Taaqtam

The Taaqtam are the Serrano, whose autonym means 'the people'; the Spanish called them Serrano, or highlanders, for their mountain villages. Takic-speaking peoples entered southern California around 1100, and the Taaqtam held the San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave River oases, trading beads and food with the Mojave and coastal groups.

Their kinsmen included the Kitanemuk of the Tehachapi Mountains and Antelope Valley, first met by the Franciscan Francisco Garcés in 1769. Mission San Gabriel was founded on their borders in 1771. In 1812 the Serrano joined the Cahuilla and other neighbours in revolt against the mission system; the Mexican government forcibly resettled many at the missions in 1834.