Cupeño
Encyclopedia
The Cupeño are a Native American
tribe from Southern California
. Their name in their own language is Kuupangaxwichem.
They traditionally lived about 50 miles (80.5 km) inland and 50 miles (80.5 km) north of the modern day U.S.-Mexico border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California
. Today they are part of the Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians
, and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians
.
. They lived in two autonomous villages, Wilákalpa and Kúpa, also spelled Cupa, which north of Warner Springs, California
. They also lived at Agua Caliente, located east of Lake Henshaw
on State Highway 79 near Warner Springs, California
. The 200 acre (0.809372 km²) Cupeño Indian village site is now abandoned but evidence of its historical importance remains.
Spaniards entered Cupeño lands in 1795 and took control of the lands by the 19th century. Juan Jose Warner
, a naturalized American-Mexican citizen, received nearly 45000 acres (182.1 km²) of the land in a grant from the Mexican government on November 28, 1844. Warner, like most other large landholders in California at the time, depended chiefly on Indian labor. The villagers of Kúpa provided most of Warner's workforce on his cattle ranch. The Cupeño continued to reside at what the Spanish called Agua Caliente after the American occupation of California in 1847 to 1848. They built an adobe ranch house in 1849 and barn in 1857, which are still standing.
According to Julio Ortega, one of the oldest members of the Cupeño tribe, Warner set aside about 16 miles (25.7 km) of land surrounding the hot springs as the private domain of the Indians. Warner encouraged the Cupeños to construct a stone fence around their village and to keep their livestock separated from that of the ranch. Ortega felt that if the village had created its own boundaries, the Cupeños would still live there today. In observing the Cupeños' living conditions in 1846, W. H. Emory, brevet major with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
, described the Indians as being held in a state of serf
dom by Warner, and as being ill-treated.
In 1849, Warner was arrested for consorting with the Mexican government and was taken to Los Angeles
.
In 1851, because of several issues of conflict, Antonio Garra, a Cupeño from Warner's Ranch, attempted to organize a coalition of various Southern California Indian tribes to drive out all of the European Americans. The attempt, the Garra Revolt failed, and settlers executed Garra. The Cupeño had attacked Warner and his ranch, burning some buildings. They lost structures at their settlement of Kúpa, too. Warner sent his family to Los Angeles, but continued to operate the ranch through others.
After European contact and prior to the time of their eviction, the Cupeños sold milk, fodder
, and some craftwork to travelers on the Southern Immigrant Trail and passengers on of the stagecoaches of the Butterfield Overland Mail
that stopped at Warners Ranch and passed through their valley. The women made lace and took in laundry, which they washed in the hot springs. The men carved wood and manufactured saddle mats for horses. They also raised cattle and cultivated 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land. In 1880, after numerous suits and countersuits, John G. Downey
acquired all titles to the main portion of Warner's Ranch.
In 1892, John G. Downey, former governor of California and owner since 1880, began proceedings to evict the Indians from the ranch property. Legal proceedings continued until 1903, when the court ruled in Barker v. Harvey against the Cupeño. The United States
Government offered to buy new land for the Cupeño, but they refused. In 1903, Cecilio Blacktooth, Cupeño chief at Agua Caliente, said: "If you give us the best place in the world, it is not as good as this. This is our home. We cannot live anywhere else; we were born here, and our fathers are buried here."
On May 13, 1903, the Cupa Indians were forced to move to Pala, California
on the San Luis Rey River
, 75 miles (120.7 km) away. Indians at the present-day reservations of Los Coyotes
, San Ygnacio, Santa Ysabel
, and
Mesa Grande
are among descendants of the Warner Springs Cupeño. Many Cupeño believe that their land at Kúpa will be returned to them. They are seeking legal relief to that end. The Cupa site serves as a rallying point for the land movement of contemporary Indian people, the effort to regain cultural and religious areas.
Traditional foods included acorns, cactus fruit, seeds, berries, deer, quail, rabbits, and other small game.
The Cupa Cultural Center was founded in 1974 in Pala and underwent a major expansion in 2005. The center exhibits artwork, hosts classes and activities such as basket making and beading, and offers Cupeño language classes. During the first weekend of every May, Cupa Days is celebrated at the cultural center.
belongs to the Cupan group, which includes the Cahuilla
and Luiseño language
s, of the Takic
branch within the Uto-Aztecan
family of languages. Roscinda Nolasquez
(1892–1987) is considered the last truly fluent Cupeño speaker.
