Cahuilla

The Cahuilla are a tribe of Native Americans that have inhabited California for more than 2000 years, originally covering an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km²).

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Evidence shows that when the Cahuilla first moved into the area a large body of water now called Lake Cahuilla was in existence, which confirms oral legends. Fed by the Colorado River, it dried up sometime before 1600 when the river changed course. In 1905 a break in a levee created the much smaller Salton Sea in the same location.

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The Cahuilla are divided into Mountain, Desert and Pass Cahuillas. There are 9 reservations in Southern California; Cahuilla, Agua Caliente, Santa Rosa, Torres-Martinez, Cabeson, Morongo, Los Coyotes, Ramona, and Saboba.

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Their language is of the Uto-Aztecan family. A 1990 census revealed 35 speakers in an ethnic population of 800. It is nearly extinct, since most speakers are middle-aged or older.

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California: California is a state located on the west coast of the United States. It is the most populous state in the U.S., as well as physically the most diverse, with the highest and the lowest points in the lower 48 states located within 150 miles of each other. If California were an independent nation, it...

Lake Cahuilla: Prehistoric Lake Cahuilla (also known as Lake LeConte and Blake Sea) was an extensive freshwater lake that filled the Coachella, Imperial, and Mexicali valleys of southeastern California and northeastern Baja California during the centuries prior to Spanish entry into the region. The Salton Sea (abo...