GABRIELINO

also called San Gabrielino, or Gabrieleo any of twoand possibly threedialectally and culturally related North American Indian groups who spoke a language of Uto-Aztecan stock and lived in the lowlands, along the seacoast, and on islands in southern California. The Gabrielino proper inhabited what are now southern and eastern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County, as well as the islands of Santa Catalina and San Clemente; they were named after the Franciscan mission San Gabriel Arcngel (and thus have sometimes been called San Gabrielinos). The second group, Fernandino (Fernandeo, or San Fernandinos, named after the mission San Fernando Rey de Espaa), occupied areas in and around the San Fernando Valley and some seacoast. A third apparently related group were the Nicolino (Nicoleo, or San Nicolinos), who inhabited San Nicolas Island. The Gabrielino groups occupied some of the most fertile and pleasant land in California, and, because they were among the wealthiest and most advanced Indians in the region, they exercised considerable influence on all their neighbours. In religion, for instance, the Gabrielino were the source of the jimsonweed cult, a widely practiced southern California religion that involved various sacred and esoteric rituals and the drinking of toloache, a hallucinogen made from the jimsonweed (Datura stramonium). The interior and coastal Gabrielino lived in houses constructed of poles and tule mats and relied on gathering acorns and other plant foods, supplemented by fishing and hunting. Island Gabrielino, especially the Nicolino, often built dwellings of whale ribs covered with sea-lion skins or brush; and for food they relied more on fish, sea mammals and birds, and mollusks. All groups made baskets; and from Santa Catalina Island came soapstone that was made into such items as pots and scoops, ceremonial vessels, artistic carvings, beads, and ornaments. Trade between islanders, coastal people, and interior Indians was extensive, using currency of clamshell beads. Each Gabrielino village had a hereditary chief and shamans. No identifiable Gabrielino now exist. See also Mission Indians.