Other name: Payómkawichum or Payómkowishum; Quechnajuichom
Home region: San Diego County, north toward San Onofre, south toward Escondido
Mission affiliations: San Luis Rey de Francia
Historical background: Quechnajuichom is the Spanish spelling of the name that Pablo Tac, a nineteenth-century Luiseño ethnographer, used to describe the people who lived in the area around today’s San Luis Rey mission. According to anthropologists, a distinct Luiseño culture existed at least as early as 1400 AD, and that their neighbors, such as the Cahuilla, the Tongva and the Ipai considered them to be fearful warriors.
The Luiseños first came into contact with Europeans at the time of the Portolá expedition in 1769. After the founding of Mission San Luis Rey in 1795, most of eventually came to be associated with the mission, although they maintained their traditional settlement patterns and continued to each many of their traditional foods, in addition to adopting European agricultural methods.
Interesting facts: Since their territory extended from the mountains to the coast, the Quechnajuichom hunted all types of animals, from deer and quail to marine mammals. They were also excellent fishermen in both ocean and streams. Pablo Tac, a Luiseño youth who went to Rome to study for the Catholic priesthood, wrote a series of descriptions of Quechnajuichom life ways in the 1820s.
Today: Today the Luiseño are represented by the following organizations: the Pala Band of Mission Indians (San Diego County), the Rincon Luiseño Band of Indians (San Diego County), the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians (San Diego County), the Pauma Band of Mission Indians (San Diego County), the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians (Riverside County), the Soboba Reservation (Riverside County), the Mission San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians (San Diego County).
