According to interviews with Augustine Elders in the winter of 1924–1925, the tribe is of the Nanxaiyem clan of Pass Cahuilla. Francisco Nombre, a Desert Cahuilla ceremonial leader and keeper of traditional clan genealogy, stated that the Nanxaiyem migrated to the Coachella Valley around 1860 and their survivors settled at "La Mesa", the flat land east of La Quinta, California. There, according to Nombre, they became known as "Augustin" There are over a dozen Pass Cahuilla clans, traditionally following patrilineal descent, and are divided into the Wildcat and Coyote moieties, inhabiting the San Gorgonio Pass eastward to Indian Wells and westward to San Timoteo Canyon. The Nanxaiyem Clan of Augustine Reservation is Coyote moiety.