingly interested in their culture and history, and are generously devoting resources to recovering the available pertinent information.

[Odessa Red]

Oral History
Oral History. A version of the Serrano creation story told by elder Dorothy Ramon describes Mara as the first place the Serrano lived after they came to this world:

Indians apparently used to live somewhere else. They were living on some planet similar to this one. The Serrano Indians came to a new world. There were apparently too many people on the old planet (not the planet Earth). They were killing each other (due to overpopulation). They did not get along. Then their Lord brought them to a new world. Their Lord brought them. There were too many people: they did not fit any more on their home planet. This is why he brought them here, to settle here for good. This was to become the new planet. It was a very beautiful world. So, many of them left (with their leader). They all came. They apparently believed in their Lord. He did not force them. He even asked people whether they would move to the new planet. Some of them believed in Him. He apparently led them to this planet. They came here. From there He brought them to this planet. I don't know how many years it took Him to bring them here. Finally they got there. And they are still here today. The Serrano talk about this in their songs. The Serrano named this place when they came to this world.... The Serrano people lived here. Coming from that other planet they started over at Maara' (Twentynine Palms). They had been living on their lands for many years. This is in their songs (Ramon and Elliot 2000:7-9).

In a second narrative, Mrs. Ramon reiterated:

It's there. They call it 'Twentynine Palms' nowadays. That was their place of origin, the territory of the Mamaytam Serrano. There was nothing but Mamaytam living there. It was their home. There were different tribes. There were many different kinds. The Serrano territory was extensive. It ended at the Colorado River. Their territory extended over here on the other side. Today they call it 'San Bernardino'. It continued all the way through Los Angeles to the coast (where the oil wells are). That was the Serrano people's territory long ago. I don't know how wide it was. That's what they used to say and that's what I say now. That's the extent of it. That's what they used to say, and that's what I say. There were others living at the place known as Maarrênga' 'Twentynine Palms'. That was the place of origin of the Maarrênga 'yam Hiddith 'the Orthodox Serrano'. Then all the Serrano got scattered. There are different tribes. There are a number of tribes. Today I only know (the name of) some of their tribes. I still know that Twentynine Palms was the territory of the Mamaytam. There were also Muhatna 'yam Maarrêng 'yam living there. That was the tribe of my relative, of my father's father. They also had an extensive territory. It's going to be that way forever. No one is ever going to own it. That land belongs to our Lord. It is not our property. That is all.

http://mojavedesert.net/serrano-indians/oral-history.html

[Odessa Red]

Uto-Aztecan Tribes

Uto-Aztecan is younger than Hokan or Penutian. Research indicates that Uto-Azetcan began to diversify in California after Hokan and Penutian were present, but before all of the Penutian languages achieved their later prehistoric distribution. Uto-Azetecans first entered California earlier than circa 2000 BC.

Cahuilla
Native Location: Headwaters of San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita Rivers; San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Mountain; and northwestern portion of the Salton Sink.

Language: Shoshonean [Takic]

Identified Shelters: Rectangular floor structures with flat roofs made of mesquite posts and beams, and wormwood shoots, mesquite bark, leaves, and earth for the roof

Cultural Notes: They once numbered as many as 10,000 in the 17th century.
Chemehuevi
Native Location: Southeastern California on the Arizona border and the Colorado River, from Death Valley to the Maria Mountains

Language: Paiute

Identified Shelters: Dome-shaped structures made of sapling poles joined at the center, and thatched with brush

Food: Corn, beans, pumpkin and melon; mountain sheep, deer, rabbit

Cultural Notes: They were once nomadic; they fought and intermarried with their nearest neighbors, the Mohave.
Gabrielino/Tongva
Native Location: Southern California, Los Angeles and Orange County areas

Language: Takic

Identified Shelters: Large, multi-family structures covered with tule

Food: Acorn, pine nuts, berries, deer, fish, small game
Kawaiisu
The Kawaiisu are unique amongst indigenous people because they have no migration story. From an anthropological standpoint, this means that they have always lived in the same place. Even some of the most studied of the ancient civilizations in the America’s, for example the Aztec, have a migration story that was passed down to each generation thru oral history. This lack of a migration story explains why the Kawaiisu territorial pictographs are often pre-dated by adjacent petroglyphs and geoglyphs. The combination of Kawaiisu pictographs and petroglyphs verify that they have lived in this region since time immemorial.
Serrano
Native Location: Mojave Desert and the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California

Food: Acorn, Manzanita berries, pine nuts, yucca, deer, rabbit

Language: Takic branch of Uto-Aztecan

Cultural Notes: They were once sedentary hunter-gatherers. Serrano is Spanish for "mountaineer", but they called themselves Yuharetum, which means "people of the pines."
Paiute
(Northern Paiute)(Mono Paiute/ Kutzadikaa) (Owens Paiute)

Native Location: Northern and Owens Valley Paiute lived along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains from Oregon to Owens Valley; Southern Paiutes lived along southeastern California

Language: Northern Paiutes spoke a Shoshonean dialect; Southern Paiutes spoke Numic

Identified Shelters: Small, circular structures covered with tule rushes

Food: Corn, squash, pumpkin, melon, beans, sunflowers, blueberries, elderberries, currants, wild strawberries, deer, antelope, bighorn sheep, small game.

Cultural Notes: The origin of the word Mono (pronounced “mo-no,” unlike “ma-no,” the Greek word for one) is uncertain. Like so many Native American words in common use today its meaning is not well documented. The most accepted theory is that Mono is a Yokut word for “fly eater.” The Yokut people were native to the western Sierra Nevada slopes above present-day Fresno, some 200 miles from the Mono Basin. How did the word Mono travel to this region? Perhaps the word was first used to describe the Southern Paiute in the Owens Valley who also harvested alkali fly pupae. The Kutzadika’a people do not have Mono in their language and history does not offer a clear explanation of its origin.
Shoshone
Native Location: Death Valley National Park contains approximately 80 percent of the Shoshone's known traditional, cultural, and sacred sites

Language: Shoshone

Identified Shelter: Semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with a connecting pole framework, covered with pine needles

Food: Pine nuts, Mesquite beans, elk, buffalo, bighorn sheep

Cultural Notes: They were once hunter-gatherers.
Tataviam
Native Location: The Tataviam region stretches from the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clartia Valley to the Antelope Valley and can be traced as far back as 450 A.D. At that time the Tataviam people migrated from the north and settled in villages throughout the area. The villages were constructed on the south-facing sides of hills and mountains because they received the most sun light.

Cultural Notes: The word Tataviam means "people facing the sun" and decribes the Tataviam's villages.
Tongva
Cultural Notes: This tribe's lifestyles paralleled the Gabrielino/Tongva.
Western Mono/Monache
Native Location: South-central Sierra Nevada foothills

Language: Shoshone

Indentified Shelters: Semi-subterranean, cone-shaped structures with a connecting pole framework, covered with pine needles

Food: Acorn, pine nuts, deer, fish, manzanita berries, gooseberries, seeds, mushrooms
Other Uto-Aztecan Tribes
Kitanemuk - Koso - Tubatulabal