Southern Paiute people

Southern Paiute
Nuwuvi
Moapa woman and girl in traditional Paiute basket hats near Las Vegas, circa 1900. Baby swaddled in rabbit robes in cradleboard.
Regions with significant populations
 United States
( Arizona,  Nevada,  Utah,  California)
Languages
Colorado River Numic (ISO 639-3, ute), English
Religion
Indigenous religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Ute, Chemehuevi, Kawaiisu

The Southern Paiute people /ˈpaɪjuːt/ 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 have been granted federal recognition on several reservations. Southern Paiute's traditionally spoke Colorado River Numic, which is now a critically endangered language of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, and is mutually intelligible with Ute.[1] The term Paiute comes from paa (meaning water in Ute /ˈjuːt/) and refers to their preference for living near water sources.[2] Before European colonization, they practiced springtime, floodplain farming with reservoirs and irrigation ditches for corn, squash, melons, gourds, sunflowers, beans, and wheat.[2]

The first European contact with the Southern Paiute occurred in 1776, when fathers Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez encountered them during an attempt to find an overland route to the missions of California. They noted that some of the Southern Paiute men "had thick beards and were thought to look more in appearance like Spanish men than native Americans".[a] Before this date, the Southern Paiute suffered slave raids by the Navajo and the Ute. The arrival of Spanish and later European American explorers into their territory increased slave raiding by other tribes. In 1851, Mormon settlers strategically occupied Paiute water sources, which created a dependency relationship.[citation needed] However, the presence of Mormon settlers soon ended the slave raids, and relations between the Paiute and the Mormons were basically peaceful.[citation needed] The Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin worked at diplomatic efforts. The introduction of European settlers and agricultural practices (most especially large herds of cattle) made it difficult for the Southern Paiute to continue their traditional lifestyle, as it drove away the game and reduced their ability to hunt, as well as to gather natural foods.

Ancestral lands of Southern Paiute groups overlaid on a map of the Colorado River and current US state boundaries.[3][4][5]

Today, Southern Paiute communities are located at Las Vegas, Pahrump, and Moapa, in Nevada; Cedar City, Kanosh, Koosharem, Shivwits, and Indian Peaks, in Utah; at Kaibab and Willow Springs, in Arizona.

  1. ^ "Peoples of Mesa Verde: The Ute–Southern Paiute Connection". Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "About The Southern Paiute". National Park Service. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Stoffle, Richard W.; Loendorf, Lawrence; Austin, Diane E.; Halmo, David B.; Bulletts, Angelita (February 2000). "Ghost Dancing the Grand Canyon: Southern Paiute Rock Art, Ceremony, and Cultural Landscapes". Current Anthropology. 41 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 12. doi:10.1086/300101. PMID 10593723. S2CID 142526911. Retrieved May 4, 2023 – via ResearchGate.
  4. ^ Richard, Arnold; Spoon, Jeremy. "Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) Ancestral Territory". International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  5. ^ "Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute)". Native Land Digital. August 7, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.


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