Cochimí

The Cochimí are an Indigenous people of the Baja California Peninsula in what is now Mexico. They inhabited the central to southern portions of the peninsula, along the Gulf of California and inland valleys. Their language, Cochimí, is now extinct and was considered part of the Yuman language family in most classifications, though its precise classification has been debated.

Traditionally, the Cochimí were hunter-gatherers with a seasonal round that included coastal fishing and inland foraging. They produced simple tools and basketry for gathering and transport, and they lived in movable camps rather than fixed villages, adapting to the desert and coastal environments of the peninsula. Social organization varied among bands.

European contact began in the late 17th century with Spanish exploration and the onset of missionary activity in Baja California. Under the mission system in the 18th–19th centuries, many Cochimí were brought into missions and relocated, which, along with introduced diseases, drastically reduced their population and disrupted traditional lifeways. By the 19th century, the Cochimí people as a distinct community had largely merged with neighboring populations, and their language became extinct.

In modern times, Cochimí heritage persists in historical records and among some people in Baja California who trace ancestry to this group. Linguistic and ethnographic research continues to document Cochimí history, culture, and its relationship to surrounding Indigenous groups.