Vanyume
Beñemé | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (California) | |
| Languages | |
| Vanyume language | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Serrano, Tataviam, Kitanemuk, Tongva |
The Vanyume or Desert Serrano are an Indigenous people of Southern California. Historical Vanyume territory extended along the Mojave River from the Eastern Mojave Desert to present-day Victorville, and may have included portions of southern Antelope Valley. The major village of Wá’peat was part of this area.
Though the Vanyume were closely related to the neighboring Serrano people linguistically and culturally, the two groups were politically distinct before European contact. Because all documented Vanyume villages had been abandoned before modern ethnographic fieldwork emerged, ethnographic information on the Vanyume is limited.