The Cahuilla occupied a diverse territory of canyons, mountain passes, and windswept deserts that stretched from the Chocolate Mountains in the south to the San Bernardino Mountains in the north.

(DETAIL)- "Cahuilla Indian Portrait." California Historical Society, Photography collection.

The Cahuilla supplemented traditional hunting and gathering activities with some limited agriculture. Hunters shot rabbits and other small game with bows and arrows, killed them with throwing sticks, or captured them with nets and snares. Women gathered acorns, mesquite pods, piñon nuts, and the fruit of various species of cacti. When water supplies were sufficient, the Cahuilla planted crops of corn, beans, squash, and melons.

Like other peoples of the American Southwest, the Cahuilla produced both pottery and basketry. They fashioned their pottery by coiling narrow ropes of clay and smoothing the sides with a rounded stone and wooden paddle. The finished product, usually thin and brittle, was painted or incised with geometric designs.

©2000 California Historical Society. All rights reserved