Tubatulabal
The Tubatulabal are an Indigenous group from the Southern Sierra foothills of California, primarily identified as one of the Indigenous American cultures in the region. Traditionally, they were organized into three bands that spoke mutually intelligible dialects, each led by a chief known for their wisdom and conflict resolution skills. Their communities were characterized by semipermanent hamlets, with living structures made from local materials like willow and brush.
Central to Tubatulabal culture were practices such as basket-making and food gathering; acorns and piñon nuts were vital staples of their diet, complemented by hunting and fishing. The group has experienced significant challenges since European contact in the late 18th century, facing displacement due to settler expansion and gold rushes, as well as loss of life from violence and disease. Despite these adversities, a small population of Tubatulabal descendants continues to seek the preservation and revival of their cultural practices, including basketry.
Currently, they are not federally recognized, although they are working towards this goal and have taken steps to document their history and reclaim ancestral lands. The Tubatulabal community today reflects a blend of traditional practices and adaptations to contemporary life, with some members employed in various occupations and others dedicated to cultural preservation efforts.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Tubatulabal
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: California
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Tubatulabal
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Southern Sierra foothills, California
- POPULATION SIZE: 400-600 (2023 Land Trust Alliance)
The highly mobile Tubatulabal once comprised three discrete bands speaking mutually intelligible dialects, each with their own chief. The group is one of the Indigenous American cultures of California. Historically, they occupied either patrilineal or matrilineal exogamous, semipermanent hamlets of several extended families, but they had no strict rules of exogamy or endogamy above the hamlet level. Chiefs were even-tempered, enunciated sound judgment, possessed oratory skills, and were generous with advice and their time. Leaders had limited authority, but they negotiated arbitration and resolved conflict. Living structures were simple but effective, made of domed, bent willow covered with brush and mud, with tule mats for beds and floor coverings. The Indigenous American women in this group made coiled and twined baskets of split willow, yucca roots, and deer grass in representative and geometric designs. The most important foods were acorn and piñon nuts, collectively gathered and stored for winter consumption. All land mammals were hunted, and great amounts of various insects were dried as winter stores. Individual and communal fishing made an important contribution to their diet. Jimsonweed was probably used only in curing ceremonies.
The first European American contact was in 1776 when Francisco Garcés explored the lower Kern River. By 1850, White settlers and cattle herders had established homesteads and ranches, and in 1857, the Kern River gold rush brought miners, who eventually displaced most of the Tubatulabal. After considerable conflict, the Tubatulabal located themselves on the Tule River Reservation from 1900 to 1972.
In the twenty-first century, some Tubatulabal men work as cowhands. Some women are employed in administrative work. There are only a few elders who pursue certain types of cultural traditions, particularly basketry and root digging, although many are vested in preserving and reviving Tubatulabal culture. The low population and deculturation of the Tubatulabal reflect the historical 1863 massacre by Whites and the devastating effects of post-contact diseases and epidemics. Migration from the area and intermarriage with non-Indigenous Americans have further decreased the group’s numbers. The Tubatulabal are not federally recognized, though they have contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Services. Since the 1980s, the Tubatulabal have been working to gain federal recognition but had yet to achieve it as of 2024, despite having stepped up their efforts by documenting their personal and Indigenous histories, obtaining 1,240 acres of ancestral land, adopting a flag, and receiving financial help from other local Indigenous American nations.
Bibliography
"About Us." Tübatulabals of Kern Valley, www.tubatulabal.org/index.php/about-us/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Davis, Mary B., editor. Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. 1996. Reprint. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Henry, Lois. “Ancestral Lands Back in the Hands of Tübatulabal Tribe that Has Lived There for Thousands of Years.” Land Trust Alliance, 9 Oct. 2023, landtrustalliance.org/blog/ancestral-lands-back-in-the-hands-of-kern-river-valley-tribe. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
"Tubatulabal." California Language Archive, cla.berkeley.edu/languages/tubatulabal.html. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Walker, Richard Arlin. "New Leadership for Tubatulabal Tribe; Recognition, Economic Development Among Top Priorities." Indian Country Today, 13 Sept. 2018, ictnews.org/archive/new-leadership-for-tubatulabal-tribe-recognition-economic-development-among-top-priorities. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Walker, Richard Arlin. “Kern Valley, Tubatulabals Make Strides Toward Recognition.” ICT News, 12 Sept. 2018, ictnews.org/archive/kern-valley-tubatulabals-make-strides-toward-recognition-2. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
White, Phillip. "Research by Subject: American Indian Studies: California Indians: T-U." SDSU's LibGuides, 2 Nov. 2024, libguides.sdsu.edu/c.php?g=494769&p=3390037. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.