Constance Goddard DuBois (died 1934) was an American novelist and an ethnographer, writing extensively between 1899 and 1908 about the native peoples and cultures of southern California.
DuBois was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and settled in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1889. Her published fiction included several short stories plus six novels (DuBois 1890, 1892, 1895a, 1895b, 1900, 1907).
DuBois' most enduring contribution was as a self-taught ethnographer, doing pioneering studies in a period when professional academic anthropology was just becoming established in the United States. Starting in the late 1890s, she made summer trips out west to see her sister who lived in the San Diego area. She began making treks into the San Diego backcountry, to meet the surviving communities of Diegueño and Luiseño Indians. Soon she was writing about their traditional and contemporary lifeways, promoting traditional crafts (particularly basketry), and helping with financial and political assistance.
DuBois' longest ethnographic work was a detailed monograph on "The Religion of the Luiseño Indians of Southern California" (1908), edited by Alfred L. Kroeber. In addition, she published 23 shorter articles about the region's native peoples, with particular emphases on their mythology, ceremonies, and crafts (Laylander 2004). Her manuscript papers are on file at Cornell University, [1] and the San Diego Museum of Man has a collection of her photographs.
In her 1904 paper, The Story of the Chaup: A Myth of the Diegueños, Constance Goddard Du Bois presents a detailed transcription and interpretation of a myth central to the Diegueño people of Southern California [2] . The story revolves around two brothers, Chaup, who embody both human and supernatural qualities, and their journey through trials, family conflicts, and acts of creation and destruction. The narrative explores themes of kinship, betrayal, and revenge, with the brothers navigating moral and physical challenges that involve hunting, confronting mythical creatures, and interacting with their community. Du Bois situates the myth within the broader cultural and spiritual framework of the Diegueño people, emphasizing the role of storytelling in preserving indigenous heritage. The paper also includes songs integral to the myth, demonstrating their function in ritual and oral tradition. This work reflects Du Bois’s commitment to documenting and analyzing Native American folklore during a time when such traditions were increasingly under threat from assimilation policies.
In her 1905 paper, Religious Ceremonies and Myths of the Mission Indians, Constance Goddard Du Bois documented the sacred ceremonies, myths, and social practices of the Diegueño and Luiseño tribes of Southern California [3] . Du Bois described key rituals such as the Toloache initiation, where boys consumed the hallucinogenic plant toloache (Datura) in a rite of passage to adulthood, and the Image fiesta, a ceremony to honor deceased ancestors. She emphasized the secrecy surrounding these practices, a response to colonial and missionary efforts to suppress indigenous culture. Du Bois also explored the tribes' mythologies, including creation stories and narratives that explain ritual origins, and highlighted how cultural exchange shaped the traditions of neighboring tribes. This work was among the early anthropological studies aiming to preserve Native American cultural practices amid the pressures of assimilation.
The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute. Today, Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes:
The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the United States. They are an indigenous people of California.
The Luiseño language is a Uto-Aztecan language of California spoken by the Luiseño, a Native American people who at the time of first contact with the Spanish in the 16th century inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging 50 miles (80 km) from the southern part of Los Angeles County, California, to the northern part of San Diego County, California, and inland 30 miles (48 km). The people are called "Luiseño", owing to their proximity to the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia.
The Yuman–Cochimí languages are a family of languages spoken in Baja California, northern Sonora, southern California, and western Arizona. Cochimí is no longer spoken as of the late 18th century, and most other Yuman languages are threatened.
Chingichngish, also known as Quaoar and by other names including Ouiamot, Tobet and Saor, is an important mythological figure of the Mission Indians of coastal Southern California, a group of Takic-speaking peoples, today divided into the Payómkawichum (Luiseño), Tongva, and Acjachemem (Juaneño) peoples.
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging 50 miles (80 km) from the present-day southern part of Los Angeles County to the northern part of San Diego County, and inland 30 miles (48 km). In the Luiseño language, the people call themselves Payómkawichum, meaning "People of the West." After the establishment of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, "the Payómkawichum began to be called San Luiseños, and later, just Luiseños by Spanish missionaries due to their proximity to this San Luis Rey mission.
Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and blunt claws. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture.
Mission Indians was a term used to refer to the Indigenous peoples of California who lived or grew up in the Spanish mission system in California. Today the term is used to refer to their descendants and to specific, contemporary tribal nations in California.
The traditional narratives of Native California are the folklore and mythology of the native people of California. For many historic nations of California, there is only a fragmentary record of their traditions. Spanish missions in California from the 18th century Christianized many of these traditions, and the remaining groups were mostly assimilated to US culture by the early 20th century. While there are sparse records from the 18th century, most material was collected during the 19th and the early 20th centuries.
Kumeyaay traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Kumeyaay people of southern California and northwestern Baja California.
Luiseño traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Luiseño people of southwestern California.
Quechan traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Quechan (Yuma) people of the lower Colorado River area of southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, and northeastern Baja California.
Cora Alice Du Bois was an American cultural anthropologist and a key figure in culture and personality studies and in psychological anthropology more generally. She was Samuel Zemurray Jr. and Doris Zemurray Stone-Radcliffe Professor at Radcliffe College from 1954. After retirement from Radcliffe, she was Professor-at-large at Cornell University (1971–1976) and for one term at the University of California, San Diego (1976).
Edward Harvey Davis (1862-1951) was a field collector for the Museum of the American Indian in New York City who acquired many artifacts from various indigenous groups in San Diego county and northwestern Mexico for that museum.
El Vallecito is an archaeological site located in the city of La Rumorosa, in the Tecate Municipality, Baja California, Mexico.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians are a federally recognized tribe of Luiseño who live on the Rincon Indian Reservation in Valley Center in San Diego County, California. It is one of six such tribes in Southern California that are composed of Luiseño people. The Luiseño are considered one of the groups of the California Mission Indians.
Tahquitz is a spirit found in the legends of the Cahuilla, Kumeyaay and Luiseño Native American people of Southern California. Accounts of the legend vary significantly, but most agree that Tahquitz represents evil or death, and his spirit makes its home on Mount San Jacinto. Some accounts report that he steals people and/or their souls and devours them on the mountain. Tahquitz manifests himself in the form of fireballs, lightning, meteors and thunderous sounds on the mountain and in the canyons.
Florence C. Shipek professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, was an American anthropologist and ethnohistorian, a leading authority on Southern California Indians.