Editing Chemehuevi

{{Short description|Indigenous people of the Great Basin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Chemehuevi
| image = [[File:Wohngebiet Chemehuevi.png|250px|center]]
| caption = Chemehuevi lands in California and Arizona
| population = 2010: 1,201 alone and in combination<ref name="2010 census">{{cite web |title=2010 Census CPH-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2010/cph-t/t-6tables/TABLE%20(1).pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209093630/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2010/cph-t/t-6tables/TABLE%20%281%29.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 December 2014 }}</ref>
| popplace = {{Flag|United States}}<br/>({{Flag|Arizona}}, {{Flag|California}})
| rels = [[Native American Church]], [[Sun Dance]], traditional tribal religion,<ref>[http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Northern-Paiute-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html " Northern Paiute - Religion and Expressive Culture ".] ''Countries and Their Cultures.'' Retrieved 8 December 2009.</ref> [[Christianity]], [[Ghost Dance]]
| langs = English, [[Colorado River Numic language|Colorado River Numic]] (ISO 639-3, ute)
| related = [[Southern Paiute]] people
}}

The '''Chemehuevi''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|tʃ|ɛ|m|ᵻ|ˈ|w|eɪ|v|i}} {{respell|CHEH|mih|WAY|vee}}) are an [[indigenous people of the Great Basin]]. They are the southernmost branch of [[Southern Paiute]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trafzer |first=Clifford E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GA81CgAAQBAJ |title=A Chemehuevi Song: The Resilience of a Southern Paiute Tribe |date=2015-08-01 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-80582-5 |publication-place=Seattle, Washington |publication-date=June 2015 |pages=17–18 }}</ref><ref name=sdsu>{{cite web|url=http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/guides/calindians/calinddict.shtml#c|title=California Indians and Their Reservations.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205040720/http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/guides/calindians/calinddict.shtml#c|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2009|publisher=[[San Diego State University]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chemehuevi Indian Tribe |url=https://sctca.net/chemehuevi-indian-tribe/ |access-date=2023-05-04 |publisher=Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association}}</ref> Today, Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the following [[federally recognized tribes]]:

* [[Colorado River Indian Tribes]]
* [[Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation]]
* [[Morongo Band of Mission Indians]]
* [[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]
* [[Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians]]<ref>Pritzker 24</ref>
* [[Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians]]
* [[Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California]]<ref>[http://www.planetpalmsprings.com/sovereign-nation/29-palms-mission-indians.html Planetpalmsprings.com]</ref>

Some Chemehuevi are also part of the [[Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians]], whose members are mostly ''Sovovatum'' or ''Soboba band'' members of [[Cahuilla people|Cahuilla]] and [[Luiseño people]].

==Name==
"Chemehuevi" has multiple interpretations. It is considered to either be a [[Mojave language|Mojave]] term meaning "those who play with fish;"<ref>[http://www.chemehuevi.net Chemehuevi Indian Tribe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122191138/http://www.chemehuevi.net/ |date=22 January 2017 }}. Retrieved 1 March 2010.</ref> or a [[Quechan language|Quechan]] word meaning "nose-in-the-air-like-a-[[roadrunner]]."<ref name=p23>Pritzker 23</ref> The Chemehuevi call themselves ''Nüwüvi'' ("The People", singular ''Nüwü'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chemehuevi.net/History.html  |title=History |work=Chemehuevi Indian Tribe |access-date=2007-03-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070911134710/http://www.chemehuevi.net/History.html |archive-date = 11 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/elzingad/chemehuevi_dictionary/ |title=An Online Chemehuevi Dictionary |author=Elzinga, Dirk |access-date=2007-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205030043/http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/elzingad/chemehuevi_dictionary/ |archive-date=5 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> or ''Tantáwats'', meaning "Southern Men."<ref name=p23/> Alternate spellings of Chemehuevi include Chemeguab and Chemegueb.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=Thomas C. |last2=Naylor |first2=Thomas H. |last3=Polzer |first3=Charles W. |title=Northern New Spain: A Research Guide |publisher=University of Arizona |url=https://open.uapress.arizona.edu/read/northern-new-spain-a-research-guide/section/1f21260b-5632-4c85-a79f-dde8198f2c5c |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref>

