Juaneño

Juaneño (or Acagchemem)

The territorial boundaries of the Southern California Indian tribes based on dialect, including the Cahuilla, Cupeño, Diegueño, Gabrieliño, Juaneño (highlighted), and Luiseño language groups.
Regions with significant populations
United States ( California)
Languages
English and Juaneño
Religion
traditional tribal religion, Christianity

The Juaneño or Acjachemen are an indigenous people of California. They traditionally lived along the coast in what is now Orange and San Diego counties. The name "Juaneño" derives from the Spanish Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded to colonize and enslave them in 1776. They traditionally spoke the Juaneño language, a variety closely related to the Luiseño language of the nearby Luiseño people, but this is extinct. In the 20th century, they organized as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, which is recognized by the State of California, but is not federally recognized.

During the late Paleoindian period and continuing into the present day, the southern coastal area was occupied by the Native American society referred to by Spanish colonists as the Juaneño. Spanish priests named them as the people colonized by the nearby Mission San Juan Capistrano. Today many contemporary Juaneño who identify as descendants of the indigenous society living in the local San Juan and San Mateo Creek drainage areas prefer the adopted indigenous term Acjachemen as their autonym, or name for themselves, in an effort to decolonize their history.

The Acjachemen territory extends from Las Pulgas Creek in northern San Diego County up into the San Joaquin Hills along Orange County's central coast, and inland from the Pacific Ocean up into the Santa Ana Mountains. Aliso Creek formed the northern boundary. The bulk of the population occupied the outlets of two large creeks, San Juan Creek (and its major tributary, Trabuco Canyon) and San Mateo Creek (combined with Arroyo San Onofre, which drained into the ocean at the same point).