Mythologies of the Kawaiisu Tribe
The Kawaiisu (pronounced: ″ka-wai-ah-soo″[needs IPA]) 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. The Kawaiisu have been known by several other names, including the Caliente, Paiute, Tehachapi Valley Indians, and Tehachapi Indians, but they called themselves depending on dialect Nuwu, New-wa, Nu-oo-ah or Niwiwi, meaning "The People." The tribal designations as "Kawaiisu" or "Tehachapi Indians" are both English adoptions of the Yokutsan words used by the neighboring Yokuts. Today the Kawaiisu identify themselves as "Paiute" and the self-identification term Nüwa ("People") is commonly used by themselves and in the newspapers and media.
The Kawaiisu lived in the Tehachapi Valley and in the mountains to the north, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass. They also traveled eastward on food-gathering trips to areas in the Mojave Desert to the north and northeast of the Antelope Valley, as far east as the Panamint Mountains and the western edge of Death Valley. 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 exploited both mountain and desert plants and animals for food and raw materials. The Kawaiisu were related by language and culture to the Southern Paiute of southwestern Nevada and the Chemehuevi of the eastern Mojave Desert of California. They may have originally lived in the desert before coming to the Tehachapi Mountains region, perhaps as early as 2000 years ago or before.
Kawaiisu stories about Coyote
Book about traditional Kawaiisu legends,
stories, and religious traditions
Kawaiisu is a member of the Southern Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It was traditionally spoken in the Tehachapi and Piute mountains in the southern Sierra Nevada in California. It is currently spoken in the Tehachapi area of Kern County in southern California in the USA. In 2018 there are just three native speakers of Kawaiisu. The Kawaiisu people call themselves Nüwa or Nuwa ("the people").
Sample text
Shi'id papel meeneeka, wagüt hagaan ime. Shi'id iva'an, iva'an kaama'a, eviapich eepizh, puguz. Otsüz, kapaan otsüz karineen wogüta. Iva'an naro'o hinigeeneen. Iva'an wahai ventana, iva'an müüze.
Translation
This paper says, frog where are you. This here, here is a bed, a little boy, a god, a jar, inside the jar sits a frog. Here he has a shirt. Here are two windows, here, the moon.
The traditional Kawaiisu language area is in the southern Sierra Nevada, in the Tehachapi and Piute Mountains. In pre-contact times, there may have been 500 speakers of Kawaiisu (Kroeber 1925). In the 21st century, there are fewer than a dozen speakers (Golla 2011). However, tribal members and language activists have been pursuing language revitalization and reclamation (Kawaiisu Language and Cultural Center). Kawaiisu is a member of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Within Numic, it is most closely related to Chemehuevi-Southern Paiute-Ute, spoken in southeastern California and throughout Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. More distantly, it is related to Panamint, Shoshone (spoken throughout Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming), Comanche (spoken mainly in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona), Mono, and Northern Paiute. The other Uto-Aztecan languages of California are Tubatulabal and the Takic languages (Cahuilla, Cupeño, Gabrielino, Juaneño, Kitanemuk, Luiseño, Serrano, and Tataviam).
The Kawaiisu are a Native California ethnic group, originating from Southern California and more precisely from Tehachapi Valley and across the Tehachapi Pass in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the North, toward Lake Isabella and Lake Pass. Nowadays, some Kawaiisu people are enrolled in the Tule River Indian Tribe. The Kawaiisu lived in perennial winter villages of 60 to 100 people before the arrival of the Europeans. During the warmer months of the year, they were divided into smaller groups and gathered California native plants in the mountains and deserts, and also animals for food and raw materials. The Kawaiisu was first mentioned in the 1776 diary of Francis Garces. At the time, his party was crossing the Tehachapis and encountered Kawaiisu women and children. His party was offered baskets, meat and seeds as presents. During the mid-1800’s trappers, farmers and stockmen invaded the region and some conflicts broke out. In 1853, the U.S. government aimed to relocate the natives from a wide ranging area to the Sebastian Reserve at Tejon Pass: all of this was done so that the natives could become self-reliant. In 2011, the Kawaiisu Project received the Historic Preservation Award for its efforts to document the Kaiiwasu language and culture, including “the Handbook of the Kaiiwasu, language teaching…the Kaiiwasu language and Cultural Center [and] the Kaiiwasu exhibit at the Tehachapi Museum”.
The Kawaiisu tribe is one of the oldest Native American tribes in Bakersfield. They are known for their intricate basket weaving, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Their baskets are made from local materials such as willow, reeds, and pine needles, and are finely crafted with intricate designs and patterns. The Kawaiisu people also have a strong connection to the land and believe that everything in nature has a spirit.
The Kawaiisu are of Shoshonean lineage who spoke the Southern Numic subgroup of the Uto-Aztecan language. Migrating from the Great Basin, they had made the Tehachapi area their home for two to three thousand years. They were a peaceful, gentle people with a great respect for their surroundings, living and working in small family units. Being hunter-gatherers, the Kawaiisu roamed their territory in search of food. They traveled from the valley into the mountains and even the desert to gather supplies for everyday use and to prepare stores for the winter. 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. The very young would play games to sharpen their hunting skills. Dolls were made from clay or small rodent skins with the head attached and stuffed with grass. A game of hide and seek was also very popular. 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.
The Kawaiisu (also Nuwa or Nuooah) are a Native American group who lived in the southern California Tehachapi Valley and across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the north, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass. They also traveled eastward on food-gathering trips to areas in the northern Mojave Desert, to the north and northeast of the Antelope Valley, as far east as the Panamint Valley, the Panamint Mountains, and the western edge of Death Valley. 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. The Kawaiisu were related by language and culture to the Southern Paiute of southwestern Nevada and the Chemehuevi of the eastern Mojave Desert of California. 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 have been known by several other names, including the Caliente, Paiute, and Tehachapi Indians, but they called themselves Nuwu or "people." The Kawaiisu maintained friendly relations with the neighboring Kitanemuk and also participated in cooperative antelope drives (driving herds of antelope into traps so they could be more easily slaughtered) with the Yokuts, another group living in the San Joaquin Valley.
Comments
Post a Comment