Ancestral
The above map highlights the ancestral home of the Southern Paiute, or Nung’wu[1], which spanned millions of acres of the American Southwest. Covering four present-day states and incredible landscapes, their home encompassed the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, and Great Basin. They lived in ecologically diverse areas, migrating between mountain plateaus, deserts, and river valleys each season.[2] The Nung’wu followed an ancient lifestyle well-adapted to the natural resources around them. They lived in small bands of often three to five families. Bands gathered regularly and participated in cooperative hunting or gathering expeditions. Each band lived independently but shared a language and culture. One of the largest bands, the Tonaquint, lived in present-day St. George, Utah, and their home was a “central core” in the overall tribal territory. Early settlers estimated that the Tonaquint band included over 800 people though this estimate came after decades of Euro-American contact.[3]
Livelihood
As an “independent and individualistic people,”[4] bands left livelihood activities and decisions to each family. Informal councils would choose leaders for communal hunts or ceremonies.[5] These leaders had powers limited to a fixed area of influence, often chosen for their reputation of having specific knowledge, strengths, or powers. Larger bands often had more than one leader.
Families returned to the same campsites or farms annually, usually located near a spring or a stream. For food, the people farmed, as well as hunted and gathered. They grew squash, beans, pumpkins, sunflowers and a variety of corn. Bands used different irrigation methods for farming depending on where they lived. Some farmed like the Pueblo people: planting in small mounds and diverting water to flow into the fields. For families living away from rivers, pits were dug, with most being around three feet across and only six inches deep. The pits could collect rainwater or be watered by hand. Big game, like deer, were hunted in autumn, while smaller game, such as rabbits, were hunted all year. A variety of plants, seeds, and roots were gathered throughout the summer and autumn, including pine nuts, berries, and grass seeds.[6]
In the summer, brush shelters acted as windbreaks or sleeping covers, described by explorers as “booths of poles and willows.”[7] In autumn, kanees were built. These structures had dome-shaped frames of sturdy branches covered with layers of bark, grass, or brush.[8]
Almost all domestic items were forms of basketry, to be both functional and portable.[9] Items to prepare food, pack water, provide shade, and carry children were common. Basket weaving was a creative endeavor. Women wove unique patterns, and stained colors into their basketry. Winter was the primary time of creation. Storytelling, singing, and poetry were also shared during this time.[10]
Citations
[1] The Paiute name is Nung’wa, but varies among different bands. For the bands living in California and Nevada, the name ‘Nuwuvi’ is used. Nung’wu or Nuwu is more common for bands in southern Utah. Each name means “The People.”
Shanandoah Martineau Anderson. "Interview with Shanan Marineau," Interview by Susannah Nilsson, The Washington County Historical Society, November 16, 2018, 4, Utah Tech University Library Digital Collections, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/1071.
[2] Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, NUWUVI: A Southern Paiute History (Reno, NV: Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, 1976), printed by the University of Utah Printing Service, 5, 8, 10-11.
[3] James G. Bleak, The Annals of the Southern Mission: A Record of the History of the Settlement of Southern Utah (Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2019), 16.
[4] Inter-Tribal Council, NUWUVI, 8.
[6] Inter-Tribal Council, 8, 12-13, 15.
[7] John Wesley Powell, The Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons (Dover Publications, 1961), 27, 105.
[8] Inter-Tribal Council, NUWUVI, 16.
[9] Inter-Tribal Council, 14, 18.
[10] Inter-Tribal Council, 16.
Images
John K. Hillers, Paiute Wickiups P.3, digitally published 2008, Utah State Historical Society, Classified Photograph Collection, used by permission. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=449902&q=paiute+wickiups.
Native Land Digital, Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute), last updated August 7, 2022, digital map, https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/southern-paiute/#.
Charles C. Pierce, Paiute Basket Maker, 1902, Library of Congress, LOT 12783, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91481781/.