 A Kawaiisu family | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2010: 60 alone and in combination[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( California) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Kawaiisu[2] | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ute, Chemehuevi, and Southern Paiute |
The Kawaiisu Nation (pronounced: "ka-wai-ah-soo"[needs IPA]) are a tribe of indigenous people of California in the United States. The Kawaiisu Nation is the only treatied tribe in California, Ratified Treaty (No. 256), 9 Stat. 984, Dec. 30, 1849. This Treaty with the Utah Confederation of tribal nations. They have never given up their territorial rights to any of their ancestral land to the United States. The Kawaiisu Nation had preexisting treaties with Spain and those were recognized by Mexico until 1849 when California was becoming a State.
Tribal members lived in a series of small and large permeant villages in the Tehachapi Valley and to the north across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass and all the way to the Pacific. Historically, the Kawaiisu also traveled eastward and westward 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 the western edge of Death Valley and to the Pacific Coast. - The Kawaiisu considered the Coso Range near Ridgecrest Ca. the site of their creation and their most sacred land.
They are well known for their rock art/Po-o-ka-di that exists throughout their territory, including on the Chana Lake Naval Weapons Center. Kawaiisu complex basket weaving was recognized as the finest in the Americas. Much of inventory of the Kawaiisu baskets are held and hidden by UC Berkley in a private collection.
- ^ "2010 Census" (PDF). census.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-09.
- ^ California Indians and Their Reservations: Kawaiisu Archived 2015-07-06 at the Wayback Machine San Diego State University Library and Information Access. Retrieved 30 June 2013.