Payomkawichum

The Payómkawichum, or People of the West, lived in the valleys and coastal country of southern California. Their villages and lands later came to be associated with the name Luiseño, after the Spanish mission of San Luis Rey. Founded in 1798 within their ancestral territory, the mission brought new demands for labour and conversion. The Payómkawichum continued to maintain their communities under difficult conditions as colonial institutions changed the use of their land.