Indigenous peoples of California

Introduction & Top Questions
Traditional culture patterns
- Regional and territorial organization
- Settlement patterns
- Production and technology
- Property and exchange systems
- Leadership and social status
- Religion
- Marriage and child-rearing
- Arts
Cultural continuity and change

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Map of California and surrounding areas showing the traditional homelands of Indigenous peoples, with tribal names such as Miwok, Pomo, Chumash, Yokut, Shastan, Mojave, and others labeled within outlined regions across the state.

At a Glance

California Indian summary

Related Questions

How did California chiefs gain their positions?
How did California’s trade fairs help communities exchange food and goods?
How did European diseases affect Indigenous people living in California after contact with colonizers?
How did Indigenous Californians use baskets, rock art, and ceremonial clothing as art forms?
How did Junípero Serra and the Spanish missions affect Indigenous peoples of California?
How did chiefs redistribute resources to meet community needs?
How did northwestern California world-renewal ceremonies use costumes and valuable objects?
How did oral literature preserve creation stories and history among Indigenous Californians?
How did ritualists contribute to political, economic, and religious life in Indigenous California communities?
How did the Indigenous population of California change from before European contact to the late 19th century?
How did the Kuksu religion shape community life among the Pomo, Yuki, Maidu, and Wintun?
How did the Toloache religion use Datura during initiation ceremonies?
How did the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation program affect Native American families in California during the 1950s?
How did tribelets maintain independence while recognizing ties with other communities in the same tribe?
How did urban Native Americans in California build support organizations after relocation?
How did village arrangements differ among Indigenous California tribelets?
How do cultural centers, museums, and school programs help preserve Indigenous California languages and traditions?
How large were most Indigenous California tribelets?
How were California tribelets organized politically?
How were communal ceremonial buildings used in Indigenous California communities?
How were food-gathering tasks commonly divided among men, women, and children in Indigenous California communities?
How were tule rafts and dugout boats used by Indigenous peoples of California?
What goals did the 1969–71 Occupation of Alcatraz seek to achieve?
What happened to Mission Indians after the Mexican government ended the missions in 1834?
What kinds of homes did Indigenous Californians build in different environments?
What kinds of instruments accompanied songs in Indigenous California traditions?
What responsibilities did chiefs have in traditional Indigenous California communities?
What roles did shamans play in Indigenous California communities?
What was Fort Ross, and why did Russian fur traders establish it in California?
When did Spanish colonization of California begin?
Which Indigenous California groups had more centralized political organization?
Which Indigenous California groups shared cultural traditions with peoples of the Southwest?
Which foods did Indigenous peoples in California’s foothills and valleys rely on?
Which foods were especially important to Indigenous peoples living along the California coast?
Which foods were important to Indigenous peoples living in California’s deserts?
Which goods did Indigenous California traders obtain from inland regions and distant places?
Which major language families were spoken by Indigenous peoples of California?
Why did California’s many coasts, forests, valleys, deserts, and mountains support a large Indigenous population?
Why did linguist Edward Sapir consider California’s Indigenous languages especially diverse?
Why did many Native Americans from outside California move to California during World War II?
Why did some Colorado River Indigenous groups practice agriculture?
Why did some Indigenous Californians live in small mobile bands rather than permanent villages?
Why have some historians described the treatment of Indigenous Californians during colonization as genocidal?
Why were acorns an important food source for many Indigenous Californians?
Why were many Indigenous Californians forced to live and work at Spanish missions?
Why were shells valuable in Indigenous California exchange systems?
What are some traditional foods the Inuit eat?
How do the Inuit adapt to the cold Arctic climate?
How have Inuit cultures and traditions changed over time?
Which Native American peoples lived in the Pacific Northwest?
Where did the Northwest Coast Indian people live?
What was the social structure of Northwest Coast Indian society?
How did the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast get their food?
What kind of homes did the Northwest Coast Indians live in?

Geography & Travel Human Geography Peoples of the Americas North American Peoples

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External Websites

California Native American Heritage Commission - California Indian History
California Missions Foundation - California Indians, Before, During, and After the Mission Era

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

California culture area - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
California culture area - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Indigenous peoples of California

people

Also known as: California Indian

Written by

Lowell John Bean

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, California State University, Hayward. Author of Temalpah: An Ethnobotany of the Cahuilla Indians of Southern California; Mukat's People: An Ecological Study of the...

Lowell John BeanAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Indigenous peoples of California, any of the Indigenous peoples who have traditionally resided in the area roughly corresponding to the present states of California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico. The peoples living in the California culture area at the time of first European contact in the 16th century were only generally circumscribed by the present state boundaries. Some were culturally similar with peoples from neighboring areas; for instance, California groups...