SERRANO

(Spanish: Mountaineer), groups of Indians speaking a Uto-Aztecan language and originally inhabiting a mountainous region of southern California (U.S.). One group, the Kitanemuk, lived in the drainage area of the Kern and San Joaquin rivers; another group, the Vanyume, resided along the Mojave River; and a third group, the Serrano proper, held the San Bernardino Mountains and adjacent valleys and a portion of the Mojave Desert. Little is known of the life of the Kitanemuk; and of the Vanyume of aboriginal times it can be said for certain only that they lived in a desert that offered a meagre existence. The Serrano proper were somewhat more prosperous, though they too were hunter-gatherers living off the small game, acorns, pion nuts, and berries of their semiarid environment. The Serrano were organized into clans or village communities, each clan having a hereditary chief and assistant chief. The Serrano proper built circular, domed dwellings using willow branches covered with tule thatching. Most villages also had a ceremonial house where the chief lived, as well as a heated sweat house for cleansing one's body by sweating. In the late 20th century there remained fewer than 400 Serrano proper.