[2] Though the Vanyume were closely related to the neighboring Serrano people linguistically and culturally, the two groups were politically distinct prior to European contact.
[2] The first European to mention the Vanyume, Father Francisco Garcés, referred to the group using the Mohave exonym Beñemé.
Compared to their upriver counterparts, Vanyume villages on the lower Mojave river enjoyed relative freedom from Spanish influence and missionization.
In late 1810s, a number of Vanyume settlements were depopulated and their residents killed by warring Spanish and Mohave people.
[2] Indigenous Californians interviewed by ethnographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries describe incidents of trade-related violence with the Mohave as a key factor in the decline and dispersion of Vanyume populations.