Luiseno Indians
How they Used Pottery to Survive
By
Keri Avila
Luiseno Indians used pottery in many ways. They used pottery as a resource for their survival. They lived around the San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside, California.
Luiseño Indians were using pottery to help them survive since 1796.
They used pottery in many different ways. One example of how it helped them survive was that they used it to store seeds and keep water cool. These pots were called naraungrush.
The Luiseño also used these pots to carry water. They used large pots with small mouths to carry large amounts of water. These were called nadungdamal. Some pots had two small mouths. These were called papakamal. The tribe used these pots to small amounts of water when they were out gathering food.
Pots with extra wide mouths, called wiwlish, were used for cooking food.
Bowl shaped pots were used for serving food. They also used plate shaped pots called tevatvmal.
Pottery was a resource that the Luiseno Indians used to survive. They not only used it to store, serve and cook food, they also used it to carry water and keep it cool.
Pottery helped them walk short distances so they could hunt and gather food. Even though it may seem that pottery may be decorative , it has played an important role in helping Luiseño Indians surive.