JUANENO INDIANS

THESE FOLKS LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN ORANGE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES. THEY ARE CLOSE TO THE MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. THEY ARE KNOWN AS THE JUANEAO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS. THEIR SPANISH SETTLEMENT IS AT SAJAVIT OCCUPIED DURING LATE PALEO INDIAN PERIOD CONTINUING TO PRESENT DAY . THE NAME COMES FROM PEOPLE WHO MINISTERED BY THE PADRES OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. THEIR INDIGENOUS NAME IS ACJACHEMEN. THEIR LANGUAGE WAS RELATED TO LUISENO TRIBE. IT IS BEING REVIVED THANKS TO SOME RESEARCH AND ANTHROPOLOGIST HARRINGTON. MOST OF THE PEOPLE LIVED IN THE SAN JUAN CREEK AND SAN MATEO CREEK. SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO MISSION WAS ALONG THE SAN JUAN CREEK.

EACH CLAN WAS INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER, BUT IT JOINED TOGETHER FOR OCCASIONS AND WERE POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT. THE CLAN CHIEF WAS NOTA, WHO REGULATED CEREMONIAL LIFE. THE CLAN DECIDED UPON MATTERS SUCH AS THE PLACEMENT OF CEREMONIAL HOUSE (VANQUESH) IN THE VILLAGE AND THE CHIEF'S HOUSE. THESE WERE CENTRALLY LOCATED. A FRANCISCAN SCHOLAR RECORDED THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF PREHISTORIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO VALLEY. THERE RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE WAS SECRET. THEIR RELIGION PLACED CHIEFS AS RELIGIOUS LEADERS. THE INDIGENOUS FOLKS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES = THE COASTAL PLAYANOS AND THE SERRANOS. BOTH OF THE GROUPS HAD DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES ABOUT HOW THE EARTH, ANIMALS, AND HUMANS WERE CREATED. TODAY THIS BAND IS STILL SEEKING FEDERAL RECOGNITION REGARDING TRIBAL STATUS. IT HAS 2800 PEOPLE IN THE TRIBE.

NOCOMA IS THEIR CREATOR GOD, WHO CREATED THE EARTH, AND STUCK A BLACK ROCK CALLED TOSANT THROUGH IT'S CENTER TO KEEP IT IN PLACE.

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