| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50 (2000)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( California) | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerlyKitanemuk | |
| Religion | |
| Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Serrano,Tongva,[1]Tataviam, andVanyume |
TheKitanemuk are anIndigenous people of California who historically lived in theTehachapi Mountains and theAntelope Valley area of the westernMojave Desert ofSouthern California,United States. The Kitanemuk lived in what is nowKern County, California.[2] Today, some of the Kitanemuk are enrolled in thefederally recognizedTejon Indian Tribe of California.
The Kitanemuk historically spoke theKitanemuk language, aUto-Aztecan language,[2] probably akin to that of theTakic branch and to theSerrano language in particular, as well as theTongva and Vanyume languages.[1] Alice Anderton reconstructed the dead language in 1988 fromHarrington's notes.[3]
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.
The Kitanemuk lived in semi-permanent villages. They harvested acorns and vegetables and hunted small game.[2]
The Kitanemuk were first contacted by theFranciscan missionary-explorerFrancisco Garcés in 1769.[1] Some Kitanemuk were recruited and relocated for theSpanish missions ofMission San Fernando Rey de España in theSan Fernando Valley,Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in theSan Gabriel Valley, and perhapsMission San Buenaventura at the coast inVentura County. Therefore, they are sometimes grouped with theMission Indians.
In 1840, asmallpox epidemic hit the Kitanemuk.[1] Beginning in the 1850s, they were associated with the reservations atFort Tejon and Tule River.
The Kitanemuk moved to theTejon Ranch Indian community, which never received areservation.[2]
By 1917, some lived on Tejon Ranch and others lived on theTule River Reservation,[1] located inTulare County, California.
One Kitanemuk family still lives on the Tejon Ranch, while others live nearby.[2] Others still live on the Tule River Reservation.[2]
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