Sociopolitical Organization
Under Construction
Two basic forms of sociopolitical organization existed among the people of the Desert Interior. For those groups where nearly constant movement was a daily necessity of life and the resources available around given camps might be exceptionally limited, the nuclear family was the largest social unit to remain constantly in contact throughout the year. Resources permitting, more distant kinfolk (e.g., aunts, uncles, cousins) preferred to camp together in larger groups, but these inevitably dissolved into smaller groups more in keeping with the sparse and patchy resources of the desert. In a very real sense, the family was a truly autonomous social, political and economic unit, a nation unto itself. Its decisions were made without reference to a higher authority and with only family benefit in mind.
On those occasions where cooperation of several families was needed, as during communal hunts, the more experienced individuals generally assumed roles of hunt leadership. Their authority lasted only as long as the activity itself and never carried any power to coerce. Certain men, highly regarded for their wisdom or social skills, occasionally assumed more permanent roles as advisors and spokesmen for groups of loosely associated families, but again there was never any question of individual and family autonomy - it was assumed - nor was there any hint of coercive power.
Where resources were more abundant and, as a consequence, population more densely packed, and mobility less vital to survival, different forms of sociopolitical organization existed. For example, among the Owens Valley Paiute, Cahuilla, Kupa, and some Serrano and Tatavium, populations aggregated in large, permanent villages, each one surrounded by a well-defined territory or district that the village, or a lineage or clan, owned and defended. In these nations, the nuclear family, although a major unit of economic production, was not autonomous, but linked with other families into larger cooperative kin-based units. The demands of organizing also required more formal leadership, which was assumed by headmen or chieftans; they inherited this postion from paternal or, less frequently maternal relatives. The power of these headmen was limited and subject to popular approval.
For more detailed information on sociopolitical organization for specific groups, choose from the following:
Eastern Mono | Kawaiisu | Chemehuevi | Serrano | Kitanemuk
Tataviam | Vanyume | Cahuilla | Kupa | Tipai
Eastern Mono -
Kawaiisu -
Chemehuevi -
Serrano - The Serrano were loosely organized into exogamous clans, which in turn were affiliated with one of two exogamous moieties. The exact nature of the clans, their structure, function, and number are not known, but it appears that each clan was the largest autonomous political and landholding unit with the core being the patrilineage. There was no form of pan-clan political union, all bonds being strictly ceremonial in nature with clans aligning themselves with one another along lines of economic, marital, or ceremonial reciprocity, a comon pattern throughout southern California.
A clan's titual head was the kika, a hereditary position
For additional information on the Desert
Interior Region,
please select a topic most applicable to your interests:
Languages | Subsistence | Settlement Patterns | Sociopolicial Patterns | Religion
Northwest
Coast | Northeast | Central
Coast and Central Valley
East of the Sierra Divide | Interior Desert | Southern Coastal
Native Peoples of California - Topics
To comment on this page please send email to Chuck Smith at crsmith@cabrillo.cc.ca.us.
Page last updated: 23 August 1999