The language is widely regarded as being extinct. In 1994, linguist Leanne Hinton
estimated one to five people still spoke Cupeño, and nine people said they spoke the language in the 1990 US census. Educational materials for the language exist and young people still learn to sing in Cupeño, particularly Bird Songs.
estimated the 1770 population of the Cupeño as 500. Lowell John Bean and Charles R. Smith put 1795 the total between 500 and 750. By 1910, the Cupeño population had dropped to 150, according to Kroeber. Later estimates have suggested that there were fewer than 150 Cupeños in 1973, but 200 in 2000.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribe from Southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Their name in their own language is Kuupangaxwichem.
They traditionally lived about 50 miles (80.5 km) inland and 50 miles (80.5 km) north of the modern day U.S.-Mexico border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Today they are part of the Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians
Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe. The main tribal groups are Cahuilla and Serrano. Other lineages include Cupeño and Luiseño Indians,. Although many tribes in California are known as Mission Indians, some, like those at Morongo, were never a part of the Spanish...
, and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians, who are Mission Indians located in California.-Reservation:...
.
History
Several different groups combined to form Cupeño culture around 1000 to 1200 CE. They were closely related to Cahuilla culture. The Cupeño people traditionally lived in the mountains in the San Jose Valley at the headwaters of the San Luis Rey RiverSan Luis Rey River
The San Luis Rey River is a river in northern San Diego County, California. The river's headwaters are in the Cleveland National Forest near Palomar Mountain. The river drains into the Pacific Ocean on the northern end of the city of Oceanside. The river is over long and drains...
. They lived in two autonomous villages, Wilákalpa and Kúpa, also spelled Cupa, which north of Warner Springs, California
Warner Springs, California
Warner Springs is a small unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. It is associated with two National Historic Landmarks, the Oak Grove Butterfield Stage Station and Warner's Ranch, both connected to the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. It is also near the...
. They also lived at Agua Caliente, located east of Lake Henshaw
Lake Henshaw
Lake Henshaw is a Reservoir in San Diego County, Californiaat the southeast base of Palomar Mountain, approximately miles northeast of San Diego, California and miles southeast of Los Angeles....
on State Highway 79 near Warner Springs, California
Warner Springs, California
Warner Springs is a small unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. It is associated with two National Historic Landmarks, the Oak Grove Butterfield Stage Station and Warner's Ranch, both connected to the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. It is also near the...
. The 200 acre (0.809372 km²) Cupeño Indian village site is now abandoned but evidence of its historical importance remains.
Spaniards entered Cupeño lands in 1795 and took control of the lands by the 19th century. Juan Jose Warner
Juan Jose Warner
Juan Jose Warner , a naturalized American-Mexican citizen, developed Warner's Ranch in Warner Springs, California. From 1849-1861, the ranch was important as a stop for emigrant travelers on the Southern Trail, including the Gila River Emigrant Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line...
, a naturalized American-Mexican citizen, received nearly 45000 acres (182.1 km²) of the land in a grant from the Mexican government on November 28, 1844. Warner, like most other large landholders in California at the time, depended chiefly on Indian labor. The villagers of Kúpa provided most of Warner's workforce on his cattle ranch. The Cupeño continued to reside at what the Spanish called Agua Caliente after the American occupation of California in 1847 to 1848. They built an adobe ranch house in 1849 and barn in 1857, which are still standing.
According to Julio Ortega, one of the oldest members of the Cupeño tribe, Warner set aside about 16 miles (25.7 km) of land surrounding the hot springs as the private domain of the Indians. Warner encouraged the Cupeños to construct a stone fence around their village and to keep their livestock separated from that of the ranch. Ortega felt that if the village had created its own boundaries, the Cupeños would still live there today. In observing the Cupeños' living conditions in 1846, W. H. Emory, brevet major with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
, described the Indians as being held in a state of serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
dom by Warner, and as being ill-treated.
In 1849, Warner was arrested for consorting with the Mexican government and was taken to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
In 1851, because of several issues of conflict, Antonio Garra, a Cupeño from Warner's Ranch, attempted to organize a coalition of various Southern California Indian tribes to drive out all of the European Americans. The attempt, the Garra Revolt failed, and settlers executed Garra. The Cupeño had attacked Warner and his ranch, burning some buildings. They lost structures at their settlement of Kúpa, too. Warner sent his family to Los Angeles, but continued to operate the ranch through others.
After European contact and prior to the time of their eviction, the Cupeños sold milk, fodder
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
, and some craftwork to travelers on the Southern Immigrant Trail and passengers on of the stagecoaches of the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
that stopped at Warners Ranch and passed through their valley. The women made lace and took in laundry, which they washed in the hot springs. The men carved wood and manufactured saddle mats for horses. They also raised cattle and cultivated 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land. In 1880, after numerous suits and countersuits, John G. Downey
John G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
acquired all titles to the main portion of Warner's Ranch.
