Total population | |
---|---|
467 reservation population (2011)[1] 1,823 enrolled members (2017)[2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States (California) | |
Languages | |
English, Luiseño | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Luiseño people[3] |
The Pechanga Band of Indians, also known as Payómkawichum (the People of the West), stand as 1 of 6 federally recognized tribes of Luiseño Indians, currently located in Riverside County, California.[4] The modern understanding of the tribe, Pechanga, meaning "the place where water drips," comes from the displacement of the tribe during their eviction from Temecula in 1875, resulting in movement towards a secluded valley near a spring called Pecháa'a (pechaq for "to drip").[5]