A strong relationship exists between the Cahuilla people and their cultural landscapes. The meaning of cultural places is expressed through traditional knowledge of oral histories, place names, traditional songs, ceremonies and landscape use. Historically, the Cahuilla maintained their relationship with landscapes while incorporating new lifestyles introduced by the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans. My thesis provides a basic model for examining historical settlements patterns and analyzing the continued traditional lifestyle and landscape by the Desert Cahuilla. Using information from published ethnographic data and traditional knowledge, I use GIS mapping to provide visual support to some hypotheses scholars have on village migrations and continued cultural landscape use. This is the first step in researching historic cultural landscape use and the information can be used in further analysis in archaeology and cultural resource use. Furthermore, this thesis will serve as a significant source in rediscovering, reconnecting, and preserving Cahuilla places.

Inaug.-Diss.--Cologne. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 122-124.

No description available.

Helen Hunt Jackson wrote the sentimental novel, Ramona, to call attention to social justice for Native Americans. This thesis presents a reconsideration and reevaluation of the novel, especially that of the Native American voice the novel presents, by recognizing the complexities of Native American literature and culture. Previous criticism of the novel focuses on the portrayal of Hispanics or the "real life" events, such as the shaping of Southern California, the "true" Ramona, or the life of Jackson. Since there is little critical debate of the text itself, this thesis initiates further exploration. An extensive review of the scholarship provides evidence of the problematic Native American voice. Other white authors, most significantly John G. Neihardt, have presented Native American literary texts such as autobiographies. While Ramona is a work of fiction, Jackson takes similar liberties as translators and editors of Native American autobiographies. In addition, Christianity shapes Jackson’s interpretation of Native American life. All of Jackson’s characters, both Native American and Hispanic, are influenced by Christianity, and no Native American religion exists within the novel. Despite Jackson’s genuine sympathy for Native American rights, she struggles with Native American stereotypes throughout Ramona and creates her own image of the civilized man as noble savage. Jackson can only present a portrait of the Native American as she perceives it because she encountered at least two distinct obstacles that prevented her from writing in an authentic Native American voice. First, at the time that Jackson wrote the novel, the Luiseño tribe, the subject of Jackson’s narrative, had been influenced by the role of Europeans in their society for over 300 years, and the tribe had lost at least some sense of its original native identity. Secondly, like other white authors, Jackson attempts to give voice to the Native American with her own white upper class female tongue. The Native American voice that Jackson presents is ultimately filtered through her Western lens.

Prehistoric life in the Colorado Desert endured a variety of environmental extremes. Episodic flooding and shifts in the course of the Colorado River resulted in the infilling of the Salton Basin and created a large freshwater lake known as Lake Cahuilla. Settlement along the different segments of the lakeshore is considered variable and may reflect accessibility to nearby viable resources. Remains from archaeological excavations at lakeshore sites show that lacustrine resources and fishing opportunities attracted prehistoric groups to the ancient lake. How prehistoric groups organized themselves and utilized lakeshore and nearby resources offer opportunities to explore the subsistence and mobility strategies of populations living in an oscillating environmental context. Using information generated from past Cultural Resource Management projects, the current study analyzes multiple data sets to address questions of a regional scale to more fully understand the effects of cyclical Lake Cahuilla on desert inhabitants. Analysis of existing collections and their associated documentation from late prehistoric habitation sites adjacent to the northwestern maximum shoreline as well as recessional shoreline sites some 30 miles to the south provide additional information on resource availability in a changing environment. It appears that in some circumstances the northwestern lakeshore inhabitants adapted to a changing environment and maintained occupation spanning multiple lake stands. During high stands, subsistence practices focused on lacustrine resources until no longer viable and habitation sites feature specialized subsistence technology reflecting fish procurement and processing. During lake recession, at least short-term habitation was sustained and corresponded to the exploitation of specific fish and waterfowl species. This study will help us better understand the strategies employed by groups who utilized the resources of this fluctuating lacustrine environment. Examination of resource use and mobility patterns practiced by prehistoric Lake Cahuilla inhabitants allows for interpretations of the adaptations necessary for life within this desert region. Ultimately, this research is applicable to broader anthropological queries on a regional scale. The Salton Basin is positioned within a geographical region that likely experienced influence and change from the surrounding environs. Gaining a deeper understanding of the study area will ultimately aid in future research concerning environmental adaptation, exchange relations, and culture change among the neighboring regions of the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, the agricultural Southwest, adjacent mountains and coast lines, and Baja California (Schaefer and Laylander 2007:381). Additionally, an understanding of how resource availability influenced past populations can contribute to ongoing and future studies concerned with resource management in the Colorado Desert and similar xeric environments.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-374).

No description available.

In the late 1970s, Southern California Edison Company proposed the construction of a 500 Kilovolt transmission line from Buckeye, Arizona (just west of Phoenix) to the Devers substation near Banning California. The proposed routes crossed the traditional territory of numerous Native American groups such as the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi Southern Paiutes, Cocopah, Mojave, Maricopa, O’Odham, Quechan, and Yavapai. As required by the National Environmental Policy Act, an environmental impact assessment was conducted to understand potential impacts this project could have on human and natural resources. For the first time since the passage of NEPA, Native American concerns were fully considered. This report presents the findings of the first Native American social impact assessment in the United States. This report presents contemporary Native American values that were pertinent to planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of high voltage generation and transmission facilities. The ethnographic study also considered the following aspects: (a) determine if, where, and in what manner such values were relevant to the Devers Palo Verde study area, (b) define differing levels of significance that Native Americans assigned to geographical points, zones, or issues within the subject study area exhibiting such values, (c) assign appropriate sensitivity ratings to the pertinent points, zones, or issues of significance and rank such points, zones, and issues from highest to lowest, explain what actions might constitute varying degrees, kinds of impact to those points, zones, or issues, and (e) provide recommendations for mitigation of negative impacts to those points, zones, or issues.

No description available.

No description available.