Environment and Economy

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The source for the following information is an excellent book called The First Angelinos by William McCawley.

The Kizh homeland, McCawley explains, “offered an environment rich in natural resources. This wealth of resources, coupled with an effective technology and a sophisticated system of trade and ritual exchange, resulted in a society that was among the most materially wealthy and culturally sophisticated of the California Indian groups.” 

Because the Kizh inhabited such a large area, natural resources varied widely among settlements. There were at least nine distinct habitats, stretching from the mountains to the ocean, each with their own unique natural resources. 

The Kizh territory was also at the center of an extensive network of trade with other tribes that stretched eastward to the Colorado River and westward as far as San Nicolas Island. These trading partners included the Cahuilla, Serrano, Luiseno, Chumash, and Mojave tribes. 

To facilitate this trade, there would be large inter-tribal gatherings that included feasts, dances, and ritual exchange of shell bead currency. Various tribes and lineages would join together in ceremonial, political, and economic alliances.

Animal Resources

The main natural resources of the Kizh may be divided into three types: animal, plant, and mineral. Animal resources included deer, antelope (a kind of mountain goat), coyote, wolves, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, birds, snakes, and wildcats.

Animal meat was prepared in a variety of ways, including jerking, roasting, boiling, and baking. Skins and pelts were used for clothing, containers, and blankets.

Other useful tools made from animals including needles, fishhooks, awls, bows, whistles, flutes, and rattles.

According to McCawley, the Kizh were expert hunters, “and their weapons and technology reflected a versatile set of strategies for utilizing animal resources to the best advantage. Large animals were hunted with bow and arrow, while small animals were taken with traps, snares, nets, slings, and throwing sticks.”

Kizh hunters also used ingenious decoy headdresses made from deer heads—to mimic deer and allow them to get close.

Insects often served as a kind of “fast food” and included grasshoppers, larvae of bees, wasps, ants, and beetles.

Among the coastal communities, fish and sea mammals (whales, seals, sea otters) provided excellent sources of food. Shellfish like abalone, oysters, and clams were also Eaten.

In addition to being expert hunters, the Kizh (like their Chumash neighbors to the north) were expert seafarers and fishermen. They built sturdy plank canoes (called a te’aat) which could hold 8-10 people on fishing and sea voyages.

Seafaring was still a risky activity, however, so Kizh mariners “sought aid from the supernatural world to help them in their efforts.” They would carry stone carvings which “may have served as talismans that were used to channel supernatural power from a guardian spirit or dream helper to an individual.” 

“These carvings represent sensitive works of art,” McCawley explains, “as well as testaments to the religious beliefs and faith of Gabrielino seafarers.” 

Plant Resources

Trees supplied the wood used for building Kizh homes and for manufacturing bows and arrows, spears, harpoons, bowls, platters, dishes, and canoes. 

Tule reeds (or bulrushes) were used to make houses, reed canoes, baskets, and various containers. Acorns provided a staple food with a high nutritional value. The Kizh developed techniques to leech out tannic acid and make acorns palatable, allowing them to be ground into a mush or made into cakes. 

Acorns were usually collected in the fall in “an intense, cooperative communal effort.” 

Other plant foods included: chia seeds, roots, bulbs, wild hyacinth, clover, wild sunflower seeds, cholla cactus seeds, and wild tobacco. 

The Kizh were known as expert basketweavers, making baskets that were both useful and artistic. Baskets would be woven with both geometric and realistic designs in three colors: red, green, and black—made from natural pigments.

Mineral Resources

The Kizh homeland also included “a variety of useful minerals…and these played a large role in the development of trade and manufacturing.” 

Soapstone was used to make cooking vessels and religious effigies (small statues). Flint was used to make arrowpoints, small drills, and knives. Slate was used in soapstone quarries to make picks, saws, and choppers. Granite was used to make mortars and bowls for grinding. 

Crystals were used for religious or ritual implements. Asphaltum (tar) was used as an adhesive, and for waterproofing containers.

“Much of the asphaltum,” McCawley explains, “was collected as it floated ashore from marine seepages, although an alternative source was the tar pools at La Brea.” 

Clays were also used to make ceramics, body paint, and soaps.

With so many natural resources and such an advanced system of trade and manufacturing, it’s no wonder that early ethnographer Alfred Kroeber called the Kizh “the wealthiest and most thoughtful of all the Shoshoneans of the State.”