One of the displays in The Cahuilla Continuum exhibit in the Riverside Metropolitan Museums shows some of the material culture associated with traditional Cahuilla daily life.
The Cahuilla homeland in California was bounded on the north by the San Bernardino Mountains; on the south by the northern Borrego Desert; on the east by the Colorado Desert; on the west by the present-day city of Riverside. Traditionally, the people lived in small villages of 100 to 200 people. In his entry on the Cahuilla in the Handbook of North American Indians, Lowell Bean reports:
“Villages were situated in canyons or on alluvial fans near adequate sources of water and other food materials, where a degree of natural defense was afforded from strong prevailing winds.”
Each family would live in a kísh, a circular brush shelter with a scooped out floor. A typical kísh would be about fifteen feet in diameter and about six feet in height. It was made with a frame of bent willow poles which were then thatched with palm leaves and arrow weed.
In general, California Indians have been classified as hunters and gatherers, meaning that they tended to obtain food from hunting and from gathering wild plants. Often evidence of agriculture—the deliberate planting and harvesting of foods—has often been overlooked by non-Indian researchers. Lowell Bean reports:
“Proto-agricultural techniques existed among the Cahuilla. Corn, beans, squashes, and melons of the types used by neighboring Colorado River tribes were most commonly raised.”
Among some of the California desert tribes, such as the Cahuilla, the mesquite tree was an important source of plant food. In the early summer, the mesquite blossoms would be roasted, formed into balls, and then stored for later consumption. Later in the year, the mesquite beans would be harvested. The mesquite beans were stored until needed and then processed using a milling stone. With regard to gathering the mesquite, Jeannine Gendar and Sadie Cash Margolin, in an article in News from Native California, write:
“Everyone picked pods off the ground, but the children, being able to crawl around in the branches more easily than adults, would pick the choice pods from the center of the plant.”
Other plants gathered by the Cahuilla include agave, yucca, wild onion, barrel cactus, tuna cactus, goosefoot, catclaw, ocotillo, chia, thimbleberry, wild raspberry, wild blackberry, and chokecherry.
Preparing seeds and nuts often involved grinding them into flour with a mano and metate or a stone pestle and mortar.
According to the display:
“Acorn meal and other foods were cooked in baskets. Heated rocks were dropped into the food and stirred until the food was cooked.”
Pottery
Cahuilla pottery was probably borrowed from the Colorado River Indians to the east of the Cahuilla. Regarding Cahuilla pottery, Lowell Bean and Harry Lawton, in their book The Cahuilla Indians of Southern California, write:
“While pottery was relatively late in developing among the Cahuilla, it also served as a means of artistic expression. A strong similarity exists between Cahuilla pottery designs, body designs, and petroglyph designs.”
Indians 101
Indians 101 is a series exploring American Indian histories, cultures, arts, museums, and current concerns. More about California Indians from this series:
Indians 101: Between Two Worlds in California (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Southern California Indian Clothing (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: The Soboba Indian Reservation
Indians 101: The Luiseno Village
Indians 101: Cahuilla Pottery (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Southern California Games and Gaming (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: California Indian Baskets in the Maryhill Museum (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Pomo Indian Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: California Women's Woven Hats (Photo Diary)