In 1892, John G. Downey, former governor of California and owner since 1880, began proceedings to evict the Indians from the ranch property. Legal proceedings continued until 1903, when the court ruled in Barker v. Harvey against the Cupeño. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Government offered to buy new land for the Cupeño, but they refused. In 1903, Cecilio Blacktooth, Cupeño chief at Agua Caliente, said: "If you give us the best place in the world, it is not as good as this. This is our home. We cannot live anywhere else; we were born here, and our fathers are buried here."
On May 13, 1903, the Cupa Indians were forced to move to Pala, California
Pala, California
Pala is a small, mostly Native American, community located in San Diego County, California near Fallbrook. It is east of Carlsbad in the San Diego-Carlsbad metro area. In the National Geographic Names Database it is officially catalogued as feature number 1661174...
on the San Luis Rey River
San Luis Rey River
The San Luis Rey River is a river in northern San Diego County, California. The river's headwaters are in the Cleveland National Forest near Palomar Mountain. The river drains into the Pacific Ocean on the northern end of the city of Oceanside. The river is over long and drains...
, 75 miles (120.7 km) away. Indians at the present-day reservations of Los Coyotes
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians, who are Mission Indians located in California.-Reservation:...
, San Ygnacio, Santa Ysabel
Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel
The Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, who are sometimes known as Mission Indians.-Reservation:...
, and
Mesa Grande
Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians
The Mesa Grande Band of Diegueño Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, who are sometimes known as Mission Indians.-Reservation:...
are among descendants of the Warner Springs Cupeño. Many Cupeño believe that their land at Kúpa will be returned to them. They are seeking legal relief to that end. The Cupa site serves as a rallying point for the land movement of contemporary Indian people, the effort to regain cultural and religious areas.
Culture
The tribe is divided into two moieties, the Coyote and Wildcat, which are divided into several patrilineal clans. Clans are led by hereditary male clan leaders and assistant leaders. Marriages were traditionally arranged.Traditional foods included acorns, cactus fruit, seeds, berries, deer, quail, rabbits, and other small game.
The Cupa Cultural Center was founded in 1974 in Pala and underwent a major expansion in 2005. The center exhibits artwork, hosts classes and activities such as basket making and beading, and offers Cupeño language classes. During the first weekend of every May, Cupa Days is celebrated at the cultural center.
Language
The Cupeño languageCupeño language
Cupeño is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language, formerly spoken by the Cupeño people of Southern California, USA, who now speak English. Roscinda Nolasquez was the last native speaker of Cupeño.-Morphology:...
belongs to the Cupan group, which includes the Cahuilla
Cahuilla language
Cahuilla is an endangered Uto-Aztecan language, spoken by the Cahuilla tribe, living in the Coachella Valley, San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Mountain region of Southern California. Cahuilla call themselves Iviatam, speakers of 'Ivia' - the 'original' language. A 1990 census revealed 35 speakers...
and Luiseño language
Luiseño language
The Luiseño language is an Uto-Aztecan language of California spoken by the Luiseño, a Native American people who at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging 50 miles from the southern part of Los Angeles County,...
s, of the Takic
Takic languages
The Takic languages are a group of Uto-Aztecan languages spoken by Californian Native Americans in southern California.-List of Takic languages:*Cahuilla language*Cupeño language*Luiseño language*Serrano language*Tongva language*?Tataviam language...
branch within the Uto-Aztecan
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...
family of languages. Roscinda Nolasquez
Roscinda Nolasquez
Roscinda Nolasquez was a Cupeño, and the last speaker of the Cupeño language of Southern California. She made a serious effort late in her life to help document and preserve the Cupeño language, working among others with linguists Jane Hill and Roderick Jacobs.-External links:*...
(1892–1987) is considered the last truly fluent Cupeño speaker.
The language is widely regarded as being extinct. In 1994, linguist Leanne Hinton
Leanne Hinton
Leanne Hinton is an emerita professor of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. She specializes in American Indian languages, sociolinguistics, and language revitalization...
estimated one to five people still spoke Cupeño, and nine people said they spoke the language in the 1990 US census. Educational materials for the language exist and young people still learn to sing in Cupeño, particularly Bird Songs.
Population
Alfred L. KroeberAlfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
estimated the 1770 population of the Cupeño as 500. Lowell John Bean and Charles R. Smith put 1795 the total between 500 and 750. By 1910, the Cupeño population had dropped to 150, according to Kroeber. Later estimates have suggested that there were fewer than 150 Cupeños in 1973, but 200 in 2000.