Putuidem (Acjachemen: "belly" or "the navel"), alternative spelling Putiidhem or Putuidhem, was a large native village of the Acjachemen people, also known as Juaneño since their relocation to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The site was a mother village, the primary settlement of the tribe that spawned other villages. It was situated in what is currently San Juan Capistrano, California just off Interstate 5, about a mile north of the mission. It is now buried underneath the sports field and performing arts center of Junipero Serra Catholic High School, which began construction with approval from the city in 2003 after many attempts to preserve the site. In 2021, the Putuidem Village Park was opened in the city to commemorate the village. History Indigenous The village sat at the site of a spring, and was founded by Chief Oyaison, also spelled Oyison, who left Sejat after an extreme drought, and his daughter Coronne. In a story of the village, Coronne led a migration to a spring, near the confluence of Oso Creek and Trabuco Creek. Coronne died suddenly and her body became a mound of earth. The grieving people returned to Putuidem and slept in a pyramid shape, referred to as acjachema, which gave the Acjachemen their name. Coronne, who had a lump at her navel, gave the village its name. In one source citing Gerónimo Boscana, it is stated that the village "was later ruled by a relative called Choqual who also ruled Atoum-pumcaxque" (the nearby village of Acjacheme). Putuidem was located upstream from the coastal village of Toovunga and downstream from the villages of Alume (via Trabuco Creek), Sajavit (via San Juan Creek), Piwiva (via San Juan Creek), and Huumai (via San Juan Creek). Mission period In 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano was constructed adjacent to Putuidem as well as the nearby village of Ahachmai, which significantly affected the village, depleting its population to serve the mission. The village soon became depleted with the increased arrival of Europeans. At the same time, the mission expanded and grew, with 383 converts by 1783, many of which were likely from Putuidem, and 741 converts by 1790. Recent converts or neophytes did the vast majority of labor on the mission, taking care of the herds and grain crops. After nine years of construction, a stone church at the mission was completed in 1806, with a high tower and five interior arches of stone