Kawaiisu traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Kawaiisu

Kawaiisu

thumb|Kawaiisu FamilyThe Kawaiisu are a Native American group who lived in the southern California Tehachapi Valley and across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the north, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass...

 people of the Tehachapi Mountains

Tehachapi Mountains

The Tehachapi Mountains , regionally also called The Tehachapis, are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States...

, southern Sierra Nevada, and western Mojave Desert

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...

 of southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

.

Kawaiisu oral literature has been documented by Maurice Zigmond. These narratives show their closest links with the traditions of other Numic-speaking groups of the Great Basin. (See also Traditional narratives (Native California)

Traditional narratives (Native California)

The Traditional Narratives of Native California are the legends, tales, and oral histories that survive as fragments of what was undoubtedly once a vast unwritten literature.-History of Studies:...

.)