Kitanemuk
Indigenous Californian people
title: "Kitanemuk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["indigenous-peoples-of-california", "mission-indians", "antelope-valley", "history-of-the-mojave-desert-region", "history-of-los-angeles-county,-california", "mojave-desert", "tehachapi-mountains", "uto-aztecan-peoples"] description: "Indigenous Californian people" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitanemuk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Indigenous Californian people ::
::data[format=table title="infobox ethnic group"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| group | Kitanemuk |
| population | 50 (2000) |
| popplace | United States (California) |
| langs | English, formerly Kitanemuk |
| rels | Animism |
| related | Serrano, Tongva, Tataviam, and Vanyume |
| :: |
|group = Kitanemuk |image = |caption = |population = 50 (2000) |popplace = United States (California) |langs = English, formerly Kitanemuk |rels = Animism |related = Serrano, Tongva, Tataviam, and Vanyume
The Kitanemuk are an Indigenous people of California who historically lived in the Tehachapi Mountains and the Antelope Valley area of the western Mojave Desert of Southern California, United States. The Kitanemuk lived in what is now Kern County, California. Today, some of the Kitanemuk are enrolled in the federally recognized Tejon Indian Tribe of California.
Language
The Kitanemuk historically spoke the Kitanemuk language, a Uto-Aztecan language,
Population
Main article: Population of Native California
Estimates for the precontact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) proposed a population of 1,770 for the Kitanemuk, together with the Serrano and Tataviam, as 3,500. Thomas C. Blackburn and Lowell John Bean (1978:564) estimated the Kitanemuk alone as 500 to 1,000.
The combined population of the Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Tataviam in 1910 had fallen to only 150 persons, according to Kroeber.
History
18th century
The Kitanemuk lived in semi-permanent villages. They harvested acorns and vegetables and hunted small game.
The Kitanemuk were first contacted by the Franciscan missionary-explorer Francisco Garcés in 1769. Some Kitanemuk were recruited and relocated for the Spanish missions of Mission San Fernando Rey de España in the San Fernando Valley, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in the San Gabriel Valley, and perhaps Mission San Buenaventura at the coast in Ventura County. Therefore, they are sometimes grouped with the Mission Indians.
19th century
In 1840, a smallpox epidemic hit the Kitanemuk. Beginning in the 1850s, they were associated with the reservations at Fort Tejon and Tule River.
The Kitanemuk moved to the Tejon Ranch Indian community, which never received a reservation.
20th century
By 1917, some lived on Tejon Ranch and others lived on the Tule River Reservation, located in Tulare County, California.
21st century
One Kitanemuk family still lives on the Tejon Ranch, while others live nearby. Others still live on the Tule River Reservation.
Notes
References
References
- {{usurped
- "Kitanemuk". San Diego State University Library.
- Anderton, Alice J.. (1988). "The language of the Kitanemuks of California". University of California, Los Angeles.
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