Southern Paiute
The Southern Paiute people are a tribe of Native Americans who have lived in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Utah. Bands of Southern Paiute live in scattered locations throughout this territory and ...
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...
:
*
Colorado River Indian Tribes
The Colorado River Indian Tribes (Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the C ...
Morongo Band of Mission Indians
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe in California, United States. The main tribal groups are Cahuilla and Serrano. Tribal members also include Cupeño, Luiseño, and Chemehuevi Indians. Although many tribes in Ca ...
*
Cabazon Band of Mission Indians
The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120
Reservation
The Cabazon Indian Reservation was founded in 1876. It occupies located in Coachella, f ...
Cahuilla
The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Luiseño people
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...
.
Name
"Chemehuevi" has multiple interpretations. It is considered to either be a Mojave term meaning "those who play with fish;" or a
Quechan
The Quechan (or Yuma) ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite th ...
word meaning "nose-in-the-air-like-a-
roadrunner
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, u ...
."Pritzker 23 The Chemehuevi call themselves ''Nüwüwü'' ("The People", singular ''Nüwü'') or ''Tantáwats'', meaning "Southern Men."
Language
Their language, Chemehuevi, is a
Colorado River Numic language
Colorado River Numic (also called Ute , Southern Paiute , Ute–Southern Paiute, or Ute-Chemehuevi ), of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, is a dialect chain that stretches from southeastern California to Colorado. Individual ...
, in the
Numic language
Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic com ...
branch of the
Uto-Aztecan language
Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...
family. First transcribed by John P. Harrington and Carobeth Laird in the early 20th century, it was studied in the 1970s by linguist Margaret L. Press. whose field notes and extensive sound recordings remain available. The language is now near extinction; during the filming of Ironbound Films' 2008 American documentary film '' The Linguists'', linguists Greg Anderson and
K. David Harrison
K. David Harrison (born 1966) is a Canadian and American linguist, anthropologist, author, filmmaker, and activist for the documentation and preservation of endangered languages.
Biography
Harrison received his PhD from Yale University as a stu ...
interviewed and recorded one of the last 3 remaining speakers.
In 2015, the Siwavaats Junior College in Havasu Lake, California, was established to teach children the language. A Chemehuevi dictionary with 2,500 words was expected to become available in 2016.
History and traditional culture
The Chemehuevi were originally a desert tribe among the
Southern Paiute
The Southern Paiute people are a tribe of Native Americans who have lived in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Utah. Bands of Southern Paiute live in scattered locations throughout this territory and ...
group. Post-contact, they lived primarily in the eastern
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily i ...
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
and the Chemehuevi Valley along the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. They were a nomadic people living in small groups given the sparse resources available in the desert environment. Carobeth Laird indicates their traditional territory spanned the High Desert from the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
on the east to the
Tehachapi Mountains
The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwes ...
on the west and from the
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
area and
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth.
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North Am ...
on the north to the
San Bernardino
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cens ...
and
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between ...
in the south. They are most closely identified as among the
Great Basin Indians
The Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin are Native Americans of the northern Great Basin, Snake River Plain, and upper Colorado River basin. The "Great Basin" is a cultural classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas and a cultural r ...
. Among others they are cousins of the Kawaiisu.
The most comprehensive collection of Chemehuevi history, culture and mythology was gathered by Carobeth Laird (1895–1983) and her second husband, George Laird, one of the last Chemehuevi to have been raised in the traditional culture. Carobeth Laird, a linguist and ethnographer, wrote a comprehensive account of the culture and language as George Laird remembered it, and published their collaborative efforts in her 1976 ''The Chemehuevis'', the first – and, to date, only – ethnography of the Chemehuevi traditional culture.
Describing the Chemehuevi as she knew them, and presenting the texture of traditional life amongst the people, Carobeth Laird writes:
The Chemehuevi character is made up of polarities which are complementary rather than contradictory. They are loquacious yet capable of silence; gregarious yet so close to the earth that single families or even men alone might live and travel for long periods away from other human beings; proud, yet capable of a gentle self-ridicule. They are conservative to a degree, yet insatiably curious and ready to inquire into and even to adopt new ways: to visit all tribes, whether friends or enemies; to speak strange tongues, sing strange songs, and marry strange wives.
The Chemehuevi made intricately coiled baskets using a three-rod foundation of willow. Traditionally, the majority of weaving was completed with split willow, and darker patterns were made with devil's claw and yucca, among other materials. This traditional style of basketmaking is currently practiced by a small group of weavers.
Population
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially.
Alfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...
estimated the combined 1770 population of the Chemehuevi, Koso, and Kawaiisu as 1,500. The combined estimate in 1910 dropped to 500. An Indian agent reported the Chemehuevi population in 1875 to be 350. Kroeber estimated U.S. census data put the Chemehuevi population in 1910 as 355.Leland (1986:612) Population as of 2016 is in the thousands.
Bands
* Howaits (Hokwaits, lived in the Ivanpah Mountains, called Ivanpah Mountain Group)
* Kauyaichits (lived in the area of Ash Meadows, called Ash Meadows Group)
* Mokwats (lived in the Kingston Mountains, called Kingston Mountain Group)
* Moviats (Movweats, lived on Cottonwood Island, called Cottonwood Island Group)
* Palonies ( "the bald-headed", traveled to the area north of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
)
* Shivawach (one group of them lived at Twentynine Palms, the second one in Chemehuevi Valley)
* Tümplsagavatsits (Timpashauwagotsits, lived in the Providence Mountains, therefore called Providence Mountain Group)
* Yagats (lived in the
Amargosa Valley
The Amargosa Valley is the valley through which the Amargosa River flows south, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada and Inyo County in the state of California. The south end is alternately called the "Amargosa River Valley'" or the "Tecopa Valley. ...
and along the
Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, i ...
* Clemmer, Richard O., and Omer C. Stewart. 1986. "Treaties, Reservations, and Claims". In ''Great Basin'', edited by Warren L. d'Azevedo, pp. 525–557. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 11. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
* Grant, Bruce. 2000. ''Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian''. 3rd ed. Wings Books, New York.
* Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
* Laird, Carobeth. 1976. ''The Chemehuevis''. Malki Museum Press, Banning, California.
* Leland, Joy. 1986. "Population". In ''Great Basin'', edited by Warren L. d'Azevedo, pp. 608–619. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 11. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .