Mono people

This article includes historical images which have been upscaled by an AI process. This will have introduced speculative and possibly inaccurate details not present in the source material. Such images should be replaced with their original versions. (March 2024)

Mono

A Mono couple living near Northfork, California, ca. 1920
Total population
approximately 2,300
Regions with significant populations
United States (California and Nevada)
Languages
Mono, English
Religion
Traditional Tribal Religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Northern Paiute, Shoshone, Bannock

Lands historically inhabited by the Mono people overlaid onto modern-day California state borders

The Mono (/ˈmoʊnoʊ/ MOH-noh) are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south of Bridgeport), the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. They are often grouped under the historical label "Paiute" together with the Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute – but these three groups, although related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, do not form a single, unique, unified group of Great Basin tribes.

Today, many of the tribal citizens and descendants of the Mono tribe inhabit the town of North Fork (thus the label "Northfork Mono") in Madera County. People of the Mono tribe are also spread across California in: the Owens River Valley; the San Joaquin Valley and foothills areas, especially Fresno County; and in the San Francisco Bay Area.