The Kitanemuk belonged to the Shoshonean division of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic stock and to a subgroup which included also the Alliklik, Vanyume and Serrano.
Kitanemuk Indians. Perhaps from the stem ki, “house,”; other synonyms are Kikitanum, and Kikitamkar.
Location. On upper Tejon and Paso Creeks, the streams on the rear side of the Tehachapi Mountains in the same vicinity and the small creeks draining the northern slope of the Liebre and Sawmill Range, with Antelope Valley and the westernmost end of the Mohave Desert.
Villages. The present principal Kitanemuk village is called Nakwalki-ve, and is situated where Tejon Creek breaks out of the hills. (Other names given do not seem unquestionably those of villages).
Population. Kroeber (1925) estimates that in 1770 there were 3,500 Serrano, Vanyume, Kitanemuk, and Alliklik, and that these were represented by about 150 in 1910. (See Alliklik.)