==Language==
Their language, Chemehuevi, is a [[Colorado River Numic language]], in the [[Numic language]] branch of the [[Uto-Aztecan language]] 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.<ref>Margaret L. Press, [http://www.chemehuevilanguage.org/Chemehuevi.pdf Chemehuevi: A Grammar and Lexicon], University of California Press, 1979</ref> whose field notes and extensive sound recordings remain available.<ref>Mary Hanks Molino, Oral History (in Chemehuevi), sound recording at http://www.chemehuevilanguage.org</ref> The language is now near extinction;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ute |title=Ute-Southern Paiute |publisher=[[Ethnologue]] |access-date=2007-03-29}}</ref> during the filming of [[Ironbound Films]]' 2008 American documentary film ''[[The Linguists]]'', linguists [[Greg Anderson (linguist)|Greg Anderson]] and [[K. David Harrison]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Learning the language: The tribe is working to have more children learn Chemehuevi as few adults speak it fluently|url = http://www.havasunews.com/learning-the-language-the-tribe-is-working-to-have-more/article_460e3396-341c-11e5-bf91-2f846cd0d8ae.html|access-date = 2015-10-03|first = Kevin|last = Baird| date=27 July 2015 |publisher = Havasu News-Herald}}</ref>

==History and traditional culture==
[[Image:Chemehuevi.jpg|thumb|left|180px|McKinley Fisher, a Chemehuevi man employed by the Indian Service at Colorado Agency, Arizona in 1957.]]
The Chemehuevi were originally a desert tribe among the [[Southern Paiute]] group. Post-contact, they lived primarily in the eastern [[Mojave Desert]] and later [[Cottonwood Island (Nevada)|Cottonwood Island]] in [[Nevada]] and the Chemehuevi Valley along the [[Colorado River]] in [[California]]. 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 (California)|High Desert]] from the [[Colorado River]] on the east to the [[Tehachapi Mountains]] on the west and from the [[metropolitan area|Las Vegas]] area and [[Death Valley]] on the north to the [[San Bernardino Mountains|San Bernardino]] and [[San Gabriel Mountains]] in the south. They are most closely identified as among the [[Great Basin Indians]].  Among others they are cousins of the [[Kawaiisu]].<ref>Laird 1976</ref>

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:

<blockquote>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.<ref>Laird, p. 4</ref></blockquote>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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kania|first=John J.|date=Winter 2007|title=Bread for Baskets: The Ammann Collection of Chemehuevi Basketry|url=https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ammann_l1190_aiam_march2007.pdf|website=SCV History}}</ref> This traditional style of basketmaking is currently practiced by a small group of weavers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020|title=Mary 'Weegie' Claw Chemehuevi and Kawaiisu basketry|url=https://www.actaonline.org/profile/mary-weegie-claw/|website=Alliance for California Traditional Arts}}</ref>

==Population==
[[Image:Chemehuevi boy.png|thumb|180px|Chemehuevi boy by [[Edward S. Curtis]]]]
Estimates for the [[Population of Native California|pre-contact populations]] of most native groups in California have varied substantially. [[Alfred L. Kroeber]] estimated the combined 1770 population of the Chemehuevi, [[Timbisha|Koso]], and [[Kawaiisu]] as 1,500. The combined estimate in 1910 dropped to 500.<ref>Kroeber (1925:883)</ref> An Indian agent reported the Chemehuevi population in 1875 to be 350.<ref>Clemmer and Stewart (1986:539)</ref> Kroeber estimated U.S. census data put the Chemehuevi population in 1910 as 355.<ref>Leland (1986:612)</ref> 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''' ({{in lang|es}} "the bald-headed", traveled to the area north of [[Los Angeles]])
* '''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]] and along the [[Amargosa River]], called Amargosa River Group)

==See also==
* [[Chemehuevi traditional narratives]]
* [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Clemmer, Richard O., and Omer C. Stewart. 1986. "Treaties, Reservations, and Claims". In ''Great Basin'', edited by Warren L. d'Azevedo, pp.&nbsp;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.
* [[Alfred L. Kroeber|Kroeber, A. L.]] 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
* [[Carobeth Laird|Laird, Carobeth]]. 1976. ''The Chemehuevis''. Malki Museum Press, Banning, California.
* Leland, Joy. 1986. "Population". In ''Great Basin'', edited by Warren L. d'Azevedo, pp.&nbsp;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. {{ISBN|978-0-19-513877-1}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Chemehuevi}}
* [http://www.crit-nsn.gov/ Official Colorado River Indian Tribes website]
* [http://www.chemehuevi.net Official Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122191138/http://www.chemehuevi.net/ |date=22 January 2017 }} – ''in San Bernardino County, California''.
* [http://www.chemehuevilanguage.org Chemehuevi Language Archive, 1970s Fieldwork and Analysis by Margaret L. Press]

{{Indigenous peoples of California}}
{{Indigenous People of AZ}}

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[[Category:Chemehuevi| ]]
[[Category:Colorado River tribes]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of California]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Arizona]]
[[Category:History of the Mojave Desert region]]
[[Category:Mojave Desert]]
[[Category:Uto-Aztecan peoples]]