Paipai

The Paipai, also called Akwa'ala, are hunter-gatherer Indians of northern Baja California. Their territory ran from San Vicente on the Pacific coast almost to the Colorado River delta. They lived in patrilineal bands, built rectangular thatched houses, hunted with bows and cane arrows, and made pottery, basketry and rabbitskin robes. Their language belongs to the Yuman family.

Sebastian Vizcaino's coastal expedition first encountered them in 1602, and the Portola expedition of 1769 opened a period of sustained Spanish contact. The Dominicans founded the San Vicente mission in Paipai land in 1780 and added an inland station at Santa Catarina in 1797, drawing the formerly nomadic bands into settled mission life.