The effect of the desiccation of ancient Cahuilla Lake upon the culture and distribution of some of the desert Indians of Southern California

152 Pages·05.631 MB·English

by  Smith, Desmond Mohler

THE EFFECT OF THE DESSICATION OF ANCIENT CAHUILLA
LAKE UPON THE CULTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOME
OF THE DESERT INDIANS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the College of L etters, Arts, and Sciences
The U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Social Studies
by
Desmond Mohler Smith
February 1942
UMI Number: EP71204
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This thesis, written by
...................
under the direction of A.JLs Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Secretary
nnt... February, 1942...
Faculty Committee
J a j 2 .
Chairman
«2*w..v^L
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I . THE PROBLEM AND ITS IMPORTANCE...................................... 1
The Problem . • ................................. 1
Statement of the problem • 1
Importance of the s t u d y .................................* . • 2
D efinition of terms 2
Organization of remainder of th esis . • • ♦ . 3
II . CAHUILLA LAK E............................................................................ 8
III. ETHNOGRAPHICAL REPORTS ON THE POST-CAHUILLA
LAKE PEOPLES.............................................................................. 14
IV. EARLY SPANISH REPORTS ON TEE POST-CAHUILLA
LAKE PEOPLES............................................................................ 39
Early Spanish Reports on the Lower Californians 39
Reports from the de Anza Expeditions 1774-76 53
V. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF CAHUILLA LAKE................................. 70
Some important Cahuilla Lake camp site s . . . 71
Three Buttes Camp • • • . . • • • • • • • • 75
Northwest Superstition Camps • • • « • • • « 77
Chocolate Drops Camp 77
"Fish Traps" Camp • • . « • • • • • • • • • 78
East Gravel P it Beach Line Camps . . . « • • 79
Niland Camps 81
San Sebastian or Harper’s Well Camps . . . . 81
i l l
CHAPTER PAGE
M iscellaneous Camps • • • • • • * « * • • « 82
Comparison of East and West Beach Line Camps * 83
Cahuilla Lake A rtifacts * * • * • • • • • • • 84
A rtifacts from cremations * * • • • « • • • 84
Cremation No* I .......................................................... 86
Cremation No* 1 1 • * • • * * * « • • • • « 87
Cremation No* III * • • * • • • • • • • • 88
Cremation No* I V * * * * * * * * * * * * * 88
Cremation No*V • • * • • * • • • • • • • 89
Surface a rtifa cts from beach lin e camps • • 91
Woodwork • • • • • • • • • • * • • • • * ♦ 91
Bone Work • • • • • • * • • • • • * * « « 92
Shell Work • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 93
Stone Work • • * • • • • • • • • • • * • • 94
Basketry • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 97
Pottery * * • • • • * • • • • • * • • • • 93
M iscellaneous m aterial and data from Cahuilla
Lake and surrounding territory • * • • • • 105
Human footprint in rock * * * * * * * * . 106
Old Indian tr a ils • • • • • .................... • • 108
Archaeological m aterial from areas adjacent
to Cahuilla Lake • • * * • « • • • * • • 109
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
VI. SOME MYTHS AND TRADITIONS OF THE POST-CAHUILLA
LAKE PEOPLE...................................................................................... 115
Creation myths • • • ............................................................... 117
Wiot—Good Deity of the Luiseno . . . . . . . 117
Kukitatc—God of the S e r r a n o ...................................... 118
Mukat—God of the Cahuillas • • • • • • • • « 119
Abstract of the Maricopa creation ta le • « . 119
The Mohave creation ta le • • • • • • . . . . 121
The Kamia creation ta le ...................................... 121
The Southeast Yavapai tale . . . . • * • • * 122
M igration traditions » • • • • • « • • • « • • 123
The Cupeno migration and annihilation . . . . 123
Luiseno m igration ta le 124
Southern Diegueno migration • • 124
M igration of Lower C alifornia Indians • • • • 125
Kamia account of migration of trib es • • • • 126
Land of the d e a d ........................................................... 127
Diegueno b elief . . . * • • .................... . . . . 127
Mohave b elief ..................................................... 128
Maricopa b elief 128
Alova* ala b elief ....................................... • • • • • • 129
Cocopa b e lie f .......................................................................... 129
V
CHAPTER PAGE
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...................... 130
Summary 130
Conclusions • • • • . . » * • ........ . . . 132
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 140
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I# Comparative Chart of the General Culture
of the Post-Cahuilla Lake Peoples . , * ♦ IB
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. Cahuilla Lake, 900-1500 A.D. ........................................ 9
2. Post-Cahuilla Lake Peoples 15
3# Indian Tribes of Southern C alifornia • • • • • • 16
4# Yuma Winter H ouse...................................... . . . . . . . 21
5* Recent Kamia 011a • . . . . . . . . 12
6. Cahuilla Lake Camp Sites • • • • . . • • • • • • 76
7# Arrowhead Types from Three Buttes Camps . . ♦ . . 77
8* Beach Line Views • • • • ...............................................♦ • 80
9« Cremation Sites • • • • • ................... . . . . . . . 85
10♦ A rtifacts from Cremations • • • • • • • . . . . • 90
11. Some Surface A rtifacts from Beach Line Camps . . 96
12. Pottery A rtifacts from Beach Line Camps . . . . . 104
13. A rtifacts and Data from Territory Surrounding
Cahuilla Lake 107
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS IMPORTANCE
To date, no general study has been made of the
archaeological m aterial found associated with "fossil"
Cahuilla Lake—the lake that once occupied the basin of
the Imperial V alley in Southern California*
However, members of the Smithsonian In stitu te, Heye
Foundation, U niversity of C alifornia and a few other
learned organizations have recorded some of the ethno­
graphical and ethnological m aterials of the Indians who
now or u n til recently lived in th is area or around its
periphery* In these anthropological reports, references
are sometimes made to an earlier people and m igrations,
but lit t le or no effort has been made to correlate the
culture of the recent Indians with that of the Indians who
lived around the lake during its existence—which accord­
ing to geological evidence was from about 900 to 1500 A*D#^.
I* THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem* It is the purpose of th is
paper to (1) find out where the Indians, who once lived
around the shores of ancient Cahuilla Lake, migrated when
1 E* C* Jaeger, C alifornia D eserts, pp. 121-122.