BRYNE HADNOTTPATH 202

Native Americans of the Mojave Desert

Source: Flickr

PRECURSORS TO “MODERN” NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES

Paleo-Indians

Artist’s rendition of a Paleo-Indian

Source: www.pbs.org

Paleo-Indians Timeline

Lake Mojave Complex : about 10,000 to 5,000 B.C.

Pinto Period: 5,000 to 2,000 B.C.

Gypsum Period: 2,000 B.C. to 500 A.D.

Saratoga Springs Period: 500 A.D. to 1200 A.D.

Shoshonean Period: 1200 A.D. to 1500s

Paleo-Indians and Climate Change

Wisconsin Glaciation: ranged from 100,000 to 10,000 years ago Provided a moist, biological productive period for

Paleo-Indians Coincides with the Lake Mojave Complex period

Pinto Period corresponds with an interglacial period Coincides with the Holocene interglacial period

Shoshonean Period corresponds with Little Ice Age

Paleo-Indians and Rock Art

Rock Art has 2 types:o Petroglyphs and Pictographs

o Petroglyphs are carved into the surface of a rock

o Pictographs are painted onto the rock’s surface

Native American Tribes of the Mojave Desert

Cahuillao Southern Mojave Desert, range from San Bernadino

Basin, San Jacinto Mountains, and Coachella Valley Chemehuevio Range from lower Colorado River to Death Valley and

west to Providence Mountains Kawaiisuo Inhabited the Techachapi area, southeast of

Bakersfield, CA Serranoo Territory included all of San Bernadino Range to San

Gabriel Mountains and east to 29 Palms

Native American Tribes of the Mojave Desert

Timbisha Shoshone, Western Shoshoneo Reside in what is now Death Valley National Park

Vanyume Indianso Lived along the Mojave River

Kitanemuk Indianso Lived in the Techachapi Mountains and the west

edge of Antelope Valley Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute

o Northern lived in Owens Valley during the wintero Southern lived in Las Vegas Valley

Native American Tribes of the Mojave Desert

Tataviamo Lived near the west San Gabriel Mountains

Yokutso Occupy most of the San Joaquin Valley and lower

foothills of the Sierra Nevada Western Mono

o Occupy the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada

http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc_images/bibs/maps/tribemap.gif

MOJAVE/ MOHAVE

Focusing on the Mojave Native Americans

Humble Beginnings

Chaos became Earth and Sky, which gave birth to the Great Spirit Matavilya

People were born from “Avi kwa’ ame”, The Great Mountaino “The People” were called the Aha Macav or the

‘people who live along the water’ Little Brother Mastamho succeeded

Matavilya and created:o Rivero Mountainso Also taught the people how to hunt, fish, create fire

www.archives.gov

“Two Mohave braves dressed in loincloths”

Photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan, 1871. American Indian Select List number 136.

Rapid Advancement

Spread into 3 groups: Mathy Iyathum, resided in Black Canyon to the south

of Mojave Valley

Hutto-pah resided in the central Mojave Valley

Kavi Iyathum lived in an area from south Mojave Valley to Needles Peaks

Centered life around the river, relied on annual overflow to irrigate crops

First Encounters

First appear in written record of a Spanish expedition led by Juan de Onate in 1604

o Spaniards were seeking the “Southern Sea” Canadian trappers began scouting the

western portion of the Colorado River in the mid 1800s

United States acquired the Southwest from Mexico in 1848

o First expedition sent westward by Captain Lorenzo Sitegraves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Bloody Battles

Rose-Bailey Partyo Mojave attacked the Rose party on August 30, 1858o Rose party had violated the Mojave Native Americans’

propertyOatman Massacre

o Royce and Mary Oatman were traveling alone with their 7 children

o Originally traveled with James C. Brewster, member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints

o Children Mary Ann and Olive were captured, Lorenzo left for dead

Photo of Olive Oatman with traditional Mojave chin tattoos.

Book was written by Brian McGinty and published in 2005

Miners and Mormons

Earliest recorded gold discovery was at Salt Springs in San Bernardino County in 1848

In 1849, a party of Mormons led by Jefferson Hunt discovered a quartz quarry

1863, Amargosa Gold and Silver Mining of San Francisco acquired mines at Salt Springs

1872, McKinzie Mining District was created, covered Hesperia to Barstow and east to Rodman Mountains

Reservations

1865, the Colorado River Indian Reservation was established by U.S. Congresso About 800 Mojave Indians transferred there In 1890, Fort Mojave was given to the Bureau

of Indian Affairso A military-style boading school was founded here

After WWII, Bureau of Indian Affairs created Ordinance Number Fiveo Divided the CRIR reservation into a Southern

reservation for the Walapai, Hopi, Apache, Zuni, Papago, Havasupai, and Quechan and Northern Reservation for other tribal members

www.epa.gov

A Little Bit of Retribution

“In 1994, Congress enacted the California Desert Protection Act, P.L. 103-433, including Section 705(b), which addresses the need of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe for a recognized land base in the California Desert.”

Sources

http://mojavedesert.net/mojave-desert-indians/

http://www.nps.gov/mojahttp://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/p

roc01/professional/papers/pap641/p641.htmhttp://www.flickr.comhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is

_2730_134/ai_n26792232/http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/maps/ca_trib

e.htmlhttp://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc_images/bibs

/maps/tribemap.gif