Some information on the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
                ---Aboriginal territory map, historic photo link, and language items are at bottom---

Miiyu, hello! The Soboba Reservation is one of the six bands of the Luiseño Indians. We are at the edge of the City of San Jacinto, just north of the larger city of Hemet (which is most likely an Indian name). Our Tribe has 800 members, with about 520 people living on the Reservation. Miiyu is "hello" in our Tribal language , and if you say it to a group, the plural form is Miiyuyam. Our language is important to us. Education in general is important to us! We operate our own preschool, and we have middle school and high school at our Noli School. "Noli" is a Luiseño word meaning "envision" - we envision a new future for our people through education . Soboba is also developing relationships with institutions of higher education and hosted the first annual fund-raiser for the American Indian Alumni Association of Univ. of Calif. Riverside. (see "Current Events").

Soboba is proud also of the Soboba Sports Complex, with basketball, football practice, swimming, weight-lifting and two softball fields. The Reservation was established in 1883, thirty years after the refusal of the U.S. Congress to ratify the "Friendship" Treaties. The Soboba Casino has the Soboba Steakhouse, and the Reservation has also a number of other enterprises. Sand and gravel are sold for construction, citrus is raised commercially for export to Japan, and other crops include tomatoes, pumpkins and squash. The industriousness of our people was remarked on as early as Helen Hunt Jackson's famous 1880's report on the Southern California Indian people. (see this at San Jacinto Museum (909) 654 4952)
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Other Luiseño bands (click for map) are Pechanga (at Temecula), Pala, Pauma, Rincon and La Jolla. Luiseño is a Spanish word, from Mission San Luis Rey, which organized these communities into their present form. While the Domenigoni project (Diamond Valley Lake) has proven human occupation of this area going back 8,000 years, the direct link of these persons to our Tribal ancestry is not proven.

However, archaeologist Dr. Bruce Love has excavated a dig in Temecula which shows continuous occupation from 4,700 years ago, up to the "contact" era. The Luiseño's name for ourselves in the Indian language is Payomkawichum, "people of the west" (note the Serrano to the north on the map - San Manuel at San Bernardino are Serrano; note the Cahuilla to the east - Agua Caliente at Palm Springs are Cahuilla -- and then note the Luiseño Tribal territory stretching to the sea, and the geographic name will be clear!)

The people of Soboba also have extensive roots within the Cahuilla people and culture.






Pine needle baskets are reportedly the most difficult type to make. When this basket is held up to the light, the weave is so tight that no light at all can be seen through it. This basket is by Carlotta Lubo, great-grandmother of Soboba cultural heritage Researcher Charlene Ryan.   Click the photo to go to more photos of cultural materials.

Learn some Luiseno Indian language, without using English (see the "What's New" link from the homepage for other Luiseno including some with on-line pronunciation! TEST YOUR WITS on "hati'aq" versus "hati'ax" ! )

Map of the Luiseno Bands' Reservations today

Map of ALL California tribes' traditional areas
     Use "back" to return from this map or the following one...
Map of linguistic areas statewide (you will see that many tribes are part of the same linguistic "families")


"Virtual tour" of the Soboba Reservation

View some historic photos of Soboba

Click here for "meditations on presenting a culture," then click "Pechanga" link to see traditional housing.

Soboba's Tribal Cultural Heritage Program

Reading room " Cham-Mix Poki' "   ("House of Our Culture").

Little Linguist: Click here to see the "Little Linguist" language-learning toy ("Teetilaqat Kihuut" in Luiseno), a language learning toy for ages 12 months on up to interested adults! Available to Tribal members for purchase or to use at various Tribal facilities

Luiseno Counting Cube -- counts to 100 in Luiseno as it is turned. Click here to see this language-learning toy
Soboba Preschool and Cham-Mix Poki' each have one, if you'd like to play with one to check it out!



====== Click for information on teaching sessions on Luiseno culture and language ======
A few Luiseño Indian words for you …
Miiyu Hello to one person -- the underline shows the accent: MEE-you
Miiyuyam Hello -- to a group (MEE-you-yahm)
Looviq "Good," or "That's good" Remember, underline shows the accent.
      AND NOTE: "oo" is a long o, "oh" in the spelling system for Luiseño: LOH-vick
Poloov temet "have a good day" ( po LOHV teMET)
     "Temet" can be "sun" or "day"
(Temecula is translated by author Tom Hudson as "place of diffused sunshine")

                === More Luiseno words ===


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